SWEET NEWS
Chocolate is not all bad
Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao plant... packed with antioxidants, known as flavonoids, which are thought to have several health benefits.
Over the Easter weekend, my family and I stayed in Dunedin. What a beautiful place – and one I’m ashamed to say I had never visited before despite having lived in New Zealand for almost 25 years.
We took in the Ed Sheeran concert, wandered around the Octagon in glorious sunshine, and sat perched on the sand dunes of the peninsula, marvelling as a massive sea lion basked unconcerned in front of us. A wonderful weekend.
The highlight for the kids, and one they will no doubt remember for years to come, was probably the tour of the Cadbury factory. Although production has sadly stopped, they still do tours, demonstrating the process used to create all sorts of Kiwi confectionery favourites, from Jaffas to Pineapple Lumps and, of course, Easter eggs, given the time of year.
After we had assembled and eaten our molten chocolate lunch, then sampled a number of other goodies along the way, I was ‘‘chocolated’’ out, and the next day, Easter Sunday, turned out to be a far healthier day than usual, with almost no egg even making it out of the wrapper.
I am fully aware that consuming that much chocolate on a regular basis could never be considered a healthy option. However, I am a big believer in occasional treats in moderation, and think complete abstinence from enjoyable foods requires a type of willpower I will never possess.
So as I wandered through the Cadbury museum, I was wholly heartened to learn that there are some potentially really good things about chocolate (other than the fact that it tastes delicious and can brighten up a difficult day like almost nothing else). If you too are trying to appease a guilty conscience by justifying why you partook of quite so much of the brown stuff this Easter, here you go:
❚ Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao plant. Unless they are fermented, these seeds actually have a very intense, bitter flavour – but when roasted and ground they can be used to make cocoa solids or cocoa butter. These beans are packed with antioxidants, known as flavonoids, which are thought to have several health benefits – unfortunately what has not yet been fully established is how much of these benefits remain after the cocoa has been processed into chocolate.
What we do know is that the darker the chocolate, the higher the content of flavonoids – in fact, even a small bar of dark chocolate contains five times more flavonoids than an apple.
❚ Flavonoids are associated with lower blood pressure, and also reduce your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. Their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties can be helpful with management of chronic diseases such as arthritis, and even potentially cancer.
❚ Dark chocolate contains other nutrients, including essential minerals such as iron, manganese, copper, magnesium, zinc, calcium, and vitamins B2 and B3. ❚ It can improve your mental functioning – in the short-term, drinking cocoa rich in flavonoids can boost blood flow to the brain for 2-3 hours, resulting in greater alertness and improved performance. In the longer term, it is thought that older people who have regularly consumed flavanolrich chocolate, wine or tea during their lives, score higher on cognitive tests in old age.
❚ Lastly, it would appear there is a real reason why chocolate makes us feel good. It contains not only serotonin (a neurotransmitter in the brain associated with feeling happy and content), but stimulates the production of dopamine and ‘‘feel-good’’ endorphins. Sadly though, all these benefits are linked almost entirely to the concentration of flavonoids in the chocolate, at their highest in really dark chocolate products – thus milk chocolate is likely to have very little, or even none of these health ‘‘pluses’’, and white chocolate, which is made purely from cocoa butter, with added sugar and fats, doesn’t have any.
So as delicious as it is, it is probably best not to kid yourself that you are eating chocolate purely for your health – but if, like me, you are someone who is prone to nibbling at a wee bar every now and then, hopefully you can feel a little more smug about it than you used to!