It's been said that 9 out of ten people like chocolate and half of those people crave chocolate and that a billion people ate chocolate yesterday and a billion people will eat chocolate today. It used to be that we were told that chocolate was bad for you and yet, now we are learning that there are many benefits to raw cacao which is used to make chocolate.
In one study, scientists discovered that dark chocolate may helped to prevent a chronic illness. Many people have felt that Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or ME may be part of the CFS and Fibromyalgia complex of illnesses. It can leave people that have it exhausted and with neurological problems.
In a study at Hull Royal Infirmary people found they felt better after eating specially-formulated dark chocolate every day for eight weeks. The dark chocolate they used was very high in polyphenols - not your normal dark chocolate and definitely not milk chocolate. A type of chocolate, such as Xocai, with raw cold processed cacao would be high in polyphenols and flavanols.
This is one of the first studies of dark chocolate and ME. According to Professor Steve Atkin, "The participants took 45g of special chocolate high in polyphenol chemicals for eight weeks. They then had a two-weekrest before taking a placebo chocolate, low in polyphenols, for the same time. After the first period they felt less fatigue and once they moved to a placebo chocolate they began feeling more tired again. "They didn't experience any significant weight gain either." Polyphenols canreduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and strokes. Chocolate also increases serotonin and phenyl ethyl amine (PEA), which regulates mood.
Cocoa also contains many flavanoids (that are called flavonols in chocolate), which are plant compounds with high antioxidant properties. These prevent wear-and-tear damage on your cells. Also, the flavonols in cocoa prevent fat-like substances in the bloodstream from clogging arteries. Since antioxidants flush from the body, it is probably best to eat flavanol and antioxidant rich foods spaced out throughout the day. Three to five times a day seems to work for many people.
One of the chemicals lacking in some fibromyalgia patients is dopamine. There has been a lot of research carried out about dopamine recently and for those that want to take drugs, there are some drugs available on the market in most countries for fibromyalgia and restless leg syndrome sufferers. Here's the good news! The best natural source of dopamine is dark chocolate – 40g of dark chocolate per night is actually prescribed for fibromyalgia patients by some doctors!
All Chocolate May Not Be GoodA concern is that much of the active health-promoting ingredients in cocoa are destroyed during the production of chocolate. Like cooking vegetables takes away nutrients, the potential chocolate has for your health becomes less with more processing. Alkalizing the chocolate (also known as Dutching) or heating the chocolate all decreases the health benefits of dark chocolate. Many chocolate manufacturers also add fillers, waxes, dyes, cheap vegetable oils, refined sugars. All these contribute to the non-benefits of chocolate.
If you do want to get any possible benefits from chocolate, it matters what kind of chocolate you eat. Avoid milk chocolate and chocolate sold as candy, since these contain high percentages of milk and refined sugar. Instead, look for dark chocolates with high cocoa content (65% or higher) that are cold processed.
