Chocolate has a long and illustrious reputation. Made from cocoa, which is derived from the seeds of the cacao tree, whose scientific name, Theobroma, in Greek, means “food of the gods”, it was used by some of the early Mesoamerican cultures as food, medicine, ritual offering and perhaps even currency. .
And it’s no less valuable in modern times: The global chocolate market grew by nearly 20% between 2016 and 2021, with approximate revenue of $980 billion in 2021, according to market research firm Statista.
Flavor is certainly important to chocolate’s popularity, but you’ve also probably heard that this delicious treat is good for your health. How is this perception viewed by science?
“Cocoa is clearly good for you,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and professor at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. “Whether chocolate is good for you or not depends on how much cocoa it actually contains and what else is in it.”
Cocoa beans are full of fiber and “loaded with phytonutrients,” Mozaffarian said, referring to the natural chemicals found in this plant. Cocoa is believed to contain around 380 different chemicals, including a large class of compounds called flavanols. [uma subclasse dos flavonoides] that have attracted significant interest from researchers for their potential health benefits.
But it’s less clear how much flavanols and other phytonutrients you need to improve health, or whether your favorite chocolate bar contains enough for it. And experts have differing opinions on this point.
Milk chocolate typically contains about 20% cocoa, Mozaffarian said, although the content can vary. (The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires milk chocolate to contain at least 10% cocoa, but some milk chocolate bars contain up to 50% or more.)
Check labels carefully, the doctor said. For possible health benefits, he recommends dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa.
Many small, short-term human trials have found that dark chocolate, supplements, or standardized cocoa drinks can modestly lower blood pressure and improve blood cholesterol and blood vessel health in adults.
And some longer-term observational studies have concluded that people who consume more cocoa may have a lower risk of certain cardiovascular diseases, according to Mozaffarian.
In a systematic review published in February in the journal JAMA Network Open, the researcher and his colleagues examined how certain foods and nutrients are associated with heart health problems.
They found “likely or convincing evidence” that eating chocolate is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, estimating that an average daily intake of just 10 g of chocolate was associated with a 6% reduction in the overall risk of cardiovascular disease.
But these types of estimates are based on observational studies, which have important limitations, said JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
These studies can only identify correlations between chocolate intake and health; cannot prove that chocolate is beneficial — people who eat the most chocolate may be different in other ways that affect their health, Manson said.
The results of observational studies were also inconsistent. Some have found no benefit and others have found that those who eat chocolate regularly or more often are more likely to gain weight, Manson pointed out.
These studies also do not usually take into account the different types of chocolate, which can vary in cocoa content. And counting sugar, fat, and calories can negate any health benefits of cocoa.
To address some of these shortcomings, Manson and his colleagues conducted a large randomized trial of more than 21,000 seniors in the United States. Half of the participants received a cocoa extract supplement containing 500 milligrams of cocoa flavanols, and the other half received a placebo. The results of the study, called the Cosmos trial, were published in June in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
After following the participants for 3.6 years, the researchers found that, when compared to the placebo group, the cocoa supplement group was not statistically less likely to have cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes, but had a 27% reduction. % in cardiovascular deaths.
Manson called these results “promising signs for heart protection,” although she stressed that another study is needed to confirm the results before translating them into recommendations for cocoa flavanol intake.
Importantly, the Cosmos study did not give participants chocolate, but concentrated cocoa extract capsules produced by the Mars chocolate industry, which also partially funded the study.
To get the same amount of bioactive cocoa flavanols from chocolate, a person would have to eat about 4,000 calories of milk chocolate or 600 calories of dark chocolate a day, Manson said, noting that a large percentage of flavanols can be destroyed during chocolate processing.
Chocolate is “a wonderful treat, but I think considering it a healthy food has its limitations,” she said.
Much of the research, including his own, on the potential health benefits of chocolate and cocoa has been funded by chocolate companies like Mars, Manson said. “These tests are expensive,” and government funding for nutrition studies in general is limited, he added.
Research suggests that the results of studies sponsored by the food industry, including those on chocolate, are more inclined to be favorable to the companies that fund them, although Manson said that Mars was not involved in the design or analysis of the Cosmos study.
For his part, Mozaffarian is convinced by existing research that dark chocolate containing 70% or more cocoa is likely to be beneficial for heart health, even if it contains less flavanols than tested in the Cosmos study.
“Eating a small amount of dark chocolate every day is probably very good for us, and it will make you happy because it tastes good,” he said.
Mozaffarian said he does not receive any funding from the chocolate industry, but he has admitted a conflict of interest when it comes to this particular food. “My conflict is that I love dark chocolate,” he said.
Translated by Luiz Roberto M. Gonçalves
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