It’s been lovingly called the sixth food group. Someone even gushed that chocolate is nature's way of making up for Mondays. In fact, food researchers widely report chocolate is the single most craved food. Many of us couldn’t agree more. According to the World Atlas of Chocolate, North Americans are so crazy for the confection that we consume on average 21 pounds per person per year and a whopping 66 percent of it between meals.
While chocolate has been found to trigger parts of the brain that are associated with drug addiction, the chocolate craving phenomena is still poorly understood. Researchers aren’t sure if chocolate addiction is a sensory or a pharmacological effect or if it’s all the sugar and fat that’s actually producing our craving. But cheer up chocoholics, the news isn’t all bad. Chocolate, especially the dark variety, eaten in moderation can actually be good for you.
Live Longer: Harvard School of Public Health researchers studied 7841 men with an average age of 65 years and found that those who ate chocolate one to three times a month live almost a year longer than those who abstained, even after accounting for confounding factors. Researchers say the presence of antioxidant phenols in chocolate could be helping to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. They also speculate that cacao, from which chocolate is made, lowers LDL (the bad kind) cholesterol as well as enhancing the immune function that leads to decreased risks of heart disease and cancer.
A Healthy Heart: German researchers followed nearly 20,000 people for 10 years. They found people whose ages were 35 to 65 and who ate an average of 7.5 grams of dark chocolate per day had lower blood pressure and a 39 percent lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke compared to those who ate 1.7 grams per day. Dr. Brian Buijsse, a nutritional epidemiologist at the German Institute of Human Nutrition and lead researcher said a small amount of chocolate appeared to have a profound effect on blood pressure. In 2008, an Italian study found similar results. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine researchers found chocolate cut heart attack death in half in some women and men ages 21 to 80 by decreasing the tendency of platelets to clot in narrow blood vessels and increasing blood flow. All three studies stressed only small amounts (about half a chocolate bar per week) were critical in attaining these health benefits.
Stress reduction: Feeling stressed out? Send a SOS: “Having a bad day, please send (dark) chocolate!” A clinical trial published in 2009 online in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Proteome Research found eating 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate per day for two weeks reduced stress hormone levels in people who reported feeling high emotional stress.
Anti-Cancer Benefits: Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers at Georgetown University observed a natural antioxidant compound found in cocoa that seems to have anti-cancer properties. The compound put the breaks on certain proteins that likely work in concert to push a cancer cell to continually divide. These antioxidants may protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals, which are thought to contribute to heart disease and cancer development.
Boosting brain power: Ian Macdonald, professor of metabolic physiology at the University of Nottingham found that drinking a cocoa drink rich in flavanols (a key ingredient of dark chocolate) boosts blood flow to key areas of the brain for two to three hours and may help to increase performance in specific tasks and improves general alertness over a short period. The study further suggests that the cocoa flavanols could be useful in enhancing brain function for people fighting fatigue, sleep deprivation, and possibly, the effects of aging.
Diarrhea Relief:Children's Hospital and Research Center in Oakland, CA, discover that a chemical in cocoa beans can limit the development of fluids that cause diarrhea which affects millions of people globally each year, particularly children and the elderly. Cocoa contain a large amount of flavonoids that scientists believe can be used to create natural supplements to effectively ease diarrhea symptoms. History notes the use of cocoa to treat diarrhea dating back to the 16th century by ancient South American and European cultures. "Our research successfully proves that this ancient remedy is really based on scientific principals," said Dr. Beate Illek, the study’s co-author.
Lynette Summerill, is an award-winning journalist who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition to writing about cancer-related issues, she writes a blog, Nonsmoking Nation, which follows global tobacco news and events.