Health by Chocolate
By Dr. Julian Whitaker

Chocolate comes from the beans of the cacao plant (Theobroma cacao, literally “food of the gods.”)   It has been used for centuries in Mayan and Aztec cultures for culinary, ceremonial, economic (beans were often used as currency), and medicinal purposes.  Chocolate was purported to restore vitality, calm and soothe the “over-stimulated,” treat kidney and digestive problems, and promote virility and longevity.

Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez was introduced to “xocolatl” by the ruler of the Aztecs, Montezuma, who reportedly drank 50 cups of a bitter, chili-flavored chocolate drink daily.  Cortez, who brought chocolate to Europein the early 1500s, described it as, “The divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue.  A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food.”

Although chocolate is now considered to be more junk food than health food, recent research may restore it to its former glory.  Scientists have discovered that cocoa liquor, the creamy paste of ground, roasted cacao beans used to make chocolate, is nature’s richest source of polyphenols, a class of phytonutrients with potent antioxidant activity and other therapeutic effects.

Yes, chocolate has fat and calories - and it tastes way too good to be good for you - but the health benefits of dark chocolate cannot be denied.  Here are five reasons you should add it to your diet.

1.      Lowers blood pressure

One of cocoa’s most abundant polyphenols is flavanol, which stimulates the production of nitric oxide (NO).  NO is a very important signaling molecule.  When it is produced in the arteries, it acts as a vasodilator, relaxing the arteries and causing them to open up, thus bringing down blood pressure.

German researchers divided older people with mild hypertension into two groups and gave them 100g dark chocolate or 90g white chocolate every day for two weeks.  (White chocolate contains no cocoa.)  They had a one-week “washout” period in which they ate no chocolate, followed by another two weeks of eating the other chocolate.  Blood pressure fell in those eating dark chocolate an average of 5.1/1.8 (systolic/diastolic) and did not change in those eating white chocolate.

2.      Improves Insulin Sensitivity

In March 2005, Italian researchers published results of a study with similar design involving 15 healthy men and women.  Glucose tolerance tests were done at the end of each period, and blood pressure was taken daily.  Like the German study, dark chocolate lowered blood pressure.  It also significantly improved markers of insulin sensitivity, decreasing fasting insulin and glucose levels, as well as insulin and glucose responses to the glucose tolerance test.

Now, I know many of you are thinking that sugar-laden chocolate is the last thing people with diabetes need to be eating.  Yet this study suggests that dark chocolate actually ameliorates blood sugar.

3.      Mediates Inflammation

Inflammation plays a role in conditions as diverse as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, osteoporosis, and auto-immune disorders.  In fact, all major chronic diseases are associated with inflammation.

Cocoa flavanols have been shown to lower inflammation.  They do this by reducing blood concentrations of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO), a key enzyme in the synthesis of leukotrienes.  Leukotrienes are highly active compounds involved in inflammation in tissues throughout the body, including pain and allergic reactions.  Dampening the flames of inflammation is crucial for disease treatment and prevention, and dark chocolate is another tool for doing just that.

4.      Protects against heart disease

Elevations in blood pressure, insulin resistance, and inflammation all increase risk of cardiovascular disease.  But chocolate’s protective effects go beyond these three mechanisms.  Nitric oxide, in addition to lowering blood pressure, also helps prevent arterial spasms, which temporarily decrease blood flow, and platelet aggregation the clumping together of blood cells that reduces blood fluidity and impairs circulation.

Chocolate’s potent antioxidants shield the endothelial cells lining the arteries as well as LDL cholesterol against free radical damage.  Dark chocolate has the highest oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) of any food.  According to this measurement of foods’ antioxidant strength, dark chocolate at 13,120 stands head and shoulders above other high-ORAC foods such as milk chocolate (6,740), raisins (2,830), blueberries (2,400), spinach (1,260), broccoli (890), and red grapes (739).

Dark chocolate also has positive effects on cholesterol levels.  Although its hefty saturated fat content may give one pause, most of that fat is stearic acid, which, unlike other saturated fats, has no adverse effects on cholesterol levels.  In fact, dark chocolate actually appears to raise protective HDL cholesterol, while having no effect on LDL.

The cardiovascular benefits of dark chocolate are so potent that it was recently named one of the seven heart-healthiest foods, along with wine, fish, fruits, vegetables, garlic, and almonds.  In an article published in the British Medical Journal, researchers theorized that including these foods in your diet would reduce cardiovascular events by an astounding 76 percent and increase life expectancy in men and women by 6.6 and 4.8 years, respectively.

5.      Makes You Feel Good

There’s something about chocolate that goes beyond satisfying your sweet tooth or hunger pangs.  Maybe it’s the comforting taste, or emotional connection to happy events.  It could be chocolate’s tryptophan and phenylethylamine, which increase levels of neurotransmitters associated with sensations of pleasure.  There is even research to suggest that compounds in chocolate stimulate the same “feel-good receptors as falling in love.  (No wonder chocolate and Valentine’s Day are inseparable.)

For whatever reason, most of us like chocolate, and some of us crave it like nothing else.  If you want to reap the health benefits discussed in this article, stick with dark chocolate.

Recommendations:  High quality dark chocolate is sold in health food, specialty, and grocery stores.  Look for bars that contain 70 percent cocoa or more.  Don’t be put off by the fat content, and expect it to have some sugar.  Unsweetened dark chocolate is extremely bitter, and even sweetened, it is an acquired taste for some, so shop around for a brand you like.  Aim for about 50g (1.75 ounces), or half of a large bar, daily.  To keep caloric intake steady, eat it in place of, rather than in addition to, other foods or snacks.

This article is taken from Dr. Julian Whitaker’s Health and Healing Newsletter, May 2005 issue.  Dr. Julian Whitaker is the director of the Whitaker Wellness Institute in Newport Beach, California.

We have found a source of excellent dark chocolate that is fairly traded.  Visit www.equalexchange.com. 

More interesting facts about chocolate:

Milk Chocolate has more Calcium, Vitamin C and Protein.

Dark Chocolate has less sodium, no cholesterol, and more iron.

What makes Fair Trade cocoa different?
Whereas most cocoa on the world market is bought "blind" through importers and brokers, the flow of Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa is monitored - from the farmers to the store shelf - by independent, non-profit, certifying organizations. These two organizations, FLO International and TransFair USA, guarantee that the cocoa was produced and traded in a socially responsible manner, specifically that:

• International Labor Organization Conventions 29, 105 and 138 on child labor and forced labor are adhered to.
• The cocoa was bought directly from a democratically controlled cooperative of small scale farmers. This helps them to gain more control of their livelihoods and ensures farmers a higher percentage of cocoa export revenues.
• The cooperative was paid at least $1,950 per metric ton of organic cocoa. This is much higher than the world market price over the last two years. In 2000 the market price dropped as low as $640/ton.

Only cocoa products meeting these conditions may carry the TransFair USA's Fair Trade Certified™ label.

Fair trade information is from www.equalexchange.com.