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Chocolate & Health

This page discusses three aspects of chocolate and health:

Pre-Colombian uses of chocolate
Current research
Chocolate myths

Pre-Colombian Uses of Chocolate
Early colonial chroniclers recorded dozens of medicinal uses of chocolate among the Aztecs. It’s most common uses were for fattening up emaciated patients, for stimulating the nervous systems of apathetic or feeble patients, for improving digestion, and for masking unpleasant herbal ingredients. One chronicler warned that it "excites the venereal appetite," a claim that undoubtedly boosted its popularity in Europe.

Current Research
"Since well before its introduction to western consumers in the sixteenth century, cocoa and its most popular derivative chocolate have long been used as therapeutic and medicinal remedies," wrote Steve Laning in Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals Magazine.

Over the last decade researchers have identified a number of medical benefits of chocolate, particularly dark chocolate. Many of these benefits are due to chocolate's high flavonoid levels, as flavonoids act to tie up free radicals that trigger heart disease and certain functions associated with aging.

Specifically, chocolate's benefits include:

Acting as an antioxidant by reducing the oxidation of LDL, the bad cholesterol;
Reducing blood clotting and may stabilize arterial plaque;
Increasing blood vessel flexibility, which may help control blood pressure; and
May be effective in preventing coughs, thanks to theobromine.

A good source for current research on the health benefits of chocolate can be found at: www.chocolate.org.

Chocolate Myths
The Chocolate Manufacturers Association recently published a guide that dispels the following myths:

Chocolate does not cause acne.
Chocolate is not a common food allergen.
Neither chocolate nor sugar causes attention-deficit hyperactive disorder in children.
Chocolate is not a major contributor of caffeine in the American diet.
Women who crave chocolate likely do so because of its flavor and mouth feel, not because there are "addictive" substances in chocolate.
Neither cocoa nor unsweetened chocolate are intrinsically cariogenic. While any food that contains sugar or starch can cause dental caries, studies show chocolate may be actually less cariogenic than many foods.
Chocolate does not trigger migraine headaches.
There is no evidence that obese people consume more chocolate than normal-weight people.

Excerpted from: Chocolate Manufacturers Association, Chocolate Health: A Scientific Overview for the Health Professional.