Chocolate and Health Benefits: Study Details:
Hong compared white chocolate, which has no cocoa solids, to regular
dark chocolate containing 70% cocoa. The cocoa solids contain healthy
compounds called flavonols. These have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
properties.
She also tested dark chocolate containing 70% cocoa that had been
overheated or ”bloomed.” (“You know when you leave chocolate in the
[hot] car?” she asks. That’s ”bloomed” — melted and then maybe hardened
again.).
She wanted to see if the melting would rob the dark chocolate of the health effects.
Hong’s team assigned 31 men and women to eat about 1.7 ounces (a
standard-size chocolate bar is about 1.5 ounces) of dark, white, or
”bloomed” dark chocolate every day for 15 days. Before and after the
study, Hong’s team measured blood pressure, blood sugar, and
cholesterol.
COMPARED TO WHO ATE WHITE CHOCOLATE, THOSE EATING EITHER DARK CHOCOLATE HAD:
LOVER BLOOD SUGAR LEVELS.
- Improved LDL or ”bad” cholesterol
- Improved HDL or “good” cholesterol
- She didn’t find differences in blood pressure between the white chocolate eaters and the dark chocolate eaters.
As for why the dark chocolate may help blood sugar levels, Hong says
its antioxidants may help the body use its insulin more efficiently to
control blood sugar. This, in turn, helps to lower blood sugar levels
naturally.
Compared to people who ate white chocolate, those who ate dark
lowered their bad cholesterol by about 20%, Hong tells WebMD. Dark
chocolate eaters increased their good cholesterol by 20%, compared to
white chocolate eaters.
The white chocolate, but not the dark, made the skin blood flow slow
down — not a desirable quality. Skin blood flow is a way to measure how
the blood vessels are functioning.
The study did not have industry funding.
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