Chocolate seems to be all over the news lately, so I thought I'd share some of the latest (and to a chocolate fiend like me, the greatest) studies. The benefits of chocolate, I've found, are many: massive amounts of antioxidants, lowering your blood pressure, guarding against blood clots, and even more pleasurable than kissing!
The April issue of The Archives of Internal Medicine brought us an analysis of four studies of black tea, green tea and dark chocolate. Researchers chose from over 3,000 papers, favoring the most randomized and controlled studies. After using statistical technigues to combine the data, their analysis found four of five studies showing that chocolate reduces blood pressure after eating.
None of the tea drinking studies found any significant benefit.
Chocolate, however, is where it's at: eating three squares of dark chocolate was almost as effective as taking common antihypertensive drugs.
The good things found in dark chocolate are chemical substances called polyphenols, which are known to help control blood pressure. Milk proteins will prevent the absorption of polyphenols, so milk chocolate is not effective in helping blood pressure.
Find the full text of the study here: Effect of Cocoa and Tea Intake on Blood Pressure: A Meta-analysis (Site requires registration)
Another paper from the Pennington Nutritional Series outlines the advantages of cocoa powder as a powerful antioxidant. In Cocoa Polyphenols, the authors Heli Roy and Shanna Lundy break down the antioxidant capacity of various foods.
The method they used to quantify the antioxidant capacity of food is Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC). Basically, the technique measures how well a sample food disarms free radicals, and how long it takes. ORAC values are expressed as mmole TE/g (micromoles Trolox equivalent per gram of substance – Trolox being a water-soluble derivative of tocopherol, the standard control for antioxidant activity). And if all of that was Greek to you, let the numbers speak louder than words:
Strawberry 1,600
Blueberry 2,200
Prunes 5,700
Milk chocolate 6,800
Dark chocolate 13,000
In other words, dark chocolate wins again!
Researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health also found that dark chocolate guards against blood clots. This was a pretty funny story: 139 people were excluded from a larger study on aspirin. Why? Participants were told to refrain from eating certain foods known to affect platelet activity - including chocolate – and these chocoholics just couldn't stay away!
Professor Diane Becker said: "What these chocolate 'offenders' taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to aspirin in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack."
And lastly, Dr David Lewis, formerly of the University of Sussex, and now of the Mind Lab, found that "chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz. A buzz that, in many cases, lasted four times as long as the most passionate kiss."
This study monitored the heart rates and brain activity of couples in their 20s, as they melted 60% dark chocolate in their mouths, and as they kissed.
Dr Lewis said: "These results really surprised and intrigued us. While we fully expected chocolate- especially dark chocolate - to increase heart rates due to the fact it contains some highly stimulating substances, both the length of this increase together with the powerful effects it had on the mind were something none of us had anticipated."
As the chocolate started melting, all regions of the brain received a boost far more intense and longer lasting than the excitement seen with kissing.
So, I hear you wondering, what's a low carber to do? Well, the interesting part about all these studies for me were the conclusions which emphasized that both milk and sugar undo the benefits of consuming dark chocolate. Low carb chocolate treats are the way to go!
Try eating a couple of squares of Lindt 85% chocolate – at 1.25g of carbs per square, these will not set you back far in your carb count, and are delicious too.
If sugar alcohols agree with you (and be warned, they disagree with many tummies), you can try some of the low-carb chocolate bars around. I've been taste-testing a few available in Montreal (just doing my part, ya know), so I'll be posting the results soon.
Use cocoa powder for your sweet treats! There's the Ten Minute Chocolate Cake recipe, or low carb hot chocolate made with unsweetened cocoa powder and Splenda.
Make some bark, a perennial favorite for low-carbers dying for some crunch. Melt a couple of unsweetened chocolate squares, pour in two tablespoons of sugar free syrup (or substitute Splenda), add a couple tablespoons of coconut oil, and then stir in the unsalted nuts of your choice: pecans, walnuts, pistachios or almonds all work well. Spread the mixture on some wax paper or foil, and pop in the freezer for 15-20 mins, until hardened.
Lastly, sit back and enjoy – you're doing your body good. And even though it apparently doesn't do much for blood pressure, I still enjoy a cup of tea with my chocolate.
Hmmm, how about eating a delicious piece of dark chocolate (I love ChocoPerfection bars!) and THEN kissing passionately. Might be messy, but I bet it'll put a big smile on your face. :)
That's my two cents worth!
Posted by: Jimmy Moore | May 10, 2007 at 01:42 PM