Dark Chocolate and Heart Health
The potential health claim for chocolate is that it’s good for your heart. Chocolate is made from cocoa, which contains polyphenols, which may work as antioxidants that lower LDL-cholesterol (the bad kind) and reduce blood pressure. The hope is that eating some chocolate every day will decrease your risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Cocoa contains epicatechins and catechins, which are similar to the polyphenols found in green tea; and quercetin, which is found in fruits and vegetables. Dark chocolate generally has more antioxidants than milk chocolate because certain processing methods remove the polyphenols, which have a bitter flavor.
Research studies as far back as 2006 looked at chocolate consumption and how it correlated with cardiovascular disease risk in large populations, and found a correlation. People who consumed more chocolate of any kind tended to have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. This is interesting information, but the problem with these types of nutrition studies is the large possibility of confounding factors. If people who eat chocolate also do other things that decrease their risk of cardiovascular diseases, researchers and reporters can come to the wrong conclusion.
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