Chocolate confectionery is a much maligned group of food products being blamed for many health related problems but fortunately this adverse image has not dented its popularity amongst the consumers young as well as the old who continue to enjoy the delicate flavor of many chocolate products. That cocoa bean contains many health protecting phytochemicals has been known for many years but the high fat content, that too highly saturated ones and high sugar levels in most of the products have given a bad image to chocolate products. Recent studies have brought out clearly that chocolate consumption in limited quantities can do wonders to protect human health.
An extensive study by German nutritionists has produced results many chocoholics have been dreaming of for years. They monitored more than 19,000 people and their chocolate consumption over a decade, finding those who ate the most got the greatest benefit. The experts found eating 7.5 grams of dark chocolate could reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke by 39% and could also lead to lower blood pressure. As always though, there is a catch - the most expensive, purest chocolate is the best for you. The nutritionists found dark chocolate produced the best results when it contains at least 70% cocoa. June Davidson from the British Heart Foundation also cautioned the amount identified in the study did not offer the chance to pig out.
"This was a really interesting study and it found that a very small amount of chocolate actually reduced your blood pressure and your risk of heart disease. "With it being Easter, chocolate lovers could get very excited about this report, but you really do need to read the small print about this study and it's perhaps not as good as it seems. "The amounts of chocolate were very small - only seven grams - and that's about a square a day or about half a small Easter egg spread over a whole week, so we are talking about very, very small amounts of chocolate." Dianna Muriarriz, who runs a boutique chocolate store in Leamington Spa, said chocolate becomes fattening and higher in calories when other things are added to it. "The more natural it is, the better it is for you. So the darker the chocolate, the better it is for you." Ms Davidson added: "Dark chocolate has had a lot of publicity in the past about it being beneficial and that's due to the flavonols that are actually in the cocoa. "There's some suggestion that chemical has heart-protecting effects." Some boutique chocolates even contain real fruit, so does that mean they count towards your five a day? Doubt it. The problem now is likely to be whether chocolate will taste as good, now that it is so good for you.
If industry can reorient its strategy to make more health friendly products from cocoa beans and position it as a "desirable and nutritious" well being category of food products, it will earn the respect and love of humanity for years to come.
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