Antioxidants in Chocolate
Chocolate AntioxidantsAntioxidants in chocolate - now, isn't that good news for you chocolate lovers. Does that mean you can eat just any old chocolate bar and think you are doing something healthy for yourself? I wish!Dark Chocolate AntioxidantDark chocolate and cocoa is derived from cocoa beans which are grown in pods on the cacao tree. Antioxidants in chocolate are from the cocoa beans. They are a rich source of natural antioxidants called flavonoids and phytochemicals called polyphenols.Flavonoids have many antioxidant properties. Benefits of Dark Chocolate
You may be surprised, as I was, that there are many health benefits to eating cocoa and dark chocolate. Here is the report of one study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported on the effects of cocoa and dark chocolate on a study done on 23 healthy Americans. The published results were: Cocoa powder and dark chocolate may favorably affect cardiovascular disease risk status by 1) modestly reducing LDL oxidation susceptibility, 2) increasing serum total antioxidant capacity and 3) increasing HDL-cholesterol concentrations, and 4) not adversely affecting prostaglandins Antioxidants combat and neutralize free radicals which cause damage to our cells, and in particular the macula where lots of oxidation takes place. "Almost every single one of the risk factors we have for macular degeneration can be linked to free radicals." Dr. Lylas G. Mogk, M. D., Visual Rehabilitation and Research Center of Michigan. Chocolate Antioxidant Tips
The benefits of dark chocolate over milk chocolate, is that it has higher amounts of antioxidants. Milk chocolate has the least amount of total antioxidant capacity.The richer in cocoa the better. Select chocolates with at least 70% cocoa content. Natural cocoa powders contain the highest amount of total antioxidant capacity. Don't eat your dark chocolate with a glass of cold milk - the milk interferes with absorption. "Eating a little bit of chocolate or having a drink of hot cocoa as part of a regular diet is probably good for personal health, so long as people don't eat too much of it, and too much of the kind with lots of butter and sugar," said Diane Becker, the lead researcher of an 18 month study at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. Organic Cacao PowderI became interested in organic cacao powder after reading Naked Chocolate: The Astonishing Truth About the World's Greatest Food and Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future .Cacao beans are listed as one of the top 10 superfoods by David Wolfe. I was quite excited to learn about this as I am a big fan of chocolate. In case you didn't know all chocolate comes from the cacao bean or also known as the cocoa bean. This cocoa bean is actually the seed or nut inside the pod/fruit. According to David Wolfe, "the raw cacao bean is one of nature's most fantastic superfoods due to its mineral content and wide array of unique properties." "Cacao contains the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food in the world... By weight cacao has more antioxidants than red wine, blueberries, acai, pomegranates and goji berries combined." However, the many benefits of this bean are destroyed by cooking, refining, and processing. To get the best nutritional benefits of cacao look for raw organic cacao powder. Hot Cocoa RecipesI started buying David Wolfe's cocoa powder and making my own healthy version of hot cocoa. Because dairy interferes with the absorption of cocoa I use Almond Breeze almond milk. Here's my recipe using coconut oil and chocolate:1 Cup of Almond Breeze almond milk warm it in a pan on the oven or microwave then add: 1-2 Tablespoons of organic raw cocoa powder 1 Teaspoon of organic cold pressed coconut oil Dash of Stevia to taste It really tastes great and I feel like I am doing something good for me as well. If this interests you click on the picture of the cocoa powder to go to David Wolfe's website on Sunfood Nutrition
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