Harvard Medical School adviser: I recently heard that chocolate may be good for you. Does this mean I don’t have to feel guilty about my holiday indulgences?
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So what exactly is so good about cocoa and the cacao bean? The answer comes down to a group of chemicals found in the cacao bean called flavanols. Flavanols are found in tea, red wine, purple grapes, apples, onions, cranberries and, most important, chocolate.
Studies have confirmed that the flavanols in chocolate have many properties that may improve your health. For example, flavanols can increase the antioxidant activity in your blood. Antioxidants help protect your body’s tissues from damage. Also, flavanols protect LDL cholesterol from oxidation, which puts the “bad” in bad cholesterol. Dark chocolate specifically can reduce the levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol, and it may actually increase levels of good (HDL) cholesterol.
Flavanols can also reduce your risk of heart attack. They do this by reducing your blood pressure and also by reducing platelet activation. Most heart attacks and strokes are caused when platelets trigger blood clots in critical arteries. Researchers in Switzerland and the United States found that dark chocolate actually lowers platelet activation.
The benefits observed in these studies were only produced when the research subjects ate dark chocolate. Also, even though dark chocolate may have some real health value, it is still high in calories.
The bottom line: Choose dark chocolate that lists the first ingredient as cocoa or chocolate liquor, not sugar. Try to limit yourself to a few ounces a day, and make sure to cut calories in other places. If you do these things, then you can savor a helping of rich, dark chocolate without guilt.
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