When it comes to nutritional superfoods, chocolate takes the cake



Who says health foods are boring? Study after study proves that chocolate is good for more than curing a broken heart. The secret behind its powerful punch is cacao, the source of its rich, distinct taste. Packed with the antioxidant flavonoid and the chemical theobromine – which widens blood vessels – this little bean is a disease-fighting bullet. And forget Colgate: cacao also contains chemicals that fight the bacteria that cause tooth decay.

The only problem? Cacao on its own is bitter, chalky and hardly palatable. Enter milk, sugar and butter – great for your taste buds, not always for your health. Besides adding kilojoules, they can dilute the benefits of cacao. Snack smart: stick to chocolate with at least 70 per cent cacao (or cocoa, which is cacao in roasted, ground form), recommends Dr Mary Engler, a professor of physiological nursing at the University of California. (The trick is to limit your intake to 200g a week.)

Here are four reasons to raise the bar.

Chocolate gives you: a healthier heart.

The brown stuff reduces blood pressure, increases the flexibility of veins and arteries, and cuts down on stroke and heart attack risk. Most of the credit goes to flavonoids, which kill off free radicals, and polyphenols, also found in red wine. Polyphenols are known to prevent “bad” LDL cholesterol from oxidising – the state in which it does the most damage.
Tastes better than: an apple, which has only 20 per cent of the flavonoids of a choccie bar.


Chocolate gives you: cough relief.

One study by Imperial College London found that chocolate suppresses coughs almost as well as codeine, thanks to the theobromine it contains. This chemical, also responsible for chocolate’s feel-good effect, may curb activity in a part of the brain called the vagus nerve. Maria Belvisi, a professor or respiratory pharmacology at the National Heart and Lung Institute in London, says, “It has none of the negative side effects.”
Tastes better than: codeine, which can leave you sleepy and dull.


Chocolate gives you: happier kids.

Mums who ate chocolate daily during their pregnancy reported that they were better able to handle stress than those who abstained, according to University of Helsinki, Finland, research. In the study of 300, women also found their babies were happier and smiled more when they’d indulged.
Tastes better than: chewing on your screaming kid’s dummy.


Chocolate gives you: a guard against diabetes.

Confectionery a diabetes foe? Why not. In a small Italian study, participants who ate a bar of dark chocolate once a day for 15 days saw their potential for insulin resistance drop by nearly half. “Flavonoids increase nitric oxide production,” says lead researcher Dr Claudio Ferri, a professor at the University of L’Aquila in Italy. “And that helps control insulin sensitivity.”
Tastes better than: cherries, which have just 18 per cent of the flavonoids.