Major Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seeds of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for hundreds of years in Mexico, Central and South America.Chocolate has become one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays.

After fermentation, the beans are dried, then cleaned, and then roasted, and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. It is ground into cocoa mass pure chocolate in rough form and liquefied to chocolate liquor. The liquor also may be processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, combining cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat, and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids.

Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and hot chocolate. Semisweet chocolate is a dark chocolate with a low sugar content. Bittersweet chocolate is chocolate liquor to which some sugar, more cocoa butter, vanilla and sometimes lecithin have been added. It has less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate, but the two are interchangeable in baking. Cocoa solids contain alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body.

Even though chocolate is regularly eaten for pleasure, there are potentially many health effects, both negative and positive. Chocolate is rich in phenolics especially flavan-3-ols (catechins) and flavonoids. Dark chocolate's health values are because of its highest percentage of phenolics and flavanoid antioxidants.

1. Cocoa or dark chocolate may positively affect the circulatory system. This is mainly caused by a particular substance present in cocoa called epicatechin. Dark chocolate, with its high cocoa content, is a rich source of epicatechin and gallic acid, which are thought to possess cardioprotective properties. It reduces blood pressure, improved blood flow, and anti-clotting effects that may help prevent plaque formation.

2. Limited amounts of dark chocolate appear to help prevent heart disease.

Dark chocolate has also been said to reduce the possibility of a heart attack when consumed regularly in small amounts. Cocoa possesses a significant antioxidant action, protecting against LDL oxidation, perhaps more than other polyphenol antioxidant-rich foods and beverages. The oxidation of LDL cholesterol is considered a major factor in the promotion of coronary disease. When this waxy substance oxidizes, it tends to stick to artery walls, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke.

3. Prevention of premature ageing and cancer.

The study regarding antioxidants report direct correlation in prevention of premature aging and cancer.

4. Many researches found that cocoa-based prescription drugs could potentially help treat diabetes, dementia and other diseases.

5. Brain stimulator.

Chocolate is a mild stimulant mainly due to the presence of theobromine, the primary alkaloid in cocoa solids and chocolate. A specially formulated type of cocoa may be nootropic and delay brain function decline as the people age.

6. Muscle recovery.

Post-exercise consumption of low fat chocolate milk provides equal or possibly superior muscle recovery compared to a high-carbohydrate recovery beverage with the same amount of calories.

5. Prevention of cough.

As a cough suppressant, theobromine was found to be almost one third more effective than codeine, the leading cough medicine.

7. Antidiarrheal effects. 

Flavonoids can inhibit the development of diarrhea, suggesting antidiarrhoeal effects of cocoa.

8. Aphrodisiac.

Romantic lore commonly identifies chocolate as an aphrodisiac. It has been found that methylxanthine, an active biological substance found in chocolate, competes with adenosine, a presynaptic inhibitor modulator, and blocks its receptor that leads to arousal. Phenethylamine, an endogenous alkaloid sometimes described as a 'love chemical' is quickly metabolized by monoamineoxidase-B and does not reach the brain in significant amounts.

Although there are many health benefits, there are also some health hazards and it needs to be considered in the overall consumption and optimum benefits of chocolate.

Disadvantages

1. The unconstrained consumption of large quantities of chocolate without a corresponding increase in activity is thought to increase the risk of obesity. Raw chocolate is high in cocoa butter. Also manufacturers add other fats, sugars, and milk as well, all of which increase the caloric content of chocolate.

2. Chocolate absorbs lead from the environment during production, and there is a slight concern of mild lead poisoning for some types of chocolate.

3. Cocoa solids contain alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain.

4. Cocoa products also contain pharmacological substances such as n-arclethanolamines that are related to cannabis, which causes addition.

So eat adequate chocolate as much as your optimal health allows.