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BY: BARBARA BRODY; PHOTO: FCAFOTODIGITAL/GETTY IMAGES
BETTER NUTRITION
136 | April 2019
What makes dark
chocolate healthy is its
high cocoa (or cacao)
content. Cocoa has
flavonoids, which are
antioxidants that
can help decrease
inflammation and
improve heart health.
Dark chocolate with at
least 70 percent cocoa
has the strongest
benefits. But if you
prefer a bar of milk
chocolate, know that
it contains 10 to
25 percent cocoa, so
you get flavonoids
from it too —just not as
many as with dark,
says Kristi King, M.P.H.,
R.D.N., a spokesperson
for the Academy of
Nutrition and Dietetics.
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SMALL
PORTIONS
GIVE THE
BIGGEST
PERKS
Though the antioxidants
and nutrients (iron,
magnesium, and zinc)
in chocolate are good
for your health, they’re
not powerful enough
to combat the calories
and saturated fat of
a king-size candy bar.
Limit yourself to 1 ounce
daily. That’s about six
Hershey’s Kisses or
one Ghirardelli square.
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IT SPOILS
Chocolate that has
gone bad will smell
or taste weird.
Dark chocolate in
an airtight container
in a cool, dark place
will keep for up
to a year. Milk and
white last about six
months; truffles and
chocolates with fillings
are good for two or
three months. ■
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THE
C R AV I N G
IS R EAL
There’s no solid
proof that it’s
addictive, but
part of chocolate’s
health boost is
that it contains a
number of chemicals
that can improve
your mood and
even simulate the
feeling of being in
love, which can
make you crave
it. These include
serotonin, which
helps you relax;
phenylethylamine,
which prompts
your brain to release
the feel-good
neurotransmitter
dopamine; and
anandamide, the
bliss molecule that
targets the brain’s
pleasure receptors.
WHITE CHOCOLATE
DOESN’T DELIVER
Made from cocoa butter mixed with
milk and sugar, white chocolate doesn’t
contain any of the cocoa solids from
the cacao bean. It’s those solids
that have all the beneficial flavonoids.
MILK
CHOCOLATE
HAS HEALTH
BENEFITS
TOO
chocolate
FOUR THINGS
YOU SHOULD
KNOW ABOUT
