by Svetlana Konnikova, MA, AN

Do you think superstar foods are only fruits, berries, vegetables and dark-leafed  kale and collards, or dark brown rice and broccoli? There is great news about another delicious and nutritious food that has been eaten for centuries by gourmands and many other people who understood its value and magic.

021795008675_catThis superstar food is dark chocolate,  a plant-based product that is one of the most nutritional, “comfort foods” you can imagine. Do you have a sweet tooth or prefer spicy and salty foods instead? Eat dark chocolate, anyway. Don’t refuse this natural treat with its delicious taste and delicate flavor. Have a piece and get a pleasant feeling of  a slow melting, smooth dark brown, slightly sweet chocolate mixture in your mouth!

Chocolate, in reasonable amounts (2-3 pieces), can be really healthy for you!  Do you love sweets? Are you trying to eat healthy? Are you working already on your New Year’s Resolutions? Start eating dark chocolate now and  include this superstar food in your everyday healthy diet. I am a big fan of dark chocolate from “the time immemorial”  and it serves me well.

What makes dark chocolate so good for you? Here’s the explanation:

  • The basic ingredient in making chocolate is cocoa butter (theobrtoma oil or theobroma cocoa), one of the most stable fats known that contains natural antioxidants preventing rancidity–the chemical decomposition of the product. This light yellow, pure vegetable oil is extracted from cocoa beans, and it has chocolate flavor and aroma. Cocoa butter is used to make chocolate or buscuits, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and skin care products, such as lotions and soaps. So, where you see cocoa butter as one of ingredients, it’s good for you.
  • The main saturated fat found in cocoa butter is stearic acid, which doesn’t raise cholesterol levels in blood, and contributes to your heart health in the same way as  baby aspirin decreases platelet activity–coronary artery disease. What willyou prefer, to take aspirin or enjoy eating a delicious superstar food? Of course, dark chocolate! 
  • According to the National Academy of Sciences, overall chocolate has potent antioxidants – flavonoids (a category of polyphenols), which protect cells and issues from damage by free radicals, which are unstable molecules that can weaken and alter cells.  If cells are weak, you get sick! Antioxidants also  reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases related to stress, poor diet, and the inevitable process of  aging.
  • Antioxidants improve blood flow and protect blockage of arteries. A 2007 Swiss study of heart transplant patients found a remarkable healing effect on their coronary arteries after eating just a single dose of dark chocolate. The diameter of these important arteries was significantly increased providing better supply of life-sustaining oxygen to their hearts.
  • A 2007 study by Chinese researchers reported that participants who ate approxomately 1.5 ounces of dark chocolate daily for two weeks significantly improved coronary blood flow.

Experts say that the blood flow is vital to our heart because the blood carries oxygen which is the best fuel for cells. “Consider that the heart pumps 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, says Tom Morledge, MD, of the Center for Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, “and it’s easy to see why an optimum source of energy is important to its function. On the other hand, eating a fast food hamburger with all the trimmings can cause the arteries in our bodies to have impaired function within an hour.”

  •  Dark chocolate wins a champion’s place in comparisson with other recognized superfoods. Researchers  found that red wine, green tea and apples also contain flavonoids helping to improve blood circulation, reduce blood pressure, and raise levels of good cholesterol. However,  the amounts of flavonoids in these foods are lower than in dark chocolate. 
  • One study found that the chocolate has four times more the polyphenol (flavonoid) content than tea.
  • Chocolate can also help to lower total cholesterol levels in the blood. It has oleic acid (the monosaturated fat), the same as  food scientists found in olive oil.
  • As reported at Chocolate.org, another study found that pregnant women who used to eat good quality, dark chocolate during their pregnancy, had happy, smiling and laughing babies more often that those who did not consume chocolate. In addition, the babies born to chocolate-eating mothers also showed less fear in new situations and unfamiliar surroundings than babies born to chocolate-abstaining mothers.

Scientists say, chocolate can influence your mood. Did you notice, when you eat a good piece of chocolate, you feel energetic and merry? There are some interesting natural chemicals found in chocolate that help to stimulate your central nervous system, relax bronchi and lungs, improve blood vessels, and even prevent cavities from forming.

  • One of these chemicals is phenylethylamine (PEA). It represents a small amount in chocolate. Maybe this quantity is not enough to reproduce better feelings, similar to what someone feels when he or she falls in love. But this natural chemical in the combination with sugar and fat in chocolate can raise serotonin and endorphin levels in the brain and elevate mood.

Are you looking now for any solution to help you to heal and nourish your body, mind  and soul after a heartbreak? If you just broke up with your boyfriend or your girlfriend or have an unhappy relationship and desperate to get out of it, start  fresh, eat the best quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa). You’ll see how just one once of  this magic food can do the trick. It’ll put you in a jovial mood and may help to soothe your broken heart.

Read our next post about what kind of chocolate is the best and how much to eat is healthful for you.

References: Chocolate in Mesamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao by Cameron McNeil, University of Florida Press, 2006; the Great Book of Chocolate by David Leibovitz, Ten Speed Press, 2004; Dark Chocolate Could Help Hearts by Emma Ross, CBS News, May 29, 2008;  Karen Dakin, Cacao and Chocolate )A Uto-Aztecan Perspective Ancient Mesamerica), Cambridge University Press, 2000

http://www.Chocolate.org;  http://www.360-5.com; www.1american.edu/ted/chocolate-slave.htm

Copyright 2009.