2014-04-07 08:42:55
The health benefits of dark chocolate are becoming well known. The antioxidants in dark chocolate have a host of health benefits, including lowering blood pressure and improving blood glucose. The trick to healthy use of chocolate is caloric equilibrium. Because chocolate is very calorie dense, adding dark chocolate consumption on top of one’s regular diet, may result in weight gain for many. If the number of total calories consumed can be kept the same, however, adding dark dark chocolate to one’s diet offers many health benefits. A recent study assessed the effect of dark chocolate consumption in “normal weight obese” women.[1]
Normal-weight-obese is defined as a condition wherein subjects are of normal body mass index (ie. not overweight) however they carry an excessive proportion of body fat. This body composition is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease.[1] This study administered 100g per day of dark chocolate (70% cocoa) to 15 women with normal-weight-obesity, for a total of seven days.
Even after this brief study period, changes were seen in the women’s cholesterol profile, immune function, and abdominal circumference. After dark chocolate consumption, HDL cholesterol (“good” cholesterol) increased by 10%, LDL cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) decreased over 11%, and the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol (TC:HDL), a very powerful predictor of heart disease, was reduced by 11%. In addition there was a reduction in abdominal circumference, and this despite the fact that these subject were technically not overweight to begin with!
This study lends further weight to the cumulative evidence demonstrating health benefits associated with consumption of dark chocolate.
References
1. Di Renzo L, Rizzo M, Sarlo F, Colica C, Iacopino L, Domino E, Sergi D, De Lorenzo A. Effects of dark chocolate in a population of normal weight obese women: a pilot study. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2013 Aug;17(16):2257-66.