Chocolate... the healthy sweet! Chocolate comes from the cacao bean, which grows on trees in the tropical regions of Mexico and Central and South America. Have you ever been to Hershey Park, Pennsylvania to see the chocolate tour? It is so interesting and fun I recommend it. After the cacao beans are harvested, they are fermented, roasted, and shelled to remove a nib. (You can purchase cacao nibs- they have a very bitter taste almost comparable to strong wine). So then the nibs are ground to powder, mixed with liquid to form liquor, and then either created into cocoa solids or cocoa butter.Unsweetened chocolate is chocolate liquor and fat.
Cocoa Powder is pulverized chocolate liquor with the cocoa butter removed.
Dark Chocolate is cocoa solids, cocoa butter, fat, and sugar.
Milk Chocolate is dark chocolate plus milk.
White Chocolate is cocoa butter, sugar, and milk.
Semisweet Chocolate is dark chocolate with less sugar.
Bittersweet Chocolate is cocoa solids, cocoa butter, a small amount of sugar, vanilla, and lecithin.
Compound Chocolate is cocoa, vegetable fat, and sweetener. Since it doesn't contain cocoa butter it technically isn't chocolate. This confection is cheaper than chocolate, and may contain hydrogenated oil (trans fat). Candy made with compound chocolate include Girl Scout cookies (Thin Mints, Tagalongs, Samoas, All Abouts), Butterfinger, and Baby Ruth candy bars.
Health Benefits
Chocolate, or more specifically- cocoa contains theobromine and phenethylamine. Both of these compounds have been linked to increasing serotonin levels in the brain. Dark chocolate is linked to lowered blood pressure. It is rich in antioxidants- in fact minimally processed dark chocolate contains more antioxidants than blueberries, green tea, or red wine. Chocolate alsocontains a flavonoid called epicatechin. This compound inhibits platelet aggregation and causes blood vessels to dilate (reducing risk of blood clots). You may reduce your risk of heart attack by eating a small amount of dark chocolate regularly. However be careful what type of chocolate you consume- flavonoids are removed from commercial chocolate because they have a bitter taste. Also, milk deactivates the antioxidants and flavonoids in chocolate, so eating milk chocolate, or drinking milk with dark chocolate will result in less absorption of these compounds.
Other suggested benefits of chocolate include
- Anticancer
- Brain stimulator
- Cough preventor
- Antidiarrhoeal
- Aphrodisiac
- Muscle recovery after workouts
- Nootropic= memory enhancing, delays brain function decline during aging
- Help in treating diabetes (low glycemic index)
- Help in treating dementia
Theobromine
This compound is what gives chocolate a stimulant effect. Theobromine is more potent in animals- its use in horse racing is prohibited, and it is toxic to cats and dogs (the reason you shouldn't feed chocolate to them). White chocolate, which doesn't contain cocoa solids, only has minimal amounts of theobromine and caffeine, and therefore does not provide a stimulant effect. Chocolate also contains caffeine, but you would need to eat more than a dozen chocolate bars to get the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee.
Minerals
Chocolate is rich in minerals including magnesium, copper, potassium, and iron. Unsweetened chocolate and dark chocolate are highest in these minerals. One average dark chocolate bar contains about 12% of the DV for magnesium.
Chocolate Recipes
Banana Split Oatmeal Replace quick oats with steel cut oats, semi-sweet chocolate chips with dark chocolate, and peanuts with walnuts
Love the topic of this blog - Thanks for all the wonderful info on Chocolate (one of my favorite foods)!!!
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