Hidden benefit: Like chocolate, cocoa is rich in antioxidants, nutrients that fight cancer, strengthen the immune system, and slow aging. And — need we say it? — cocoa is delicious! 

According to Jean Weiss from One of the Nine Natural Cures You Can Trust

One of the ways to get even more flavonols is to eat healthy chocolate. For more information on how chocolate can be healthy and which kinds are more healthy, get the free report about the Truth About The Big Lies Around Chocolate.

Science Daily reported May 5, 2010 that Researchers at Johns Hopkins discovered a compound in dark chocolate may protect the brain after a stroke by increasing cellular signals already known to shield nerve cells from damage.

The study involved feeding mice epicatechins (a compound found naturally in cold pressed dark chocolate) and inducing strokes in their brains. The scientists found that the animals that had eaten the epicatechin suffered significantly less brain damage than the ones that had not been given the compound.

It seems like it worked best when the dark chocolate compound epicatechins were eaten first, but also worked up to 3 and a half hours after the stroke. While most treatments against stroke in humans have to be given within a two to three hour time window to be effective, epicatechin appeared to limit further neuronal damage when given to mice 3.5 hoursafter a stroke.

Professors at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, say the study suggests that epicatechin stimulates two previously well-established pathways known to shield nerve cells in the brain from damage. When the stroke hits, the brain is ready to protect itself because these pathways are activated. In mice that selectively lacked activity in those pathways, the study found, epicatechin had no significant protective effect and their brain cells died after a stroke.

The study now appears online in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.

Eventually, this research into these pathways could lead researchers to insights into limiting acute stroke damage and possibly protecting against chronic neurological degenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and other age-related cognitive disorders.

The amount of dark chocolate people would need to consume to benefit from its protective effects remains unclear, since this has not been studied in clinical trials. It is also not a free pass to go out and consume large amounts of chocolate, which normally is high in calories and fat. In fact, people should be reminded to eat a healthy diet with a variety of fruits and vegetables.

This chocolate was high in the compound epicatechin, which is a flavanol, a flavanoid-related compound. Not all dark chocolates are created equally, Sylvain Doré, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine and pharmacology and molecular sciences cautions. Some have more bioactive epicatechin than others.

Not all dark chocolates are created equally, he cautions. Some have more bioactive epicatechin than others.

"The epicatechin found in dark chocolate is extremely sensitive to changes in heat and light" he says. "In the process of making chocolate, you have to make sure you don't destroy it. Only a few chocolates have the active ingredient. The fact that it says 'dark chocolate' is not sufficient."

One of the processes that takes away nutrients from the raw cocoa (or cacao) while it is being processed to make dark chocolate, is alkalization. Alkalized cocoa powder contains potassiumcarbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium hydroxide, or magnesium. These neutralize the acids of the chocolate and make the powder easier to dissolve into a liquid. An other thing commonly added to cocoa powder is corn starch to keep it from caking especially during storage.

The better dark chocolates do not add these fillers. A few other fillers include, waxes, dyes, vegetable oils, etc..

Where a lot of the nutrients that are naturally present in raw cacao beans get lost is in the heating process. If you can find cold processed chocolate that will have more nutrients in it. If you do testing on dark chocolates and compare regular heated dark chocolate and cold processed dark chocolate, you'll find that there are some flavanols and flavanoids in the cold processed chocolate that barely even register (if they do at all) in the heated chocolate. The key is to never heat the chocolate too high.

This is kind of common sense. We all know that there are less vitamins available in cooked vegetables than there are in raw vegetables. Just remember, chocolate is a vegetable. ;-), well, okay, at least it grows on trees! Technically it is a bean from a fruit.

Chocolate has long been held to be a mood-lifter.

It boosts levels of serotonin, the brain’s antidepressant, as well as endorphins, the feel-good chemicals released after exercise. We also know it's a source of theobromine, a stimulant that has a lasting relaxing effect.

But now there’s evidence to suggest that dark chocolate is less fattening when eaten at the start of a dark, depressing day.

According to endocrinologists in Venezuela, women who ate a 600-calorie breakfast, which included a piece of dark chocolate, lost more weight than those on a low-carb diet. Dr Daniela Jakubowicz attributed the success to kick-starting the body’s metabolism at the time of day it was most receptive to food.

So will it be muesli or a nugget?

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!

A 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.

Metabolic Effects of Dark Chocolate Consumption on Energy, Gut Microbiota, and Stress-Related Metabolism in Free-Living Subjects

According to Margaret Furtado, M.S., R.D. a Yahoo! Health Expert for Nutrition, the human body has more bacteria living inside than individual cells (like ten times more.) The best of the microorganisms we can have are probiotics. Now there is research from Stanford University School of Medicine and StanfordHospital and Clinics that suggests that probiotics may even help with weight loss.

What does this have to do with chocolate you ask?

Well it turns out there is a healthy dark chocolate that has probiotics in it. Turns out they discovered that the chocolate actually helps protect the bacteria so more ends up in your gut (where it is helpful). In fact there are some studies that show 2-3 times more bacteria get delivered through chocolate as compared to dairy or yogurt.

So we know that healthy dark chocolate already has appetite suppressant qualities, but how do probiotics fit in? Well it turns out several studies suggest that the guts of normal-weight people contain a different mixor balance of the types and amounts of bacteria that are foundin the intestines of overweight folks. One study even found these sameimbalances among the microorganisms in 7-year-old kids who wereoverweight.

No one knows for sure, but someday we may find out that bad bacteria are causing at leastsome of our weight issues and it may be possible that one day we'll just eat some "weight-friendly" bacteria to bring our body sizeunder control.

It's too soon to know exactly where this discovery will lead, so here are the recommendations:

• Include foods in your diet that contain probiotics, such as yogurt or the healthy chocolate.
• Try eating the healthy dark chocolate with probiotics spread out up to three times daily preferably half hour before each meal
  
• Avoidbrands of yogurt that have the "fruit" at the bottom and instead gowith low-fat, low-sugar varieties that contain plenty of protein andcalcium. A cup of yogurt is a great snack to hold you over in betweenmeals or after a workout. Greek yogurts are especially high in protein.
• Make prebioticspart of your regular diet as well. Prebiotics--tiny fibers found insome fruits and vegetables--just happen to be what probiotics and othergood bacteria eat. Good sources of prebiotics include wheat, bananas,onions, garlic, and leeks. (Europeans eat far more prebiotics than dopeople in the U.S--might this explain part of the weight discrepancybetween the U.S. and European populations?)
• If you havedigestive issues, be sure to talk with your doctor or dietitian about"pharmaceutical-grade" probiotics, which are the equivalent ofprescription-strength good bacteria.

Remember this is not so you canslack off on exercise or ignore your healthy eating plan, because there isno miracle probiotic cure in the pipeline!

Dark chocolate reducing stress is a no-brainer for most people. We chocoholics understand that in a moment. Isn't that one of the reasons many of us reach for a yummy piece of dark chocolate? When we are stressed? Now there is scientific evidence to show that chocolate reduces stress. Yeah!

According to a new study published online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research (and reported in Science Daily Nov. 12, 2009) there is new support from a clinical trial that there is a "chocolate cure" for emotional stress.

It found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a dayfor two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in the bodies of peoplefeeling highly stressed. Everyone's favorite treat also partiallycorrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances.

Sunil Kochhar and colleagues note growing scientific evidence thatantioxidants and other beneficial substances in dark chocolate mayreduce risk factors for heart disease and other physical conditions.Studies also suggest that chocolate may ease emotional stress. Untilnow, however, there was little evidence from research in humans onexactly how chocolate might have those stress-busting effects.

In the study, scientists identified reductions in stress hormonesand other stress-related biochemical changes in volunteers who ratedthemselves as highly stressed and ate dark chocolate for two weeks."The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40grams [1.4 ounces] during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modifythe metabolism of healthy human volunteers," the scientists say.

Is it the antioxidants in dark chocolate? Or is it the flavanoids? Perhaps. We don't know yet. We just know chocolate helps.

Eating chocolate could be more effective than sucking a lozenge at treating coughs, say doctors.

They have made the surprising discovery that a chemical found in chocolate is better at suppressing a throaty tickle than medication used in cough medicines.

This is just another study to suggest that dark chocolate may have real health benefits. This study looked at the effectiveness of the ingredient theobromine, found in in naturally in chocolate.

Doctors at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London, investigated whether the compound could prevent artificially-provoked coughs in ten healthy non-smokers.

The volunteers were given theobromine followed by capsaicin (you know, from hot peppers),which is known to stimulate the coughing reflex.

Theobromine was more effective in treating the cough than codeine, which is often used in cough medicines, or a 'dummy' treatment.

The British researchers discovered that theobromine, an alkaloid substance present in cocoa which is chemically related to caffeine, is almost three times more effective in stopping persistent cough than codeine, which is recognized as the best cough medicine.

As a stimulant, the effects of theobromine are much milder than those of caffeine. Theobromine helps stop cough by suppressing the vagus nerve, which is responsible for causing coughing.

Using chocolate as a cough treatment needs more research. Further studies looking at the effectiveness of theobromine are already under way. It's too early to tell conclusively whether chocolate can be used to reduce chronic coughing. (You may need to do some of your own clinical trials on yourself - what a bummer - you would have to eat more chocolate)

Chocolate was originally used as a medicine by South Americans 5,000 years ago and now recent discoveries show that eating it as part of a balanced diet could help maintain a healthy heart and circulation into old age.

It is claimed that the smell of chocolate alone can help protect against colds, and that antioxidant compounds get absorbed into brain cells and may protect against the damage which causes diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Earlier this year British researchers showed that eating chocolate particularly rich in flavonoids could help thin the blood and guard against life-threatening clots. Seems that chocolate can have some healthful properties.

Try it with the cold processed chocolate Xocai and let us know how it works for you.