Eating Dark Chocolate For The Health Benefits?

  •   #1  
    Meg's AvatarMeg , 08-18-2005 04:48 PM
    All of us chocoholics have been thrilled by the recent news that eating chocolate may actually be good for us - wow, that's having your cake and eating it too!!

    So I'm over Chocolate Holds Promise, But It's No Health Food . Apparently the key ingredient that gives chocolate its health benefits is something called 'flavanols' -- and chocolate manufacturers do their best to REMOVE flavanols because they makes chocolate bitter. So most chocolate doesn't contain the healthy stuff. Sigh. I knew it was too good to be true.

    Bottom line on eating chocolate for health?

    Quote:
    Even if you find a flavanol-rich chocolate bar, eating one every day would make you gain weight faster than it would lower your blood pressure, said Abby Ershow, nutrition science officer at the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
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  •   #2  
    LindaT's AvatarLindaT , 08-18-2005 05:02 PM
    I have a bag of the Dove Dark
    I have a bag of the Dove Dark mentioned in the article in my fridge. Our fearless leader Suzanne posted part of a study that showed this had the most flavonols, so that's what i got. I eat a couple of squares several times a week, but a whole bar would be a diet disaster. Agreed! I am going to hold onto a tiny hope that this little bit is doing something good for me.

    I cannot wait to try the other chocolates that the article claims are in the works. Too bad it won't ever be like in the woody Allen Movie Sleeper. He woke up in the future and it had been determined that hot fudge sundaes were one of the healthiest things you could eat.
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  •   #3  
    Meg's AvatarMeg , 08-18-2005 05:14 PM
    Has anyone tried the CocoaVia bars mentioned in the article?
    Quote:
    '... CocoaVia granola bars, made with a special cocoa powder that retains most of the flavanols. The bars also have plant sterols, which have been shown to help lower cholesterol.

    For now, the 80-calorie, 23-gram snack bars are sold only on the Internet. The bars have a satisfyingly rich chocolate flavor, along with a slight but distinct bitter taste.'
    They're made by the same company that makes the dark Dove chocolate (Masterfoods USA). Unfortunately, the article says you only can buy them from the CocoaVia web site.

    Gotta say that the little darlings look pretty good!
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  •   #4  
    3fcuser1058250's Avatar3fcuser1058250 , 08-18-2005 05:57 PM
    If all else fails we can add coco powder to cottage cheese?? I know, not as GOOD to the palate as a chocolate bar, but...........
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  •   #5  
    Nox's AvatarNox , 08-19-2005 08:33 AM
    Well, I probably don't eat enough chocolate for health purposes - but I do keep a bar of dark chocolate in the freezer and break off a chunk now and then. A nice piece of rich, quality chocolate to savour probably keeps me from indulging in that crappy sugar and fat laden lower quality bar more often. At least that is what I hope.
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  •   #6  
    3fcuser1058250's Avatar3fcuser1058250 , 08-19-2005 11:11 AM
    I often buy Baker's dark unsweetened chocolate when I get a chocolate craving...I haven't done it in a while though...
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