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All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.
—CHARLES M. SCHULZ
IN BRIEF: A little chocolate can go a long way to sweeten up your life and may even be healthy. Chocolate has been shown in various studies to lower the risk of heart disease and strokes and possibly to slow the rate of cognitive decline.
The Aztecs believed chocolate was a gift from Quetzalcoatl, the god of wisdom. This delicious food comes from the seeds of cacao trees, which produce the cocoa “beans” (which, like coffee, are actually seeds). These were first used in fermented beverages in Mesoamerica several thousand years ago.
This gift from the gods was appreciated by sixteenth-century European colonizers, who found that when mixed with sugar, chocolate became even more heavenly. Sugar-infused chocolate became a part of European culture, and although the chocolate trade proved a financial boon, it came with a cost. As Europeans began to consume unhealthy amounts of chocolate and sugar, their teeth began to rot and their health deteriorated. Chocolate’s reputation was ultimately stained. It, like too many treats in our culture, became a guilty pleasure, with sometimes too great an emphasis on the “guilty” part of the equation.
Fortunately, there has been growing awareness more recently that when it comes to health, chocolate really might be a gift from the gods. For a study published in the journal Heart in 2015, researchers did a meta-analysis with a combined sample size of more than 150,000 people. They found that regular consumers of chocolate had a 21 percent lower risk of stroke, a 29 percent lower risk of developing heart disease, and a whopping 45 percent lower risk of dying of heart disease (though not all 150,000 people were studied for each of these conditions). Participants eating up to 3.5 ounces of chocolate a day enjoyed these benefits.
Unlike most studies in which the benefits were primarily associated with dark chocolate, in this meta-analysis many participants did not regularly eat dark chocolate. While researchers cautioned that they couldn’t conclude that chocolate was the only reason for these benefits, they said, “There does not appear to be any evidence to say that chocolate should be avoided in those who are concerned about cardiovascular risk.”1
These results are not unusual. In 2016, researchers in Sweden did a prospective study of 67,640 men and women and found, as previous researchers have, that chocolate consumption is associated with a lower risk of heart disease.2 A 2010 German study of 19,357 people found regular moderate chocolate consumption appeared to lower the risk of heart disease, in part by reducing blood pressure.3 And a decreased chance of heart disease is just the beginning of the potential health effects of moderate chocolate consumption.
Many years ago, we would tell people to stop eating sugar, including most chocolate. Back then we believed, as most medical professionals did at the time, that chocolate was inherently unhealthy. Then we noticed that French patients who continued to enjoy chocolate as part of their afternoon ritual weighed less and often had better blood work than many U.S. patients. We learned that like wine, chocolate is a part of life in French culture and might be at least partially responsible for the French Paradox.
As time went on, there were more and more healthy patients who enjoyed dark chocolate in moderation. We, and the authors of several new studies, hypothesized it might provide a health benefit for those who consumed small amounts of it.
In addition to lowering the risk of heart disease, eating small amounts of chocolate has been linked to a lower risk of strokes, lower blood pressure, and a slower rate of cognitive decline and possibly the onset of Alzheimer’s.
In fact, if you forget to eat chocolate, you might just start forgetting a whole bunch of other things. In a study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease in 2016, researchers in Portugal found that chocolate eaters had about a 40 percent lower risk of cognitive decline in a group of about five hundred participants age sixty-five years and older.4
Researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center took things a step further. In a 2014 study they recruited thirty-seven healthy adults age fifty to sixty-eight. Participants who drank a mixture made specifically for the experiment that was high in cocoa flavanols performed better on memory tests than those who drank a low-flavanol mixture. Although the sample size was small and the mixture was made specifically for the study, the results suggested greater potential for cocoa’s memory-boosting abilities. Participants drank the mixture for only three months and performed like people several decades younger on the study’s memory test, roughly 25 percent better than those who drank the non-cocoa mixture.5
So what is it that makes this tasty treat healthy?
Chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, is extremely rich in antioxidants like polyphenols and flavonols. One study found that cocoa powder contains higher levels of antioxidants than many so-called super fruits, including blueberries, cranberries, and pomegranates.6 Chocolate, like coffee, is a rich source of methylxanthines—these include theobromine in chocolate, theophylline in tea, and caffeine in coffee, all of which stimulate our bodies in slightly different ways. Even though chocolate contains theobromine, which is similar to caffeine, it does not seem to give the same “jolt” as coffee, but it does offer a sense of well-being to many.
There is some indication that humans have long sought out food and beverages containing methylxanthines at least in part because of the way they make us feel. In 2013, researchers argued in the journal Nutrients that the reason humans have historically been drawn to chocolate and are still attracted to it is its positive influence on our mental state.
It is likely that humans have stuck to any brew containing compounds with psychoactive properties, resulting in a better daily life, i.e., more efficient thinking, exploring, hunting, etc. . . . Historical and anthropological data demonstrate that man has searched for nutrients and/or beverages that contained substances that helped not only calorically, but also in terms of well-being.
The study’s authors concluded that chocolate is particularly good for that sense of well-being because theobromine is more active in it than caffeine and does not generally produce anxiety or insomnia.7
These positive properties are found in greater abundance in dark chocolate than in milk chocolate, which has fewer antioxidants and less actual cocoa. White chocolate has even fewer antioxidants and less cocoa; in fact, it is not even really chocolate, though it does contain cocoa flavorings. We recommend eating dark chocolate that is at least 70 percent chocolate or higher. There are a greater number of studies supporting dark chocolate’s health benefits, and it has less sugar and fat than milk chocolate.
Keep chocolate in your diet only if you don’t have issues with the metabolism of sugar, because most chocolate (other than pure cocoa) does contain sugar, and as with the other vices discussed in this book, only if it’s something you already enjoy. Before you empty your vegetable drawer and replace the food in your cabinets with chocolate, remember that fruits and vegetables are still healthier than chocolate. Most research suggesting chocolate’s health benefits have focused on dark chocolate consumption; and when we talk about chocolate, we are primarily talking about high-quality dark chocolate, not the junk-food, ultra-industrialized varieties you’ll find in most grocery store aisles, which are the true monsters of the Halloween season. Chocolate can be unhealthy when abused because it can contain lots of sugar and calories. Those who totally give in to their sweet-tooth demons ultimately can suffer from conditions like type 2 diabetes, and a diet too high in sugar has been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s and stroke.
But to those who eat chocolate while employing that magic word moderation, there is possibly much to be gained, and we believe those who eat chocolate are not only getting beneficial antioxidants and some of the health benefits from the treat itself, but are also getting the joy of eating something they love.
It should be noted that there may be a positive bias when studies are funded by industry, as many medical studies, including chocolate studies, are. We therefore advise using common sense and prudence, and we don’t suggest eating gobs of chocolate instead of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Don’t snack on a bowl of bonbons all day, or chow down on gas-station candy on your stressful commute to work. Like other “good vices” in this book, it’s best to turn chocolate eating into something you look forward to and relish. Enjoy it with your afternoon tea or coffee, or as a small dessert after dinner. Go for quality over quantity by indulging in handcrafted or single-origin chocolate if you can find it. Remember, savor and enjoy each bite. Focus on the richness of the flavors, the hints of tropical fruit that can be detected on the tongue, and the smoothness of good chocolate. If you do, the health returns from chocolate will likely be, in a word, sweet.