[SeptemberMorn]

Not just any chocolate, and always in moderation, said Mary Engler, a professor of physiological nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. But her new study does find that biting into the right stuff can make arteries expand, increasing blood flow and thus reducing cardiovascular risk.

Milk chocolate won't do, Engler stressed, because it's, well, too milky. Look for darker chocolates, because darkness is an indicator of high levels of flavonoids, the chemicals that loosen up the arteries.

And this is one instance where good taste and good health go hand in hand, Engler said.

You can tell that a chocolate has a high flavonoid content because "the flavor is so intense and rich," she said.

It's All in the Flavonoids

The study that Engler and her colleagues are reporting in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition had 11 willing participants eat 1.6 ounces of flavonoid-rich chocolate every day for two weeks. Another 10 volunteers, sacrificing themselves for science, consumed an equal amount of low-flavonoid chocolate.

Ultrasound measurements showed that expansion of the arteries in response to greater blood flow increased by 10 percent in the flavonoid consumers, while there was a slight decrease in those who got the flavonoid-poor chocolate. Blood levels of a powerful flavonoid, epicatechin, rose more than eightfold for the high-flavonoid group and remained unchanged for the others.

The study was done in collaboration with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. Jeffrey Blumberg, chief of the center's Antioxidant Research Laboratory, said the work has expanded to look at other flavonoid-containing foods.

"Not only chocolate, but also tea, oat bran, almond skins and blueberries, all are good sources of flavonoids," Blumberg said. "We're trying to get a better understanding of vital chemicals, flavonoids being one of the larger groups."

Chocolate "happens to be a rich source of flavonoids," Blumberg said, but he added that "we are not trying to position chocolate as a health food."

In addition to flavonoids, chocolate also has a lot of calories and a lot of saturated fat, neither of which is good for the arteries, he said.

"But in the context of a reasonable diet, chocolate is not only a pleasurable food but might contain some health-promoting ingredients," Blumberg said.

Recommendations about chocolate can be compared with those about wine, Engler said. An occasional glass or two of wine has been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, she said, "but people should not be overindulgent with wine. The same is true of dark chocolate in moderation as part of a well-balanced diet."

More information

You can explore the frontier of chocolate research by consulting the Chocolate Information Center.





<font color=blue>"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt" --Shakespeare</font color=blue>

[Fuzzybear]

Moderation??? Naah!

[heatherm]

LOL ((((((((((((Fuzzy and Tomi)))))))))))))


Heather

[Taonuviel]

lol, I've always thought chocolate was healthy... how could it not be when it can be so comforting? Hershey's Dark is mucho bono.

Did you find this article on the tv news? Think I heard it, too...

Oh, the best, feel-good, I'd-consider-it-healthy chocolate treats... chocolate-covered coffee beans... Costa Rican are very good, as are Starbucks. Mmmmm... good enough to make me forget I'm using food for comfort. lol

[SeptemberMorn]

Don't you get wired eating coffee beans, though?? LOL I'd think you'd get a double whammy eating chocolate and caffeine at the same time! wheeeeeeeee!!




<font color=blue>"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt" --Shakespeare</font color=blue>

[Taonuviel]

Hmmmm... that depends, on what I'm not sure. There's been times I've kept popping them uncontrollably and had no effect on my mood, and other times it's made me feel very hyper/somewhat manic. But usually, no matter how many I'm having, it makes me feel a little better - partly because I see it as treating myself, which I don't do often, usually feel guilty if I do, and feel like I deserve very much the opposite. But oddly enough, I don't think I've ever felt guilty after chocolate-covered coffee beans. Maybe there's something to the beans to go along with the good qualities of the chocolate... I'd like to think so, anyway.

[Rapunzel]

I had heard some good things about dark chocolate before this. I even have a large Hershey's Special Dark bar in my desk. Not so large anymore though. I go into withdrawal without my chocolate for very long.

<font color=orange>"Never forget: 2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2."</font color=orange>

[SeptemberMorn]

it's made me feel very hyper/somewhat manic

Yah! I guess so! LOLOL

partly because I see it as treating myself, which I don't do often, usually feel guilty if I do, and feel like I deserve very much the opposite. But oddly enough, I don't think I've ever felt guilty after chocolate-covered coffee beans.

Then I suggest you have a second "treat" lined up for yourself next time you eat chocolate covered coffee beans! Enjoy the feeling and keep treating yourself until you get used to the feeling! <font color=red>YOU DESERVE IT!</font color=red>




<font color=blue>"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt" --Shakespeare</font color=blue>