Chocolate to Live For!

Just in time for Thanksgiving comes some good news you can use. Two weeks ago researchers reported at the American Heart Association's annual scientific sessions that ++eating dark chocolate may actually improve blood flow to your heart. Dr. Yumi Shina and her colleagues at Chiba University in Japan randomly divided healthy adults into two groups. One group was asked to consume a bar of dark chocolate rich in flavonoids containing 550mg of cacao polyphenols each day. The other group was asked to consume a daily bar of no-flavonoid white chocolate containing no polyphenols. (Polyphenols are a group of beneficial chemical substances found in tea, walnuts, grapes, olive oil, and many other fruits and vegetables. Flavonoids are a subgroup of polyphenols.)

After only two weeks blood flow to the heart improved significantly in the group consuming the dark chocolate but not in those eating the white chocolate. These improvements in blood flow were independent of changes in cholesterol levels, blood pressure and oxidative stress.

I've been reading about the health benefits of chocolate for many years, but this study really got my attention. When your heart receives more blood flow, that's a very good thing. These findings were also seen in an earlier study by researchers at UCSF and Tufts, published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. They found that chocolate significantly increased blood flow to the arm in only two weeks in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Somehow, many people believe that if a food tastes good or if it makes you feel good, then it can't possibly be good for you—"chocolate to die for!" Yet, an increasing number of studies show that some of the most delicious foods may also be among the most healthful.

Research on the effects of dietary polyphenols on human health has evolved considerably in the past 10 years. It strongly supports a role for polyphenols in the prevention of degenerative diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Cacao polyphenol contains four times as many disease-fighting flavonoids per serving as red wine or tea. The antioxidant properties of polyphenols have been widely studied, but it has become clear that the mechanisms of action of polyphenols go beyond the modulation of oxidative stress.

A study published earlier this year in the International Journal of Medical Sciences by Dr. Norman Hollenberg of Harvard Medical School found that those who live in mainland Panama had a relative risk of death from heart disease that was 1,280 percent higher, and a risk of death from cancer that was 630 percent higher, than those living on the island of Kuna, where they drink up to 40 cups per week of flavonol-rich cocoa. While other factors may also be involved, the researchers speculated that chocolate intake may play an important role.