OK,OK ... of course we know it's a high-fat product, but did you know that chocolate contains even more healthy treasured antioxidants than red wine or blueberries? What more reason do you need to head out straight away to the candy store?!
So how does it help?
The prescence of antioxidants protects the body against the initial phase of cardiovascular disease - injury to the inside layer of the cells of the blood vessels. Unfortunately, our bodies abound with reactive forms of oxygen that combine with fats and cholesterol to produce harmful oxides. We have an antioxidant natural defense system but illness, ageing and other factors like smoking, air pollution and exposure to ultraviolet radiation can weaken our natural defenses.
This is why dietary antioxidants like those found in fruits, vegetables, tea, wine and chocolate can be valuable aids in preventing cardiovascular disease. It has been suggested that all the antioxidants in wine which the French consume may explain "the French paradox," the fact that in spite of a diet high in saturated fat, the French have a lower mortality rate from cardiovascular disease.
Dr Joe Vinson, a leading researcher in antioxidants at the American Chemical Society at Belmont Estates Conference Center in Baltimore, Maryland, explained that a 1.4-ounce milk chocolate bar contains more than 300 milligrams of polyphenols; dark chocolate has more than double that and cocoa powder has four times that.
To compare this to things that we think of as great sources of polyphenolic antioxidants, a dark chocolate bar contains about the same amount of polyphenols as a cup of black tea and more than in a glass of red wine. Not only is chocolate full of antioxidants, it contains especially beneficial antioxidants. Not all antioxidants are created equal and not all the polyphenols or flavonoids in cocoa and certain chocolates are equal.
Chocolate contains a range of polyphenolic (very good for you!) antioxidants known as flavonoids.
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