Chocolate Good Or Bad For Health

Chocolate Good Or Bad For Health Photo Via: https://ringlead-marketing-prod.s3.amazonaws.com Ah yes, the decadent, sweet treat that makes our mouths water. We’ve come to understand that our sweet tooth does us more harm than good, but we don’t really care either, especially when it comes to chocolate. In the words of almost every human being ever: it’s worth it. Well, science is now pointing in this direction more than ever. As has been revealed before, chocolate could actually lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease, control your blood sugar and even help to lower your stress levels, which are all good, positive reasons to eat the sugary treat. This healthy spin on chocolate continues in that it has even been linked to reduce the risk of cancer and dementia, two ailments no human being wants to be diagnosed with. According to Dr. Owais Khawaja, a cardiology fellow at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center (Toledo, Ohio), “Chocolate is a good antioxidant, it has a good effect on inflammation. We think most of the beneficial effects are because of this.” While this is certainly good news in many ways, this does not mean that every chocolate treat you come across is going to be good for your health. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory aspects of chocolate come from cocoa beans specifically nutrients within cocoa beans called flavonoids. These flavonoids are found in all chocolate, but in varying amounts. For instance, dark chocolate has more than milk chocolate. And though the name may fool you, white chocolate doesn’t even contain chocolate, meaning it wouldn’t be a good source of flavonoids. But, to break it down even further, not all dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids either. In fact, some chocolate bars that are over 70 percent cocoa (which would be considered dark chocolate, in most cases), will have less flavonoid compounds than others it all depends on processing. This is where it gets really sciency: if chocolate goes through dutching (a chemical step that’s often referred to as Dutch chocolate), this chocolate has basically lost all traces of flavonoid compounds. Also, most chocolate bars include the addition of milk and sugar; in other words, the parts that make it taste good. However, these additions are also what makes the chocolate bar bad for you. So while theoretically chocolate is a very good thing, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Snickers and Kit Kat bars are a healthier alternative than fruits and vegetables. The truth is, there still isn’t enough research pointing one way or the other: we don’t know the effects of consuming the various types of chocolate, or what the addition of milk does to the healthy components. According to Khawaja, “There is not enough data as to what form of chocolate is good.” While studies are able to differentiate between participants that eat milk, dark and white chocolate, they are unable to test which kinds of these various chocolates the participants are consuming. Plus, more often than not, participants aren’t correctly identifying the type of chocolate they’re eating or accurately representing the amount that they are eating. The consensus, though it’s in no way scientifically proven, is that dark chocolate is probably good. Or, it’s not bad. As Khawaja said, “Until we have more data, don’t eat too much. If you’re having a serving once or twice a day, fine. But don’t start having it six times a day.” So while chocolate is a good snack on very rare occasions, maybe to satisfy cravings or to reward yourself after a stressful week, it is in no way something that should be replacing your healthier foods. Don’t go changing your diet because chocolate may or may not be healthy. Instead, indulge yourself on occasion, assume that the studies aren’t correct, and hope for the best somewhere in the near future. We love you chocolate, whether you’re good or bad for us, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed until the next study takes over the media.