What Are The Health Benefits Of Dark Chocolate?
When most people think of dark chocolate, they don’t necessarily think about how good it can be for their body. In fact, quite the opposite, over 40% of Brits surveyed by the British Heart Foundation admitted to feeling guilty after indulging in a sweet cocoa treat!
However, guilt shall plague our chocolate-desiring minds no longer! Here at YummyComb we’re here to share the wonderful news that dark chocolate actually carries several health benefits.
From helping the heart and maximising memory, to shutting out stress and decreasing the risk of diabetes. There are so many health benefits which can be found in moderately enjoying the bittersweet taste of lavishing dark chocolate.
So, let’s take a look at just exactly how switching out the Mars Bars for some hand-crafted rich dark chocolate can be not only a decision influenced by taste, but by healthy eating.
How Is Dark Chocolate Healthy?
Dark chocolate is one of the closest available ready-to-eat products to the cocoa beans themselves. The closer a food is to its organic and natural form, often means it will be a healthier option than any variations of it which have been amalgamated with other ingredients.
Having not been put through a culinary crucible, dark chocolate retains many of the antioxidants, nutrients and vitamins which are found in Cacao plants which produce the all important cocoa beans.
High cocoa percentage dark chocolate retains a natural compound called theobromine, which offers several health benefits. According to various studies*, this compound can help with reducing inflammation, lowering high blood pressure and even helping to prevent certain cancers.
*Referenced Studies
Harvard School of Public Health
2016 Journal of Nutritional Science
Dark Chocolate Can Help To Prevent Memory Loss & Boost Cognition
It’s not just Omega 3 rich oily fish which can be fuel for the brain! There is research that has been conducted that has established a link between high percentage cocoa dark chocolate and the production of neurochemicals within the brain that can help with memory and cognition.
For example, chocolates with 70% or over cacao content contain increased levels of flavonoids. These plant based chemicals have been found to increase traces of hippocampal BDNF, the key neurotrophin which gives us a better memory.
Furthermore, flavonoid rich diets have been found to steadily increase cognition within human brains. An increase in cognition can have serious health benefits. An Italian study from the University of Rome found that having a regular intake of flavonoids in your diet which ensure better cognitive function within your brain will actually decrease the risk of serious neurocognitive disorders such as dementia.
Eating Dark Chocolate Can Decrease Your Risk Of Heart Disease
It goes without saying, that for the majority of people, they will believe that the amount of fat and sugar content contained within chocolate would correlate with an increased risk of serious heart problems. Now, whilst for milk chocolate and white chocolate, that may be true.
However, when it comes to dark chocolate – the high concentration of beneficial natural compounds, chemicals and vitamins mean that it can actually alleviate the risk of heart disease.
As aforementioned in this article, dark chocolate has a high concentration of beneficial flavonoids. When it comes to the benefits to your heart, it is actually a flavonoid subtype called flavonols which is associated with lowering the risk of heart disease.
This was most notably discovered in clinical trials performed by Pennsylvania State University and published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Where they noted that participants who increased their intake of dark chocolate over a 4-week period, had 5% lower cholesterol and a decrease in lipoprotein particles in comparison with an average diet. Both of which will help to reduce the risk of heart disease and benefit overall cardiovascular health.
Dark Chocolate Has Been Shown To Help Blood Sugar Levels & Lower The Risk Of Diabetes
It may sound insane, but eating chocolate could actually be a way of preventing diabetes! Again, as with the heart disease and improved cognition, this does only apply to dark chocolate – but there are multiple studies which have shown a link between cocoa rich dark chocolate and a decreased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
When consumed as part of a balanced diet and in stable quantities, dark chocolate contains qualities which can actually assist the body in metabolising glucose, something which sufferers of type 2 diabetes struggle to do.
Not only this, but the flavonoids which are known to be present in 70%+ cacao dark chocolate have been found to significantly reduce oxidative stress in the body. As noted in an article published by MDPI, a Swiss Academic Journal. Oxidative stress has been linked by scientists and researchers previously in being one of the leading causes of the development of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. As such, it is thought that regular and moderate consumption of cocoa rich dark chocolate can seriously reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
Dark Chocolate’s Natural Ingredients Can Help Fight Certain Free Radicals Which Can Themselves Cause Cancers
The evidence of dark chocolate’s properties being medically proven to help prevent certain cancers is not as extensive as some of the points raised above. However, there is more scientific research expounding this proposition and developing a stronger case for this being true.
One such way that a link has been established in recent years is in the amount of beneficial antioxidants which are present in natural dark chocolate. Antioxidants themselves have been found to fight and neutralise free radicals within the body by giving up electrons.
Free radicals are essentially unstable oxygen molecules which cause ageing and disease – and, when the volume of free radicals within the body is too high they can attack cells which then increases the risk of developing cancer. As cited by the U.S National Cancer Institute in 2017.
When the antioxidants found within high percentage cocoa dark chocolate encounter free radicals in the body and sacrifice their own electrons, they act as essentially an ‘off-switch’ to the free radicals. This then allows for the chain reaction to be broken before the free radicals can affect and/or damage other cells within the body.
As such, though evidence here has been limited, it can be seen there is a possibility that a measured intake of 70%+ cacao dark chocolate could help to form part of an anti-cancer diet.
Summary
It’s clear that in recent years more and more academic studies have found clear health benefits to the consumption of dark chocolate as part of a balanced diet. With more research being conducted every year, many of these claims are continuing to be substantiated, and other benefits discovered.
Some health benefits, will need further research adding to them before they become medically recognised as beneficial – though it is certainly clear… There are multiple health benefits to consuming moderate amounts of dark chocolate within your diet.
