Which Chocolates Are High In Epicatechin?

Chocolate appears to be much more of a health food than once thought, but skip the milk chocolate and white chocolate in favor of dark chocolate, which contains the largest amount of epicatechins, according to several studies. Epicatechins are flavenoids, compounds that act as antioxidants. Antioxidants prevent DNA cell damage by preventing oxidative stress, which can damage DNA in cells and may cause diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Cocoa Beans

About 90 percent of cocoa beans come from the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Brazil, and Cameroon, according to the LECO Corporation of Michigan, but the beans from these countries are not necessarily the best source of epicatechins. Beans differ, depending on where they're grown. Fermentation, drying and roasting, all part of the process of creating chocolate, can reduce the flavenoid content in cocoa beans. A LECO Corporation study found that Venezuelan cocoa beans had the highest percentage of epicatechins; Ivory Coast's had the least, with the beans from Bolivia and Madagascar in the middle.

Chocolate Ingredients

Chocolate bars contain cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, sugar and milk. Dark chocolate, which has a higher percentage of cocoa liquor than milk chocolate, contains the most epicatechins, according to Herbal-Health. White chocolate is made from cocoa butter and does not contain any cocoa liquor.

Comparisons

Researchers from the University of Milan studied the effects of dark chocolate containing 58 mg of epicatechin with white chocolate. The study, reported in the April 2010 "British Journal of Nutrition," found that dark chocolate improves DNA resistance to cell damage two hours after consumption, while white chocolate had no effect. Neither type of chocolate had any effect 22 hours after consumption. Consuming milk with chocolate or adding it to chocolate to make milk chocolate may greatly reduce the amount of epicatechins in cocoa, according to a study published in the August 2003 issue of "Nature." Milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants, reported researchers from the National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Italy.

Amounts

In another study, researchers from the University of California-Davis, considered the effects of different amounts of dark chocolate on oxidative damage to cells. They concluded that consumers of larger amounts of dark chocolate had higher levels of epicatechins, along with decreased oxidative damage.