5 Reasons to Love Dark Chocolate

"I could give up chocolate, but I'm not a quitter" ... said one very wise woman somewhere.

Chocolate is love!

Love. How do you show yourself love?  Our food choices usually have a strong emotional connection to us; some would say we eat what we eat to feel "loved". But somehow chocolate will show itself up when we want to give gifts pertaining to our affection. But not all chocolate is the same! Milk chocolate contains more milk solids (hence, more saturated fat) than dark chocolate, and fewer health benefits.

 And on this Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share 5 reasons to LOVE dark chocolate and not feel guilty about having a nibble!

Here are my 5 reasons to LOVE eating dark chocolate 👊

1. Dark Chocolate is good for your heart!

We can train our taste buds in a few short days and one of the best ways to train it is to move away from eating milk chocolate and choosing more dark chocolate sweets. Dark chocolate has 2-3 times more flavanols - powerful, anti-oxidant compounds that help fight cancer & strengthen the heart - than milk chocolate. I recommend selecting chocolate that has higher than 80% cocoa to get the most benefit from your tasty morsel.

2. Dark Chocolate has been shown to reduce blood pressure

Flavanols have been shown to support the production of nitric oxide (NO) in the endolethium (the inner cell lining of blood vessels) that helps to relax the blood vessels and improve blood flow, thereby lowering blood pressure. Researchers at the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research designed a study that tested the effects of dark chocolate consumption on high-anxiety subjects. Participants received a medium-sized commercially available chocolate bar (Noir Intense, 74 percent dark) to eat every day. After two weeks, researchers found that levels of the stress markers cortisol and adrenaline had substantially decreased in their urine. 

3. Dark Chocolate helps insulin insensitivity

As a sweet, chocolate is a confection containing saturated fat and processed sugar, two ingredients that are not healthy. But dark chocolate with high amounts of cocoa solids provides antioxidants, which mobilize stem cells, aid in blood sugar control, and reduce inflammation—all contributing to a reduced risk of diabetes. The more sensitive you are to insulin, the less risk you have to developing diabetes. Diabetes is a disease that can open the door to many more health problems once diagnosed. And simple changes in ones' diet and exercise over a continued period of time can reverse or eliminate many diabetes risk factors.

4. Dark Chocolate is a stem-cell recruiting food

"With the help of over 750,000 stem cells, your body regenerates itself each and every day. Dark chocolate can mobilize your stem cells to carry out their job to the fullest. At the University of California, San Francisco, researchers found that participants who received a chocolate drink made with cocoa twice a day for thirty days had twice as many stem cells in their circulation as their control group" per Dr. Michael Li, author of Eat to Beat Disease (2). 

5. Dark chocolate may help improve memory.

Dark chocolate has been linked to improved cognition function. When healthy people between the ages of 50 and 69 drank a mixture high in cocoa flavanols for three months, they performed about 25% better on a memory test compared to a control group of participants. The study suggests that cocoa flavanols help reverse age-related memory decline.  

MOST IMPORTANT TAKE-AWAY OF ALL...

Just because something may have health benefits doesn't mean it's a license to eat unlimited quantities! 1 ounce serving of dark chocolate has 150-170, 12 grams of fat (5-7 grams saturated), 2 grams protein, 13 grams carbohydrate, and 3 grams fiber. When we talk about heart health, we stress keeping your saturated fats within 10% of your overall diet. A person eating 1800 calories should stay under 18 grams of saturated fat/day. If you drink 8 ounces of 2% milk, have 1 cup of 2% or full-fat yogurt and 16 ounce coffee with 3 Tablespoons of half & half in your morning coffee all at breakfast, you could already have consumed 10 grams of SATURATED fat just at your first meal.

Tips to enjoying your dark chocolate:

• I recommend taking small bites of chocolate and letting it melt in your mouth over time. Because of the higher concentration of cocoa solids, this will decrease any bitter taste. Coupled with a warm cup of coffee in a controlled manner, and you can find yourself eating less calories but enjoying the experience as if it were a hot chocolate chip cookie right from the oven!

• Be careful - the higher percentage of cocoa solids, the higher the caffeine content! Two ounces of 70% dark chocolate contains about 50-60 mg caffeine. In comparison, an 8-ounce cup of coffee contains 100-200 milligrams of caffeine.

• Store in a cool dry area (65-70 F) in a tightly sealed container. Do not refrigerate, which can promote the chocolate to “bloom,” a whitish coating caused by sugar rising to the surface due to excess moisture. Bloom does not affect flavor but does not look appealing. Take away the "bloom" by melting the chocolate, stirring it well, and then allowing it to slowly cool back into a solid.

• Cocoa is sometimes treated with alkali, or Dutch-processed, to improve the flavor and appearance. However this causes a significant loss of flavanols. Natural cocoa, found in the baking aisle, retains the most flavanols (1).

Resources:

(1) Miller KB, Hurst WJ, Payne MJ, et al. Impact of alkalization on the antioxidant and flavanol content of commercial cocoa powders. J Agric Food Chem. 2008;56:8527-33.

(2) Li Michael, Eat to Beat Disease, 2019