Danielle Pacheco Chocolatier

Chocolate: superfood or super-sugary?

rocas de chocolate con almendras

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Danielle Pacheco

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Chocolate has earned a reputation for being one of the healthiest guilty pleasures, and it's true that dark chocolate is a healthier choice than many other sweet treats. But can we go so far as to say that chocolate is a superfood? Does it really contain vitamins and minerals that could help us live a longer life? And the most important question of all: can I write off my daily dose of chocolate as a healthy habit?

It's said that my personal heroine, Jeanne Calment, ate up to a kilogram of chocolate every week and lived to the ripe old age of 122... but I don't think this dietary recommendation is supported by the medical community.

We'll take a look at why dark chocolate has gained its reputation as a superfood and how to incorporate it into your diet to enjoy the maximum benefits without going overboard.

Does eating dark chocolate every day help lower blood pressure?

Dark chocolate is said to have benefits for blood pressure. This is thanks to its high content of theobromine and flavonoids, a type of polyphenols. Both compounds have benefits for heart health.

Flavonoids stimulate the creation of nitric oxide, which helps open the blood vessels which in turns helps improve circulation and minimize the risk of cardiovascular disease. Flavonoids are also present in other food and drink such as blackberries, legumes,, el red wine and tea.

Fresh cacao contains approximately 10% flavonoids, but this flavonoid content becomes drastically lower once the cacao is toasted and processed into chocolate. Dark chocolate retains some flavonoids, but white chocolate doesn't contain these molecules.

Other health benefits of cacao

Los Polyphenols and other compounds present in cacao have other health benefits in addition to their effects on blood pressure. Research suggests that cacao may:

We should mention that many of these findings were based on studies that used cacao with high concentrations of the relevant nutrients, which isn't necessarily representative of the chocolate products we eat in our everyday lives. The health benefits of cacao and particularly of chocolate are debatable because some of the original studies were sponsored by multinational chocolate corporations. In better-designed studies without these external influences, the benefits of cacao were smaller, although they still existed.

Factors that influence chocolate's nutritional profile

The cacao plant variety and the manufacturing process, which includes steps like fermentation, drying, roasting and conching, affect its nutritional content. This means that not all chocolate will contain the same level of polyphenols or the same health benefits. Some things that affect the nutritional profile include:

  • The sugar content: The more sugar in a chocolate bar, the less healthy it is. It's easy to calculate the sugar percentage of a dark chocolate bar by subtracting the cacao percentage. For example, a bar labelled as "70% cacao" contains 100 - 70 = 30% sugar. In a milk chocolate bar, you can find the sugar content by checking the nutritional facts.
  • Cacao variety: Cacao is a plant that comes in around a dozen varieties. The cacao variety affects the nutritional profile: for example, Nacional cacao has more methylxanthines (caffeine and theobromine), while Criollo cacao has more amino acids.
  • Terroir: The country and growing region, as well as factors like sunlight, altitude and soil can all influence phenol content.
  • Harvest time: The riper the cacao pod when it's harvested, the more flavonols, catechins and phenolins it tends to contain.
  • Fermentation: Polyphenols and theobromine are bitter and astringent. We aim to eliminate these tasting notes when seeking to produce fine-flavour chocolate. To this end, we ferment, dry, toast and grind the beans, all of these steps being necessary in order to highlight the delicate and complex aromas that we associate with fine chocolate. However, these steps affect the levels of polyphenols, vitamins and other acids. During fermentation, these compounds interact to create new compounds.
  • Roasting: Roasting is crucial for killing pathogens and is therefore a non-negotiable food safety step. The roasting time and temperature have different effects on the healthy compounds. The goal is to find the right balance that allows the chocolate maker to develop the flavour profile while guaranteeing a foodsafe product.
  • Alkalization: La Alkalization is a process designed to remove cacao's astringency. This process is usually reserved for low-quality cacao, since it neutralizes both good and bad flavour notes. Alkalized chocolate has almost zero polyphenols, theobromine or other healthy compounds.
  • Digestion: Not all nutrients are absorbed by the body. That's why some companies have started looking into creating supplements that would boost the absorption rate.

Factors to keep in mind when enjoying your chocolate

  • Sugar content: Before devouring mountains of chocolate and especially if you have diabetes, bear in mind that chocolate generally has a high sugar content.
  • Calories: Between the sugar and the high fat content, chocolate is highly caloric (about 500 calories per 100 grams, on average), which can contribute to weight gain.
  • Migraines: Some people claim that chocolate triggers migraines, although more research is needed to understand this relationship.
  • Caffeine: Chocolate contains small amounts of caffeine. Though the caffeine content is much lower than in coffee or tea, in certain cases eating chocolate may affect sleep or even interact badly with medication, especially if it's consumed along with other sources of caffeine.
  • Heavy metals: Depending on where cacao grows and the facilities where it's dried and fermented, chocolate can absorb heavy metals such as lead or cadmium. This is more common in industrial cacao, but it's never a bad idea to ask for more information from your provider if you eat a lot of chocolate.

How much chocolate should I eat every day in order to see health benefits?

Let's be honest: chocolate isn't the same as cacao. Unless you're eating pure cacao, you can assume that the chocolate you're eating probably has added sugars and a high fat content due to the cacao butter (best-case scenario) or other fats like palm fat (worst-case scenario). It goes without saying that if you eat a ton of chocolate every day, the sugar and fat can cause you to gain weight (take it from me!) and may have negative health effects.

So with that in mind, although chocolate does contain some interesting compounds, we can't really say it's a superfood. Still, eating chocolate in moderation can be a good addition to a healthy and balanced diet, and chocolate does have potential benefits for heart health in particular.

You don't need to feel guilty about savouring a square of single-origin dark chocolate after dinner. Or, if you want to be even healthier, you can start the day with a cup of hot chocolate with modest amounts of sugar and fat. Results from a recent study suggest that chocolate may have an equal or greater ability than cacao to lower blood pressure. We'll be anxiously awaiting the verdict!

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