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Health benefits of chocolate

If Only It Were True

Concerning today’s e-Alert, I have to disclose a bias: I love chocolate. If I could get by on a diet of Nestle’s in the morning, Ghirardelli at lunch, and a large meal of assorted Godivas at the end the day, I would be a happy woman.

So I admit, I’m predisposed to think good thoughts about chocolate.

And yet, in spite of this clear bias of mine, I seem to be incapable of imagining chocolate as being a part of a healthy diet. In fact, I keep my chocolate intake to a bare minimum (reluctantly) because of everything I’ve learned over the past few years about the negative effects that refined sugar has on health.

So you might think I’d be delighted to come across a study that demonstrates how eating chocolate can improve blood vessel function.

Well, no. In spite of my bias, this new study is transparent malarkey. But it does serve a purpose: It reveals how the food industry has become almost as aggressive as the drug companies in shaping clinical trials to create an illusion of proven results. You put someone in a white lab coat and have them jabber statistics, and it seems people will eat it up like Hershey’s Kisses.

Almost like the real thing

I’ll play along for a moment with the editors of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition (JACN), and treat this like authentic research.

As reported in this month’s issue of JACN, a team of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), divided 21 subjects into two groups. One group ate 1.6 ounces of high-flavonoid dark chocolate daily for two weeks, and one group ate the same amount of low-flavonoid dark chocolate. Before and after the study period, researchers measured the flexibility of subjects’ brachial arteries. Also measured were blood concentrations of epicatechin (an antioxidant that inhibits platelet clumping).

Both of these measurements improved in the high-flavonoid chocolate group. The same measurements also improved in the low-flavonoid group, but not as much. Conclusion: Flavonoid- rich dark chocolate may improve artery flexibility while increasing an antioxidant that may help prevent blood clots.

Have we been here before?

If the UCSF study sounds like dj vu all over again, then you’ve got a good memory. In the e-alert “Zzzzzz Inducing” (11/27/02), I first told you about this study after it was presented at a 2002 American Heart Association conference. But back then we didn’t have the published study to examine, so there was no way to tell that this self- described “placebo-controlled” study was missing one very important item: a placebo group!

But that’s just nit-picking compared to the most obvious factor of this study: Chocolate as a whole doesn’t improve artery flexibility – it’s the flavonoids that do all the heavy lifting here. And the study doesn’t mention, of course, that flavonoids are plentiful in apples, broccoli, onions and various berries – all of which qualify as real food, as opposed to sugary treats. And then there’s green tea, which not only contains flavonoids, but also epicatechin.

The reason for the focus on chocolate is pretty obvious: The study was funded by the Mars candy company, which also kindly supplied the chocolates. See? It all makes sense now. Otherwise, these scientists would be giving you the same good advice your mother gave you years ago: “Eat your broccoli!”

We’re going to need a second opinion

A USCF press release about this study quotes the lead author of the study, Mary B. Engler, Ph.D., who points out that “Additional information on current chocolate research can be found at the Chocolate Information Center website (chocolateinfo.com) sponsored by Mars, Inc.”

I had to bite (sorry for the bad pun). When I reached the CIC home page I clicked on “Chocolate Facts,” which led to a section called “Common Chocolate Misconceptions.” (Stay with me here, it’s going to get good.) This linked up with a “Nutrition Fact Sheet” compiled by The American Dietetic Association (ADA) and supported by a grant from Mars, Inc. The title: “Chocolate: Facts and Fiction.”

Now would you like to know the “facts” about chocolate and diabetes? According to the ADA, “Eating certain foods, even simple sugar, does not cause diabetes.” Which is absolutely true of type 1 diabetes. But as HSI members know, dietary sugar intake is a HUGE factor for the millions of people who have type 2 diabetes or prediabetic conditions.

Here’s my favorite part: “If you have diabetes, ask your health professional how to incorporate chocolate into your eating plan.” Yep, that’ll be my Number One nutrition question the next time I visit my doctor. (Whether you’re diabetic or not, hopefully your doctor knows enough about nutrition to advise you to put the brakes on your intake of chocolates and other sweets.)

And here’s the capper: On the very same page that offers this dubious diabetes advice, you’ll find a recipe for “Party Cookies,” which calls for one cup of brown sugar, a half cup of granulated sugar, and a cup and a half of “candy-coated chocolate pieces.”

With “dietetic” advice like this, who needs enemies?

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

Sources:

“Flavonoid-Rich Dark Chocolate Improves Endothelial Function and Increases Plasma Epicatechin Concentrations in Healthy Adults” Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 23, No. 3, June 2004, jacn.org

“Flavonoid-Rich Dark Chocolate Boosts Blood Vessel Function, Study Suggests” University of California – San Francisco, 6/1/04, innovations-report.de

“Chocolate Appears to Promote Healthy Blood Vessels” NutraIngredients.com, 6/1/04, nutraingredients.com

“Chocolate: Facts and Fiction” The American Dietetic Association, chocolateinfo.com

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