The Case for Dark Chocolate
Easter is almost upon us, and we thought it would be an opportunity to see if there were any benefits to eating chocolate. We spoke to Naturopath Stephen Eddey, to get the low down on why we should indulge (a little) in a certain type of chocolate this Easter. Here is what he had to say.
“Unfortunately, I am not going to tell you that “chocolate is a gift from the Gods” and should be eaten daily. I am not even going to tell you it is good for you. I am a Naturopath and have to be straight with you when it comes to giving nutritional advice. I am however, going to contradict myself ever so slightly and let you know that, in certain circumstances, chocolate may be beneficial for you.”
Bitter Dark Chocolate
“First things first, I am not talking about the chocolate bars that adorn Milk Bars and checkout isles as supermarkets. Rather, I am talking about antioxidant and polyphenol rich, low sugar, bitter dark chocolate. Eating moderate amounts of this stuff actually does improve your health via a number of mechanisms.”
Weight and Body Mass
“A recent meta-analysis revealed that weight and body mass were reduced with dark chocolate consumption of ≥30g chocolate per day in trials between 4-8 weeks. Dark chocolate consumption also resulted in a waist circumference reduction, which obviously is good news for people trying to lose those extra pounds”.[1]
Mood Enhancing
“This may not come as a surprise to some but chocolate improves your mood. The mood and cognition-enhancing effects of dark chocolate can be attributed to the flavanols and methylxanthines and to more specifically the activities of the salsolinol again found in the chocolate. This is of course on top the orosensory properties of chocolate!” [2]
So dark chocolate is good for you, given it is low in sugar and not eaten in excess! Great news for those of us who love chocolate and are hoping to have a little with the children/grandchildren this Easter (and year round). Have a lovely Easter everyone.
References for article quotes (above):
[1] Kord-Varkaneh H1,2, Ghaedi E2, Nazary-Vanani A2, Mohammadi H3,4, Shab-Bidar S1. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2018 Mar 19:0. Does cocoa/dark chocolate supplementation have favorable effect on body weight, body mass index and waist circumference? A systematic review, meta-analysis and dose-response of randomized clinical trials.
[2] Tuenter E1, Foubert K1, Pieters L1. Planta Med. 2018 Mar 14. Mood Components in Cocoa and Chocolate: The Mood Pyramid.