Superfood of the Week: Dark Chocolate

Our love affair with chocolate is rooted in its health-giving properties. The cacao bean is loaded with nutrients, happy-mood chemicals, and youth preserving antioxidants.

The bean from which we make our favorite confectionery is highly nutritious, being full of potassium, magnesium, vitamins B3 and B5, zinc, and selenium. However its true potency comes from it's high antioxidant content. Chocolate contains more than four times the catechins present in green tea and twice as much as in red wine. These substances lower the risk of both heart attacks and cancer by reducing inflammation and helping renew blood vessels, skin, and bone. More immediately, eating dark chocolate releases our beta-endorphins, or "happy chemicals."

• Caffeine and theobromine can boost energy and, in moderation help balance blood sugar and so promote weight loss.
• Rich source of flavanoids, which prevent excessive platelet aggregation and protect against oxidative damage to cholesterol and the lining of the arteries.
• Chocolate can improve quality of life, which is vital for staying young. Many people find it as pleasurable as sex.
• Contains healthy monounsaturated fats, shown to keep the heart youthful and strong. These healthy fats, unlike those saturated kinds found in meat and dairy products do not elevate cholesterol levels.
• Provides significant amounts of arginine, an amino acid that is required in the production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide causes blood vessels to dilate, which helps regulate blood flow, inflammation and blood pressure.
• Cocoa butter contains a small amount of the plant sterols, sitosterol and stigmasterol, which may help inhibit the absorption of dietary cholesterol.

Practical Tips:

The health benefits only apply to good quality dark chocolate: milk and sugar negate these. Eating dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids--- with nuts for extra benefits (skip these if your sensitive)--- will raise your antioxidant levels, but chocolate also has a high caffeine content, so avoid it late at night if you have sleep problems, and in some instances women should avoid chocolate if they have certain reproductive issues. An average small bar of chocolate contains the equivalent amount of caffeine of a third of a cup of coffee.

Did you know?

The scientific name for chocolate is Theobroma, meaning "food of the gods." In Aztec society, it was recognized as superior food, reserved for warriors, nobility and priests.