Can chocolate trigger the feeling of being in love?

photo courtesy of experience chocolate

 As the season for continual candy indulgence is now upon us I know you don’t have to be persuaded to indulge in nature’s most seductive sweet. Fortunately with the antioxidant properties found in cocoa, you can feel good about it so long as it’s within moderation and not coming from a foil clothed santa or a crazed sugar fiend count.

Dark chocolate and matters of the heart - A multitude of studies have been conducted to provide support for the dietary use of cocoa flavanols in maintaining cardiovascular health - most likely because there is no shortage of eager volunteers. The research has shown that regular consumption of the flavanols found in dark chocolate resulted in reduction of serum total and LDL cholesterol as well as lowering systolic blood pressure and improving the formation of bioactive nitric oxide. Researchers have also identified chocolate as having anticoagulation effects similar to aspirin as it inhibits platelet function and slows clotting time, exerting an overall cardioprotective effect.

Willy Wonka claimed that chocolate contained a property that triggered the release of endorphins and gave one the feeling of being in love. He actually wasn’t just full of it. Studies using functional magnetic resonance imaging showed a significant increase in blood-oxygenation-level-dependent signals in the brains of subjects after they consumed flavanol rich cocoa. This may be the result of increased neuronal activity and cerebral blood flow.

Myth Busted: chocolate is bad for your skin. Researchers have demonstrated that long term cocoa ingestion leads to an increased resistance against UV-induced erythema (redness) and lowered transepidermal water loss. Subsequent to the intake of high flavanol cocoa, dermal blood flow significantly increased and oxygen saturation was elevated nearly two fold.

Rich on flavor - rich in Flavonoids. Cocoa flavanols are powerful antioxidants that reduce harmful chemicals in the blood like free radicals – which hold strong convictions and use extreme and often uncompromising methods to sway the body’s healthy cells to vote independent.

Unfortunately for confection candy lovers most naturally occurring flavanols are removed during the processing of cocoa beans so not just any chocolate will do. First and foremost look for dark chocolate products and preferably ones that state cacao content on the label which is usually expressed as a percent. Any product above 50% is great, but be warned that the really hardcore varieties such as those in the 70% and up can be pretty intense. In addition to being packed with sugar, fat and other anti-nutrients most milk chocolate products contain little to none of the health promoting cacao found in its dark counterpart. Moral of the story: this year fill your holiday candy bowl with real chocolate.