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Our aim at Your Online Nutritionist is to provide you with
accurate and reliable nutrition information. All the best, |
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Q and A's
about this sweet indulgence Q: Where does chocolate come from? A: Chocolate is made from beans which grow on cacao trees. After
harvest, the beans are first removed from their pods, fermented, then dried
and roasted and finally ground into cocoa liquor. From there the liquor is
pressed into cocoa butter and cocoa cake. These are then ground to make cocoa
powder. Q: How long has chocolate been around? A: Chocolate has been consumed for centuries, both as a medicine
and as a food. The cacao bean and its products have been used as both
spiritual and physical nourishment by many South American cultures. Its even
been considered an aphrodisiac! (Sounds like a great reason to indulge......lol) Q: Is it true that chocolate is really a health food? A: You may have heard or read this somewhere, but actually that
is only a half truth. Chocolate does contain important antioxidants known as flavonoids, which are part of a larger group known as polyphenols. Polyphenols can be
found in a number of different foods, most notably tea, red wine and some
fruits and vegetables. These antioxidants may help protect the body against
damage normally caused by aging and chronic disease. Q: Can chocolate help your love life? A: More than likely, no. Chocolate does contain a chemical
called phenylethylamine (aka PEA) which is also
found in the brain of people when they first fall in love. You may have heard
that chocolate, through its PEA content, can turn on that warm fuzziness that
just plain makes you feel good! Sadly, there is not enough PEA in a candy bar
to do much good in this respect, other foods such as salami and cheese
contain even more. Salami? An aphrodisiac? |
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A study conducted by the Hershey's Company found that 37g of
their dark chocolate (about 1 serving) had approximately the same antioxidant
capacity as 3 cups of tea, 2 glasses of red wine or 1 1/3 cups of
blueberries. Its best to choose dark chocolate that
is at least 70% cocoa. Make sure that your chocolate-of-choice doesn't
contain saturated fats such as palm or coconut oil, or partially hydrogenated
fats. These are the ones that aren't so heart-healthy. Hershey's has even designed a special seal which will appear on
products that have higher in cacao, and thus contain more antioxidants. |
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Try CocoaVia! CocoaVia products are a
combo of heart-healthy flavanols and natural plant
extracts that actually lower cholesterol, all packaged with the super taste
of milk chocolate. There are a number of products in the CocoaVia
line, from candy to snack bars to a chocolate drink. Research conducted at both UCLA-Davis and Harvard have shown
that ingredients in CocoaVia snack bars lowered
total and LDL cholesterol (the bad ones), while not impacting HDL (the good
cholesterol). Older adults in one study showed improvement in some
measurements of heart vessel function after drinking cocoa that was a good
source of flavanols. |
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