If you are faced with the need to reduce your cholesterol, you might think that you have to eliminate chocolate from your diet. Removing all sweets from your diet, however, will often leave you feeling deprived and lead you to break your sweet fast. You can actually indulge your sweet tooth with moderate amounts of dark chocolate and reap some unexpected health benefits.
Understanding Cholesterol
Cholesterol is not all bad. In fact, your body requires a certain amount of it in your bloodstream to function optimally. There are two different types of cholesterol: low-density lipoproteins, or LDL, and high density of lipoproteins, or HDL. Your body requires a certain amount of both types of cholesterol, but if your LDL levels are too high or your HDL levels too low, it can put you at risk for coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke. Your liver and other cells in your body make approximately 75 percent of the cholesterol in your bloodstream and the other 25 percent comes from the food you eat.
Dark Chocolate versus Milk Chocolate
There are several different types of chocolate, but all are made from cacao beans, which are ground into smooth liquid paste and become chocolate cocoa. Bittersweet chocolate, sweet chocolate, milk chocolate and dark chocolate all contain different amounts of cocoa and, therefore, differing amounts of cocoa, which helps lower your cholesterol levels. Dark chocolate contains the most cocoa of any other type of chocolate and as such, has the greatest benefit on your cholesterol levels. In Europe, dark chocolate must contain at least 35 percent pure chocolate, while in the United States, 35 percent pure chocolate is classified as bittersweet or semisweet chocolate. It is not uncommon, however, to find dark chocolate in the United States with 65 percent cocoa. The higher the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate, the greater the potential the candy has to positively influence your cholesterol levels.
Dark Chocolate and Cholesterol
Flavanols are the main type of polyphenols, a type of antioxidant chemical, found in chocolate. Researchers from the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science in Germany published their findings in October 2009 and noted that polyphenols found in cocoa have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic effects in the body. In several of the reviewed studies, the researchers found that dietary polyphenols from cocoa had beneficial effects on vascular health. Flavanols important to cholesterol reduction have a bitter taste and may be eliminated during the processing of milk chocolate and other types of chocolates that are not high in pure cocoa. Researchers from Hull University published another study in October 2010 confirming these results with individuals who suffer from diabetes. They found diabetics who ate 45 of dark chocolate each day improved their "good," or HDL, cholesterol and improved the overall balance of cholesterol after only 16 weeks. They recommend including dark chocolate in a well balanced diet to help reduce cardiovascular risk. The more that chocolate is processed, the more flavanols are lost. The best choice to obtain the most flavanols is dark chocolate and straight cocoa powder that has not undergone Dutch processing.
Dark Chocolate Saturated Fats
Dark chocolate has an impact on your cholesterol in two different ways: Not only do the polyphenols and flavanols help improve your HDL levels, but it also contains a number of balanced fats that have a neutral effect. The saturated fat in dark chocolate was once thought to be detrimental to cardiovascular disease. However, the balance of monounsaturated and saturated fats seems to have a neutral effect on cholesterol levels. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic recommend you enjoy approximately 1 ounce of pure dark chocolate a few times a week and include other foods that are rich in flavonoids such as red wine, onions, cranberries and apples in your diet to get the most benefit from dark chocolate without the addition of fat and calories.
References
- American Heart Association: About Cholesterol
- Facts-about-Chocolate.com: Types of Chocolate
- Zchocolat.com: Dark Chocolate
- Cleveland Clinic: Heart Health Benefits of Chocolate Unveiled
- PubMed.gov: Polyphenols from Cocoa on Vascular Health a Critical Review; G Rimbach, M Melchin, J Moehring, A Wagner; October 2009
- Hull University: Dark Chocolate is Good for Diabetics Study Finds
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