If you like dark chocolate, feel free to indulge, because it's good for you -- in small quantities. Dark chocolate contains ingredients that can benefit your heart, but it also contains fat and calories that can push you into the overweight category if you eat too much of it. Dark chocolate with the highest cocoa percentage has the most health benefits. Brands that add nuts or healthy berries to dark chocolate give an additional antioxidant boost.
Components
The active ingredient in dark chocolate, cocoa, contains a type of flavonoid called flavonols. Flavonoids act as antioxidants, meaning that they attack and destroy unpaired electrons called free radicals. Free radicals, produced as a result of oxidative stress and toxins, can damage DNA in cells. Damage from free radicals may play a part in health problems such as cancer and heart disease. Flavonols are found only in cocoa and chocolate. The more processing cocoa undergoes, the more likely it is that flavonols will be lost. Milk chocolate contains more added fat and other ingredients that reduces the flavonol content, and white chocolate contains no cocoa at all.
Cocoa Percentage
Dark chocolate contains between 50 and 80-plus percent chocolate. For the most health benefits, look for dark chocolate that contains more than 70 percent cocoa. Generally speaking, the higher the cocoa content, the better.
Added Ingredients
Some dark chocolate bars add nuts, which contain omega-3 fatty acids that can help lower cholesterol, and berries, which are high in antioxidants. These added ingredients also add calories, so read the labels carefully to keep you calorie consumption down. Better yet, dip fruit in melted dark chocolate with a high cocoa percentage to keep your chocolate consumption low and increase your fruit intake.
Benefits
The heart-health benefits of dark chocolate include a slight lowering of cholesterol levels and a lowering of C-reactive protein levels in the blood. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a marker for inflammation, which can damage blood vessels, leading to heart disease. Researchers from Catholic University in Italy reported on the effects of dark chocolate on CRP in the October 2008 "Journal of Nutrition." The study showed that people who consumed a small amount of dark chocolate, about one small square two to three times a week, had lower CRP levels than those who did not eat dark chocolate. Eating one small square of chocolate per day, with about 30 calories, gives you the flavonols you need, according to MayoClinic.com. A similar study conducted by Johns Hopkins University and reported in the December 2008 "Southern Medical Journal" found that dark chocolate intake also lowered low-density lipoprotein, the "bad" cholesterol, by 6 percent and raised high-density lipoprotein, the "good" cholesterol, by 9 percent after one week.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Small, Sweet and Healthful: A Square of Dark Chocolate a Day Offers Benefits; August 2008
- Cleveland Clinic: The Sweet Truth About Chocolate and Your Heart; 2010
- Colorado State University Extension; Will Dark Chocolate Every Day Keep the Doctor Away?; Shirley Perryman; February 2010
- The Heart; Eating Dark Chocolate Reduces CRP; Lisa Nainggolan; September 2008
- "Southern Medical Journal;" Dark Chocolate Effect on Platelet Activity, C-reactive Protein and Lipid Profile; M. Hamed; Decmeber 2008
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