The Health Benefits Of Dark Chocolate

In our increasingly puritanical age, when health is ever more strongly associated with abstinence and self-denial, it must surely seem counter-intuitive to suppose that a substance as gorgeously pleasurable as chocolate, loaded as it is with fat, sugar and caffeine, might also provide significant health benefits.

Yet such, amazingly, is the case.

It's important to understand that some of the most common killer diseases in modern Western societies are essentially diseases of degeneration, that is long term damage to the tissues and vital cells of the body caused by oxidation and free radical activity.

To take just one example: atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, a common precursor of serious heart disease, is caused by the oxidation of certain blood fats, the so-called "bad cholesterol", which nutritionists warn so strongly against. Now, free radicals are a perfectly normal and natural by-product of the countless biochemical reactions occurring in the body all the time, and cannot be entirely eliminated. But the good news is that they can be neutralised to a great extent by following a diet rich in anti oxidants.

And the even better news is that it's not just boring old fruits and vegetables that can provide a good supply of anti oxidants.

Powerful antioxidant compounds known as polyphenols have been found in tea, coffee, beer, red wine and, yes, even chocolate.

The most important antioxidant in chocolate is called procyanidin and is principally derived from coca beans,. For this simple reason, the darker the chocolate the better it's going to be for you.

Procyanidin is a polyphenol type of flavonoid, a very effective antioxidant, and appears to work particularly closely with vitamin E, the body's most powerful fat-soluble antioxidant, which is particularly important in preventing the oxidation of blood cholesterol. Both vitamin E and procyanidin may also be useful in helping prevent excessive clotting of the blood, a factor in both heart attack and stroke, two of the biggest premature killers in the West.

The word "chocoholic" may be more than just a jokey way to describe a little self-indulgence. It seems that chocolate's combination of fat, sugar, caffeine and that cocoa taste may combine to produce an intensity of sensation which stimulates the pleasure receptors of the brain to release the "feel-good" hormones more commonly associated with alcohol, tobacco and even more dangerous drugs.

But if chocolate can become a genuine addiction, it must be one of the most benign around. Of course there's an obvious danger of weight gain if too much is consumed, but the high fat content produces a feeling of fullness which goes a long way to mitigate against this. And the really good news is that much of the fat in chocolate is of the unsaturated "healthy" type, similar to olive oil, which is needed by the body.

Good quality chocolate is also high in essential minerals, which help protect against the dental problems which might otherwise be a consequence of the sugar content. Note as well that dark chocolate is relatively low in both sugar and fat, and relatively high in those coca beans and antioxidants!