If you've been tossing back those Dove Bars and Hershey's Kisses in hopes of gaining some protection from heart disease, I hope you're smiling while you're eating ...because that might be the only help your heart is getting.
Sad, but true, as new research emerges showing that a key process used in making all types of yummy chocolate confections may reduce it's heart healthy benefits leaving us with nothing more than hip-heavy woes.
In a study published in this months Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, researchers reveal that much of the flavanoid content that gives cocoa it's heart-healthy effects, is largely lost during a preparatory step known as "alkalising," - a process used during the manufacture of chocolate to help make it easier to digest. The alkalising process, say the study group, reduces chocolate's benefits by up to two-thirds.
Moreover, before you plunk down a day's salary for that high priced premium chocolate with the higher cocoa content, there's something else you should know: A higher level of cocoa content is no guarantee that you'll also be getting a higher level of flavanoids.
The reason? Research shows that chocolate with higher levels of rich, healthy cocoa frequently requires more alkalising in order to make it taste so yummy. And you guessed it ...the more alkalising that's done the less flavanoids remain.
To conduct the current study researchers examined numerous types of commercial cocoa powders used in making chocolate. They measured levels of several chemicals related to the antioxidant protection of flavanoids both before and after undergoing the manufacturing process.
What they found: The average loss of flavanoid content was 60% - with the loss of certain types of flavanoids as high as 86%.
The good news: Many major chocolate manufacturers are conducting research of their own, each learning new ways to maintain chocolate's healthful benefits while still allowing for the processes necessary to make it taste so good.
And that means that better, more nutritious chocolate is definitely on the way!
But why wait for that? For now, we can just eat more to make up the difference. Really, who has time to wait for science ?:)
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Published online ahead of print April 2008, doi: 10.1021/jf0728754
"Flavanol and Flavanol Contents of Cocoa Powder Products: Influence of the Manufacturing Process"
Authors: C Andres-Lacueva, M Monagas, N Khan, M Izquierdo-Pulido, M Urpi-Sarda, J Permanyer and R M Lamuela-Raverntos
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