Stories on the Health Benefits of consuming Cocoa Products have increasingly made the news, following the
discovery that they are a rich source of catechins, which are polyphenols of the flavanol group, and which are
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believed to protect against heart disease, cancer, and various other medical conditions.
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Chocolate manufacturers, retailers, and the media have been taking advantage of these findings by not only
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trying to make chocolate lovers feel less guilty about their addiction, but also by trying to target more health-
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conscious consumers with regular doses of "research studies" praising the supposed benefits of consuming
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chocolate, among them that:
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 • eating chocolate does not trigger migraine headaches,
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• eating chocolate reduces the risk of heart disease and cancer.
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• eating chocolate does not give someone acne or other skin eruptions,
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• eating chocolate boosts one's appetite, but does not cause weight gain,
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• eating moderate amounts of chocolate makes one live almost a year longer,
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• eating chocolate releases endorphins in the brain, which act as pain-relievers,
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• the sugar in chocolate may reduce stress, and have calming and pain relieving effect,
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How reliable are all these "Studies?"
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When taking a closer look, one discovers that once the studies funded by chocolate interest groups were
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discarded, the ones left offered conflicting results. As expected, some isolated compounds in cocoa did
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however show certain health benefits. Because it is a common practice in nutritional research to do studies
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on food fractions, outcomes may sometimes appear negative because they are done without any co-factors
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or complexed nutrients, however in the case of cocoa, some of the research was positive because those
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"co-factors" (all the other detrimental ingredients in chocolate) were not part of the study.
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If people were to consume pure cocoa, they might indeed be able to enjoy a few health benefits, including
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a positive effect on blood pressure and glucose metabolism, however the majority of people eat processed
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chocolate with all the other less desirable ingredients (i.e. added sugar, corn syrup, milk fats / dairy cream,
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hydrogenated oils, etc.), and where the actual cocoa content may be less than 20%, so unless premium dark
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chocolate is consumed, and one does not suffer from copper overload (see further below), all bets regarding
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chocolate being a healthy food are off.
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With claims made of sugar having a "pain-relieving" effect (babies fed a sucrose solution felt less pain from
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needles), it is doubtful that we will see chocolate bars replacing conventional analgesics any time soon, nor
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are these same "researchers" making these sugar-promoting claims likely going to reach for a chocolate bar
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next time they suffer from a throbbing toothache, a pounding headache, or a kidney stone attack.
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While cocoa and sugar do not "cause" acne, the sugar present in chocolate will most certainly make acne,
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or any other acne-like skin eruptions worse, as anyone suffering from these skin conditions can attest to.
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Placebo-controlled trials showed that some of the chemicals in chocolate (phenylethylamine, theobromine,
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or caffeine), can indeed trigger migraines by altering cerebral blood flow and releasing norepinephrine in
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some of those prone to suffer from migraine headaches. Of all of the foods isolated that triggered the most
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attacks, chocolate was an offender about 30% of the time. Claiming that "eating moderate amounts of
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chocolate increases one's life span" is a most interesting example of how some "researchers" will twist and
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manipulate statistics to prove anything!
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"Chocolate-Is-Good-For-You" campaigns through the media or the prominent placement of leaflets at
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confectionery counters keep feeding the consumer "made-to-order" research results whose outcome is pre-
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determined to satisfy an agenda (i.e. selling chocolate), with little relevance to science or facts. Considering
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that nicotine has also shown some health benefits, particularly with ulcerative colitis and Parkinson's disease,
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would this be a reason to urge people to start smoking tobacco?
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From a nutritional perspective - the average milk chocolate product is no less a junk food than ice cream or
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donuts, and it is equally unhealthy and fattening when large amounts are consumed on a regular basis.
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While no one is trying to discourage people from enjoying an occasional chocolate treat - urging consumers
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to increase their chocolate consumption for "Health Reasons" leaves nutritional research less than credible,
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particularly when diabetes and obesity have become an out-of-control global problem.
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The good news is, premium grade dark chocolate contains only cocoa butter, a fat that naturally occurs in
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cocoa beans, which is made up of stearic acid (34%), oleic acid (34%), palmitic acid (25%), and the rest of
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other fatty acids, whereby the combined effect of all the fats found in cocoa butter is quite neutral in regard to
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an individual's lipid (heart disease risk) profile. However, when milk chocolate, or lower grade chocolate is
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consumed, part of the total fat content of chocolate comes from milk fat or various other types of fat, which do
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create a risk factor with cardiovasvular disease.
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Despite the good news on cocoa not raising LDL cholesterol, even dark chocolate is a very calorie-dense
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food, so while the fat content may not invite cardiovascular disease from an atherogenic (arterial clogging)
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perspective, its regular consumption will add a lot of extra calories to someone's daily total, and as a result
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still affect those who have to watch their caloric intake. Nevertheless, being listed as the No.1 ingredient in
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many chocolate products, sugar is unquestionably a worse culprit compared to the fat content when
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addressing the effects of chocolate on someone's overall health.
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Sugar is a well-known cause, contributing, or aggravating factor with a host of medical conditions, including
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heart disease, inflammatory conditions, immune system disorders, impaired phagocytosis, mood disorders,
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insulin and blood sugar disorders, leukemia, dental caries, yeast infections, depletion of essential nutrients,
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osteoporosis, obesity, and others. (see also Acu-Cell "Sugar & Glycemic Index").
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Cocoa products also contain pharmacological substances such as n-acylethanolamines that are related to
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cannabis (marijuana), they contain stimulants such as phenylethylamine, which have an anti-depressant and
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amphetamine-like effect; and they contain compounds that stimulate the brain to release an opiate-like
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substance called anandamide. When drugs are used to block the brain's opiate receptors, the desire for
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chocolate (and other sweet and fatty foods) disappears -- confirming the addictive nature of these types of
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foods.
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