The Health Benefits of Chocolate: Chocolate as an Antioxidant, Anti-inflammatory and More

Yes, it's true. Chocolate, the flavor-and the food-that's inspired many cravings can actually be beneficial to your health.

Chocolate as an antioxidant
First, a "bite" of science: Free radicals are atoms or molecules that have lost an electron. They wander the body in search of their missing part, and the way they get it back is to combine with oxygen-hence the term "oxidation." When they do this they create another free radical (the molecule they took the electron from), beginning a chain reaction that can cause the number of free radicals in the body to increase to a dangerous level. Free radicals are dangerous because the process of oxidation can damage cells, leading to conditions like cataracts, heart disease, and even cancer.

Anything that stops the process of oxidation-in other words, an "anti-oxidant"-is good for the body. Fortunately, nature has provided many plants that contain antioxidants, and the cocoa tree is one of them.

The main antioxidants in chocolate seem to be the flavonoids catechin and epicatechin. The latter especially seems to have an effect on the oxidation rate of LDL cholesterol, which can build up in blood vessels and lead to atherosclerosis, a major cause of heart disease. It also reduces platelet "aggregation"-clotting-which can contribute to heart and circulatory problems.

The effects of catechin and epicatechin have been studied in the United States in Pennsylvania (at Penn State University) and in California (at UC Davis and UC San Francisco). These studies compared the effects of consuming high-flavonoid vs. low-flavonoid chocolate. A study in Australia, though, showed that the consumption of both high-flavonoid and low-flavonoid chocolate was associated with reduced free radical levels, so it's possible that there's something else in chocolate that's producing this effect.

Chocolate as an anti-inflammatory
Inflammation is the redness and swelling you see around an injury. It's also present in chronic conditions like arthritis, and has even been associated with the development of some forms of cancer. The process of inflammation, while too complicated to describe here, basically seems to involve increased levels of leukotriene in the body.

What does chocolate have to do with all this? Well, a study done in Germany showed that the epicatechin in chocolate helps decrease levels of leukotriene. So chocolate may help reduce inflammation by reducing leukotriene.

Chocolate as "brain food"
People who are stressed or otherwise emotionally upset have been turning to chocolate for hundreds of years to help themselves feel better. Now, at least one study-in the UK-has shown an association between eating chocolate and the improvement of mood. This effect was observed with the consumption of both chocolate and a non-chocolate caffeine-theobromine combination, so it does seem to be the caffeine and theobromine that are at least contributing to this effect.

This study also measured cognitive function-the ability to think and process information. This function also improved after the consumption of chocolate. Both milk and dark chocolate had this effect, but white chocolate did not, so it may be methylxanthine (which is not present in white chocolate) that is the contributor here.

Other considerations
People have been concerned about the amount of fat that chocolate contains (in the cocoa butter). Chocolate is high in fat, but at least a third of this is stearic acid, which does not have an effect on cholesterol. This may be just another example of the less harmful effect of plant fats (versus animal fats) on the body.

Keep in mind that many of the studies mentioned above were done using specially-prepared chocolate. How many of the beneficial components of chocolate have made it into the average candy bar is uncertain. And the average candy bar is full of other ingredients that may not be so healthy-like refined sugar. (The Olmecs, Mayans, and Aztecs who originally cultivated chocolate made it into a beverage that they did not sweeten.)

So if you'd like to enjoy some of chocolate's health benefits yourself, you might want to make up your own treats using cocoa powder or other natural chocolate. Then you can excuse your chocolate cravings by saying, "It's good for me!"