So this means eating chocolate is not a bad idea…
What is in Chocolate?
Chocolate is made from the fermented, roasted, and ground beans taken from the pod of the tropical cacao tree Theobroma cacao native to Central America, which has an intensely flavoured bitter taste. The resulting products are known as "chocolate" or, in some parts of the world, cocoa. The bean products are known under different names in different parts of the world.
The bean products are known under different names in different parts of the world. Cocoa is the solids of the cacao bean, Cocoa butter is the fat component, and Chocolate is a combination of the solids and the fat. It is the solid and the fat combination, sweetened with sugar and other ingredients, that is made into chocolate bars and which is commonly referred to as chocolate by the public. It can also be made into beverages (called cocoa and hot chocolate), and this was the original form used by the Aztecs, the Mayas, and the first European consumers.
Many Health Benefits of Chocolate
The secret behind its powerful punch is cacao, also the source of the sweet's distinct taste. Packed with healthy chemicals like flavonoids and theobromine, this little bean is a disease-killing bullet.
Chocolate can be good for you
Many previous studies have linked eating chocolate with health benefits, including:
•A 2008 study found that people who ate a small amount of dark chocolate a day (about 6.7 grams) had lower levels of a protein that is associated with inflammation in their blood.
•Other recent studies have found that blood platelets clump together more slowly in chocolate eaters. Clumping platelets can lead to the formation of blood clots, which in turn can cause a heart attack. Chocolate consumption may lower blood pressure, help prevent formation of artery plaques and improve blood flow, according to other research.
•Eating chocolate may even help with math, or at least counting. A study reported in 2009 showed that people did a better job of counting backwards in groups of three after they had consumed a hot cocoa drink containing large amounts of a compound found in chocolate. These compounds, called flavonoids, which we'll get to later, may increase blood flow to the brain.
•Chocolate may also have anti-cancer benefits because flavonoids may help reduce the cell damage that can spur tumor growth.
Chocolate can be bad for you
The underlying health benefits don't give you an excuse to eat chocolate by the pound. Because we mainly eat it as a candy with sugar added, it's going to be high in calories and not necessarily good for you in high quantities, because it will take the place of more nutritious foods.
For instance, if you gorge on chocolate, you might skimp out on fruits and vegetables, which are also important for heart health and disease prevention. Experts advise that people who want to eat chocolate limit themselves to one ounce per day. Any more than that and you're probably going to take in too many calories for weight control. Other foods and beverages can also provide flavonoids, including citrus fruits, onions, green tea and red wine.
New Research- Chocolate May Lower Your Stroke Risk
Adding to the mounting evidence that consuming moderate amounts of chocoloate may benefit the heart, comes that of a new study of Swedish men that suggests it may also lower the risk of stroke. First author Susanna C. Larsson, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, told the media, While other studies have looked at how chocolate may help cardiovascular health, this is the first of its kind study to find that chocolate, may be beneficial for reducing stroke in men., Earlier this year, researchers from the University of California, San Diego also reported finding that regular chocolate eaters tend to be thinner.
For this latest study, Larsson and colleagues undertook two pieces of research: a large prospective study of Swedish men, and a meta-analysis of already published studies.
Cohort of Swedish Men
In the first piece of research, a prospective investigation of a large group over 10 years, the team looked at questionnaire responses from 37,103 Swedish men aged 49 to 75 taking part in the Cohort of Swedish Men. The questionnaires had asked the men how often they consumed various foods and drinks, including chocolate.
Then, using the Swedish Hospital Discharge Registry, the researchers identified 1,995 cases of first stroke among the men during the 10 years following their questionnaire assessment. The stroke cases included 1,511 cerebral infarctions, 321 hemorrhagic strokes, and 163 unspecified strokes.
Flavonoids found in chocolate may decrease blood concentrations of bad cholesterol and reduce blood pressure. They found men who ate the largest amounts of chocolate (63 gms, equivalent to a third of a cup of chocolate chips, per week), had a 17% lower risk of stroke than men who never or very rarely ate chocolate. And the type of stroke made no difference to this figure.
Meta-Analysis
In the second piece of research, the team pooled data from five studies that included 4,260 cases of stroke and information on chocolate consumption.The analysis revealed those who ate the most chocolate had a 19% lower risk for stroke than non-chocolate consumers. It also found a dose-response relationship, where for every extra 50 gms of chocolate consumed per week (about a quarter of a cup of chocolate chips), there was a fall in stroke risk of about 14%.
Flavonoids in Chocolate
Speculating on what it is about chocolate that may account for this effect on stroke risk, Larsson suggests it may be something to do with the flavonoids it contains. Flavonoids, a group of polyphenolic compounds known to have beneficial biochemical and antioxidant effects, appear to protect against cardiovascular disease through antioxidant, anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory properties, says Larsson."It's also possible that flavonoids in chocolate may decrease blood concentrations of bad cholesterol and reduce blood pressure," she adds.Many researchers maintain it is dark chocolate that is good for the heart, but Larsson says surprisingly:"... about 90 percent of the chocolate intake in Sweden, including what was consumed during our study, is milk chocolate."Funds from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, the Swedish Research Council/Committee for Infrastructure and the Karolinska Institute, helped pay for the study.
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