When It Comes to Chocolate, Dark is Healthier For You

The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.
--Thomas Jefferson

Dark chocolate may help reduce blood pressure and boost the body's ability to metabolize sugar from food, according to the results of a small recent study in Italy and published in the March 2005 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Investigators at the University of L'Aquila in Italy found that after eating only 100 grams, or 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate every day for 15 days, 15 healthy people had lower blood pressures and were more sensitive to insulin, an important factor in metabolizing sugar.

This is not the first study to demonstrate potential health benefits of dark chocolate, which contains high levels of a kind of antioxidant called flavonoids. Research shows that flavonoids that can help maintain a healthy heart and good circulation and reduce blood clotting, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.

Chocolate's health benefits include flavonoids that help the body by neutralizing potentially cell-damaging substances known as oxygen-free radicals, which are a normal byproduct of metabolism, explained Dr. Claudio Ferri.

However, Ferri urges caution when interpreting the results. In spite of dark chocolate's apparent benefits and its rich antioxidant base, it also contains a lot of fat and calories. Dr. Ferri noted that each 100 grams of dark chocolate contains roughly 500 calories. He suggests that people who want to add some chocolate to their diet need to subtract an equivalent amount of calories by cutting back on other foods, to avoid weight gain.

Another good reason to keep-on eating dark chocolate! Unfortunately, milk and white chocolates do not provide the same health benefits.

There are four basic food groups, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles. --Unknown

Read more about this chocolate health research finding:
Dark Chocolate Is Healthier

If you are not feeling well, if you have not slept, chocolate will revive you. But you have no chocolate! I think of that again and again! My dear, how will you ever manage? --Marquise de Sevigne, February 11, 1677