Research says that dark chocolates are much healthier than milk chocolate. Scientists in Italy and Scotland proclaim that there are much more antioxidant characteristics in dark chocolate. It can protect arteries, heart and other organs against “oxidative damage”. Chocolate having milk added can practically have its health benefits crossed-out.
There have been other researches carried-out in the past, which report that chocolate can safeguard one from some cancers and even heart disease. There are yet few who distinguish dark chocolate to milk chocolate. The fact that dark chocolate is better health food than milk chocolate makes it important to select.
Professor, Alan Crozier, recommends a small bar of chocolate to be consumed a day. A study by University of Glasgow and Italy’s National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research to evaluate between chocolate varieties proved that dark chocolates are better.
The experiment was conducted, by having 12 healthy volunteers of age 25 to 35, where five were men and seven women. They were asked to consume milk chocolate and dark chocolate. Volunteers were required to consume 50 percent more milk chocolate to have the same antioxidants effect as the dark chocolate. The blood antioxidant did almost increase by 20 percent when dark chocolate was consumed.
The research did also evaluate the effect of drinking milk and consuming dark chocolate at the same time. However, there was no great antioxidant effect when milk and dark chocolate was consumed simultaneously.
Professor Alan Crozier of Glasgow University suggested that the antioxidants in chocolates bind up with milk protein and thereby alleviate the positive effects. The absorption of dark chocolate by the body is thereby reduced causing fewer health benefits.
The research concludes that milk might have some impeding health attributes when consumed with tea, fruits or any other foods having positive anti-oxidative effects.
The fact that chocolate is conducive for health is certainly good news for dark chocolate lovers. However, both dark chocolate as well as milk have a high quantity of saturated fats. As saturated fats penetrate the blood stream, the level of cholesterol increases and this can lead to heart disease.
A reasonable intake of chocolate per day is a small bar. Chocolate should be added to a balanced diet. However, by no means should chocolate replace the recommended five fruits or vegetables per day.
Source: BBC
Mon, Jan 18, 2010
Bioscience, Gerontology, Health And Aging, Longevity