Americans have a strong Puritan ethic. They figure that if it hurts or tastes bad it must be good for you–and vice versa. That may partially explain the earnest embrace of prohibitions in our quest for good health. It would come as a shock to discover that chocolate might be good for you. Is chocolate health food?
For decades, people in the U.S. were told to cut back on fat and cholesterol. That translated into limitations on eggs, butter, and, of course, treats like chocolate.
The French, on the other hand, are more interested in moderation as the path to good health. They never traded in butter for margarine or gave up on eggs. They drink wine with their meals and appreciate good chocolate. Their heart attack statistics have always been lower than Americans’.
Rewriting the Rules:
Now, nutrition experts are revising many of their rules. Eggs are no longer forbidden. Margarine with trans fats is no longer a better butter substitute. And dark chocolate is being recognized for its health benefits.
Cocoa Flavanols Lower Blood Pressure:
Many studies have considered the effect of consuming chocolate, especially cocoa flavanols, on blood pressure. A systematic review found moderate-quality evidence that flavanol-rich cocoa lowers blood pressure modestly, particularly for people whose pressure is a bit on the high side to start with (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, April 25, 2017). A more recent review looked at 31 studies (Nutrients, June 2024). Although there were no changes in most factors such as waist circumference or body mass index, blood pressure was slightly lower in the people consuming high-flavanol cocoa or dark chocolate.
If It Discourages Diabetes, Is Chocolate Health Food?
The latest study has raised eyebrows with its suggestion we consider dark chocolate health food (BMJ, Dec. 4, 2024). More than 111,000 health professionals participating in the Nurses’ Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study II and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study answered questionnaires about their health and their dietary habits every few years. Having data from so many people for more than a decade allowed the investigators to analyze more than 4 million person-years. their conclusion: people who reported eating small amounts of dark chocolate five or more times a week were 10 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who never admitted eating chocolate.
The type of chocolate is important; while dark chocolate appears protective, milk chocolate consumption was associated with weight gain over time. Milk chocolate has more sugar and less of the potentially beneficial compounds found in dark chocolate such as flavanols or epicatechins. That might help explain the discrepancy.
A History of Chocolate Research:
This is hardly the first study to conclude that cocoa flavanols may offer some health benefits. Back in 2011, a team of nutrition experts from the Harvard School of Public Health reviewed the extensive research on chocolate and cocoa flavonoids (Journal of Nutrition, Nov. 2011). These antioxidant plant compounds have many beneficial physiological effects on humans.
Researchers became interested in cocoa and its compounds after anthropologists reported on Caribbean people called the Kuna. On their native islands off the coast of Panama, the Kuna have admirably low blood pressure even into old age. They rarely experience heart attacks or strokes. Once they move to the Panamanian mainland, however, the Kuna are just as likely as other people to die of cardiovascular causes.
What makes the difference? Scientists considered stress and salt intake and concluded those were not to blame (Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, 2006). Instead, the explanation lies in the five or more cups of flavonoid-rich cocoa that the island Kuna usually drink each day.
What the research shows is that the flavonoid compounds from cacao can lower systolic blood pressure and increase the flexibility of blood vessels. Cholesterol is affected favorably, with bad LDL cholesterol dropping and good HDL cholesterol rising. All these changes are modest but consistent. In addition, insulin resistance, which plays an important role in type 2 diabetes, is reduced. That might help explain the most recent research demonstrating that dark chocolate lovers are at slightly lower risk for diabetes.
Why Don’t Nutrition Scientists Call Chocolate Health Food?
Now, you might imagine that, given these results, nutrition nabobs would be encouraging us all to consume cacao flavonoids in cocoa or flavonoid-rich chocolate. Not so. When a new study on the benefits of these compounds is published, there is usually a cautionary commentary from a nutrition scientist warning us that chocolate is high in calories and that eating it will make us fat.
The research shows, however, that people who consume chocolate or cocoa in a research environment do not gain weight. In addition, epidemiology reveals that people who eat modest amounts of chocolate regularly don’t weigh more than people who deprive themselves (Archives of Internal Medicine, March 26, 2012).
Learn more about the health benefits of chocolate in The People’s Pharmacy Quick & Handy Home Remedies (National Geographic). Dark chocolate and naturally processed cocoa are usually richer in the valuable flavonoids that provide health benefits. If you want just cocoa flavanols without any extra sugar, the best source we can think of is CocoaVia. Because CocoaVia underwrites our radio show and podcast, you can get a discount of 15% with the promo code PEOPLES15.
