Cocoa powder is rich in antioxidants. However, it was
thought that these molecules were poorly digested and
absorbed due to their large size
New research revealed that your gut bacteria breaks down and
ferments the components in dark chocolate, turning them into
anti-inflammatory compounds that benefit your health
Beneficial gut microbes including Bifidobacterium and lactic
acid bacteria “feasted” on chocolate, creating
anti-inflammatory compounds that may reduce inflammation of
cardiovascular tissue
A wide range of accumulating scientific research has linked
chocolate consumption to over 40 distinct health benefits
The closer your cocoa is to its natural raw state, the
higher its nutritional value; ideally, your chocolate or
cocoa should be consumed raw (cacao)
By Dr. Mercola
The health benefits of dark chocolate are all the rage right
now, with increasing numbers of studies pointing to its rich
concentrations of beneficial antioxidants and polyphenols.
This applies particularly to dark chocolate because it
contains a higher concentration of cacao seeds than milk
chocolate, and therein lies the secret to its health-promoting
powers.
Cacao refers to the plant, a small evergreen tree of the
species Theobroma cacao, which is cultivated for its
seeds, also known as cacao beans or cocoa beans. The term
“chocolate” refers to the solid food or candy made from a
preparation of cacao seeds (typically roasted). If the cacao
seeds are not roasted, then you have "raw chocolate," which is
also typically sweetened.
Cocoa, on the other hand,
refers to the powder made from roasted, husked, and ground cacao
seeds, from which most of the fat has been removed. Knowing the
meaning of these terms is important, because if you think you’re
improving your health by eating typical chocolate candies,
you’re being misled.
That being said, however, certain types of chocolate, as well
as cocoa powder and cacao, are turning out to be powerful
superfoods that rank right up there among the most
anti-inflammatory and antioxidant-rich foods known to mankind.
Your Gut Bacteria Help Unlock Chocolate’s Anti-Inflammatory
Powers
Research presented at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition
of the American Chemical Society (ACS) claims to have unraveled
the precise reason why dark chocolate is so beneficial. While
it’s known that cocoa powder is rich in antioxidants including
catechin and epicatechin, along with a small amount of fiber, it
was thought that these molecules were poorly digested and
absorbed due to their large size.
The new study found, however, that your gut bacteria breaks
down and ferments the components in dark chocolate, turning them
into anti-inflammatory compounds that benefit your health. In
particular, beneficial microbes including Bifidobacterium and
lactic acid bacteria “feasted” on chocolate, according to the
researchers.
The study, which involved three cocoa powders tested in a
model digestive tract, may help explain why chocolate has been
found to be so good for your heart, as the anti-inflammatory
compounds may reduce inflammation of cardiovascular tissue. The
study’s lead author explained:1
“In our study we found that the fiber is fermented
and the large polyphenolic polymers are metabolized to
smaller molecules, which are more easily absorbed. These
smaller polymers exhibit anti-inflammatory activity… When
these compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the
inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the
long-term risk of stroke.”
Eating Your Chocolate with Prebiotics May Boost Its Benefits
The researchers suggested that consuming cocoa along with
prebiotics may be one way to encourage the conversion of
polyphenols into highly absorbable anti-inflammatory compounds
in your stomach. Prebiotics are carbohydrates found in whole
foods that you can’t digest… but which beneficial bacteria can,
acting as “food” for them.
Unprocessed whole foods, such as onions and garlic, are among
the best prebiotics, so if you’re eating right, you should be
getting plenty of prebiotics. It would seem that taking steps to
encourage healthful gut bacteria, in general, would also ensure
that you have enough beneficial bacteria available to help break
down and ferment the healthy substances in cocoa.
This includes not only avoiding sugar and grains but also
eating naturally
fermented foods and/or taking a high-quality probiotic
supplement. One of the major results of eating a healthy diet
like the one described in my
nutrition plan is that you cause your beneficial gut
bacteria to flourish, and they secondarily perform the real
"magic" of restoring your health. Interestingly, the researchers
also suggested consuming dark chocolate with antioxidant-rich
solid fruits, such as pomegranate or acai, as another way to
boost its health potential.
Chocolate and Your Heart: What Does the Research Say?
A seven-study meta-analysis sought to find a link between
chocolate consumption and certain cardiometabolic disorders,
such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and metabolic
syndrome. Along with those disorders are related problems like
hypertension, elevated fasting glucose and triglycerides, high
cholesterol, and abdominal obesity.2
But rather than negative effects, scientists found that
chocolate – specifically the dark unprocessed raw cacao kinds –
actually
reduced the risk of such disorders.
In fact, the highest levels of chocolate consumption were
associated with a 37 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease
and a 29 percent reduction in stroke compared with the lowest
levels! Other research has also shown that the antioxidant and
anti-inflammatory compounds in chocolate may lower your risk of
heart attack and stroke considerably.
Small amounts of dark chocolate can cut your risk of
heart attack because, like aspirin, chocolate has a
biochemical effect that reduces the clumping of platelets,
which cause blood to clot.3
Platelet clumping can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a
blood vessel, causing a heart attack.
Specially formulated raw cocoa powder has the potential
to prevent cardiovascular disease in diabetics. When
diabetic patients were given a special high-flavonol cocoa
drink for one month, it brought their blood vessel function
from severely impaired to normal. The improvement was
actually as large as has been observed with exercise and
many common diabetic medications.4
Researchers also discovered that a compound in dark
chocolate, called epicatechin (a flavonoid), may protect
your brain after a stroke by increasing cellular signals
that shield nerve cells from damage.5
A stroke is similar to a heart attack, but occurs when the
blood supply to your brain becomes blocked or reduced, as
opposed to blocking the blood supply to your heart.
Another one of the ways chocolate may provide cardiovascular
benefit is by assisting with nitric oxide metabolism, as
described by Ori Hofmekler.6
Nitric oxide protects your heart by relaxing your blood vessels
and thereby lowering your blood pressure.
However, nitric oxide production produces adverse reactions and
toxic metabolites, which must be neutralized by your body so
they don't result in oxidative damage to your blood vessel
lining (by peroxynitrite oxidation and nitration reactions).
Cocoa polyphenols protect your body from these metabolites and
help counter the typical age-related decline in nitric oxide
production.7
Will Taking Chocolate Pills Improve Heart Health?
The promise of chocolate to improve heart health is so strong
that a three-year study on that very topic was just launched by
the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in partnership with
(who else but) candy maker Mars, Inc. The study will involve
cocoa flavanols taken in pill form… not the more
popular chocolate-bar form. It will be the first large study of
its kind (involving 18,000 people) to look into the potential
role of cocoa flavanols in high-dose form, without the added
sugar and fat of chocolate. As the AP reported:
“The candy company [Mars] has patented a way to
extract flavanols from cocoa in high concentration and put
them in capsules. Mars and some other companies sell cocoa
extract capsules, but with less active ingredient than those
that will be tested in the study; candy contains even less.”
Chocolate Is Linked to 40+ Health Benefits
In case you were wondering, it’s not only your heart that
might benefit from the compounds in cacao and cocoa powder. A
wide range of accumulating scientific research has linked its
consumption to over 40 distinct health benefits.8
While most of you have heard about the importance of
antioxidants, a primer might help, beginning with the
explanation that the formation of free radicals in your cells
can damage your DNA to the point that your risk of developing
diseases like Alzheimer’s, heart disease, and cancer are
elevated.
This is why the antioxidant polyphenols in chocolate are so
valuable, as they have the ability to stop free radical-mediated
oxidation. This helps to decrease your risk of those and other
diseases by directly interfering with one of the major
preventable causes of chronic degenerative diseases.
Chocolate also contains other potent plant “chemicals,”
including anandamide, named after the Sanskrit word for “bliss,”
which is a neurotransmitter in the brain that temporarily blocks
feelings of pain and anxiety. The caffeine and theobromine in
chocolate have been shown to produce higher levels of physical
energy and mental alertness, and there are likely many more
healthy chocolate compounds that have yet to be discovered. The
following table highlights just some of the benefits conferred
by the cocoa bean.9
Anti-inflammatory
Anti-carcinogenic
Anti-thrombotic, including improving endothelial
function
Lowers Alzheimer's risk
Anti-diabetic and anti-obesity
Reduction in C-reactive protein
Cardioprotective, including lowering blood pressure,
improving lipid profile, and helping prevent atrial
fibrillation
Improved liver function for those with cirrhosis
Neuroprotective
Improves gastrointestinal flora
Reduces stress hormones
Reduces symptoms of glaucoma and cataracts
Slows progression of periodontitis
Improves exercise endurance
May help extend lifespan
Protects against preeclampsia in pregnant women
How to Identify High-Quality Chocolate… and Determine the Right
‘Dose’
In the video above, Dr. Beatrice Golomb discusses the health
benefits of chocolate, including how to identify a high-quality
chocolate and how to determine your optimal chocolate “dose.” In
general, it seems preferable to consume smaller amounts of
chocolate at more frequent intervals, much like the principle of
split dosing for supplements, in order to ensure a steadier
stream of nutrients in your bloodstream. According to Dr.
Golomb, studies show daily consumption in divided doses (two to
three times per day) is probably beneficial, as long as you
aren't going overboard in quantity, and as long as you're eating
high-quality chocolate.
The closer your cocoa is to its natural raw state, the higher
its nutritional value. Ideally, your chocolate or cocoa should
be consumed raw (cacao). When selecting chocolate, you can
optimize its nutritional punch by looking for higher cacao and
lower sugar content. In general, the darker the chocolate, the
higher the cacao. However, cacao is fairly bitter, so the higher
the percentage cacao, the more bitter it is (the flavanols are
what make the chocolate bitter, so manufacturers often remove
them. But, it's those flavanols that are responsible for many of
chocolate's health benefits). To counteract the bitterness, most
chocolate is sweetened, so it's a matter of balancing
nutritional benefit with palatability.
Although raw cacao is the most nutritious form, most of the
health studies to date involve consumption of cocoa or
chocolate, not raw cacao. And the results are STILL
significantly positive. This fact suggests a good portion of the
nutritional benefit of chocolate is retained after processing.
Your goal then is to find a chocolate that's as minimally
processed as possible, but still palatable. You don't want
to eliminate too many of the health benefits by eating a product
that contains a lot of sugar and chemicals. Choose chocolate
with a cocoa/cacao percentage of about 70 or higher.
If you can tolerate the flavor of raw cacao, however, then
that's the absolute best option. Milk chocolate is not a good
choice as it contains both pasteurized milk and large quantities
of sugar, which will significantly dampen its health benefits.
White chocolate is also high in sugar and contains none
of the phytonutrients, so it is not a good choice either. Dark
chocolate – as high in cacao and as bitter as you can stand --
is your best option.
Copyright 1997- 2014 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.