HEALTHAndFITNESS Is Chocolate health food?
Straight talk from a sports nutritionist // By melanie hingle
Our first Towne Hall Series on Inflammation helped so many….we’re doing it again! Please join us
• A New Perspective on Heart Disease November 3rd @ 6PM, 2nd Floor
• A Fire in Your Belly: Inflammatory Bowel Disease & Crohn’s Disease December 8th @ 6PM, 2nd Floor
• Autoimmune Disorders: New View on Cause & Treatment Options to choco or not choco? // photo Angelika Schwarz.
Cocoa therapy as a way to reduce high blood pressure…a dark chocolate “prescription” to prevent heart disease…chocolate milk aiding muscle recovery after strenuous exercise. These are just a few of the many claims that have been proposed by manufacturers of chocolate products based on current research. But are these chocolate health claims justified…or just a lot of hype? Let’s separate the chocolate fact from fiction. There’s a substantial body of research suggesting dietary flavonoids (compounds found in plants that have specific health benefits when consumed) help protect against heart disease through their antioxidant properties (by helping keep free radicals at bay); activation of compounds that relax arterial walls (reducing blood pressure); as well as inhibiting platelet activity (decreasing clotting risk). The plant food, Theobroma cacao (or the raw cocoa bean), is a rich source of these dietary flavonoids, which has prompted many chocolate manufacturers to make a somewhat shaky “if-then” leap—i.e., “IF flavonoids protect against cardiovascular disease and cocoa beans are high in flavonoids, THEN dark chocolate must be healthy for your heart!” Further, although chocolate is naturally high in fat—specifically, saturated fat—the dominant type of saturated fatty acid found in these cocoa beans appears to be cholesterol-neutral, meaning it won’t increase your blood cholesterol levels. So does this mean you can have your chocolate and eat it too?Not necessarily. While it’s true that raw cocoa beans contain high amounts of flavonoids, the processing techniques that are most frequently used to make cocoa powder (often referred to as “Dutching” or “alkali processing”) strip away the majority of them. And although the fat in chocolate is cholesterol-neutral, it’s still fat, making chocolate a very high calorie food. With over 2/3rds of Americans either overweight or obese, adding a food as calorie-dense as chocolate to the diet (no matter how healthy), requires a reduction somewhere else to avoid undesirable weight gain. Even physically active folks should think twice before adding these “extras” to their diet. Clearly, a lot of little “extras” can add up to several hundred calories. So speaking of physical activity, is chocolate a good fuel for endurance activities? Here are a few things to consider. First is the type of activity. Since it’s a high fat food, chocolate may not work well for many during higher intensity activities – e.g. running, intense cycling, or strenuous hiking. Fat empties from the stomach at a slow rate, putting you at risk for significant gastrointestinal distress. However, during longer lower intensity activities –
e.g. cycling, hiking, adventure racing, this dense source of calories could absolutely be an option. Portability and feasibility remain an issue (i.e., how do you carry chocolate without it melting all over the place?), making it somewhat impractical in warmer climates. As for recovery after exercise— there is still no convincing evidence that chocolate is better than other foods for exercise recovery. Taking all of the above into consideration, here’s what to think about if you want to add chocolate to your diet (if you haven’t already): Serving size – 1.5 ounces--or about the size of a 1/3-inch stack of business card – yes, this is SMALL. It’s not the entire bar!
January 18th @ 6PM, 2nd Floor
• The Role Nutrition Plays in Prevention & Treatment February 8th @ 6PM, 2nd Floor
Deaconess Health & Education Bldg 910 W. 5th Ave., Spokane WA (509) 747-7066
WWW.THEMETABOLIC-INSTITUTE.COM
Ingredients – if you want to choose a higher quality chocolate, go for the most natural, least processed chocolate you can find. That means avoiding chocolate with milk solids, emulsifiers, and tons of added sugar. If it contains vegetable oil or partially hydrogenated oil, don’t buy it. Percentage of cocoa – the amount of cocoa can vary from 10-94%. Generally speaking, the more cocoa, the more flavonoids – choose chocolate with a minimum of 35% cocoa. Calories – most chocolate bars contain 220 -280 calories per 42 grams, or about 1.5 ounces, so eat in moderation!
IF you’re picky and stick to the above guidelines, your chocolate choices will be automatically narrowed for you! Here’s something else to consider —the flavonoids found in dark chocolate are also found in other plants, for example, apples, red wine and tea. And keep in mind that just because chocolate appears to affect cardiovascular risk factors, this doesn’t mean it prevents disease… it only has been shown to affect risk factors—not the same thing as disease prevention. So do we believe the headlines? “More good news about chocolate” (Science News, March 2, 2002) “Chocolate therapies.” (Science News, August 13, 2000) “Prescription-strength chocolate” (Science News, Oct 12, 1996) and “Can chocolate fight diabetes too?” (Science News, August 13, 2005) The jury’s still out! // Melanie Hingle is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX in the area of behavioral nutrition and physical activity.
WomanHealth has been serving the Spokane area for 26 years as an obstetricgynecologic practice dedicated to providing excellent health care to women in all stages of their reproductive life. Our setting is designed to foster a physicianpatient relationship in which the patient actively participates in her health care and health care decisions. We pride ourselves in our friendly individualized approach to providing state of the art office and surgical gynecologic care. We accomplish this by being a “health care team” which includes physicians, health care providers, nursing and administrative staff and YOU, the patient!
Pamela Silverstein, MD Lewis Meline, MD
Valerie Ewert, CNM Shelley Northern CNM Leanne Zilar, ARNP
Sara Edge ARNP Adie Goldberg, ACSW, M. ED
DEACONESS HEALTH & EDUCATION BUILDING 910 W. FIFTH AVE., SUITE 510 (509) 747-1055
OCTOBER 2008
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