Healthy Life Plans

I’m a big fan of chocolate, and there aren’t very many people I know who don’t like some sort of chocolate. Our main chocolate choices are dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. Many people think that chocolate is bad for you, no matter what kind you eat. That may be true to an extent, but some types are a lot worse for you than others. But dark chocolate might actually have some health benefits.

Dark chocolate contains epicatechin which is a compound of plant flavonoids. Those flavonoids can stop cholesterol from forming in your blood vessels and thus reduce the risk of blood clots. But remember, cherries do the same thing and they are a lot healthier than dark chocolate.

Chocolate also contains a very high amount of fat and calories, in a very small serving. So unless you don’t mind the extra sugar, fat and calories you’ll get with eating chocolate, you should consider a “healthier” alternative (like cherries). But if you’re going to indulge in some chocolate, dark chocolate will be your healthiest choice.

But what if you don’t like dark chocolate? It turns out eating other types of chocolate won’t give you any of the health benefits of dark chocolate. This is because dark chocolate contains healthy antioxidants and flavonoids that help your heart, and has no milk fat added.

Milk chocolate has a lot more sugar, and a lot fewer flavonoids than dark chocolate. Milk chocolate also has milk fat which will raise your cholesterol levels.

White chocolate is the worst, containing no heart-healthy flavonoids, and more sugar than milk and dark chocolate. White chocolate also has a lot of extra milk fat, greatly increasing cholesterol levels.

The studies these results came from were sponsored by chocolate companies, so you should take it with a grain of salt (or a bite of chocolate), but other scientific research does backup the claims they’re making. Flavonoids are well known for their antioxidant activity, but also provide health benefits to protect against cancer and heart disease.

But the flavonoids themselves aren’t directly responsible for these health benefits. Your body sees them as foreign compounds and is trying to get rid of them. But while your body is trying to get rid of unwanted compounds, it is inducing so-called Phase II enzymes that also help eliminate mutagens and carcinogens, and therefore may be of value in cancer prevention. Flavonoids could also induce mechanisms that help kill cancer cells and inhibit tumor invasion.