It’s good news for chocolate addicts everywhere: eating chocolate could be good for your wellness! Recent research has found that those who include chocolate or cocoa as part of their diet and nutrition actually had improved wellbeing in many different ways.
The cocoa-drinking peoples of Central America, such as the Kuna Indians of Panama, were the target of the research. Scientists found that these people, who drink cocoa as their main daily beverage, had very low blood pressure indeed. As high blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke and heart disease, this is a very positive thing and reflects well on the beneficial effects of cocoa.
Chocolate is made from cocoa, and is a sweetened form of the food. Dark chocolate in particular is thought to be a great source of antioxidants, zinc, iron, manganese, magnesium and phosphorous. As well as blood pressures studies (which need further work to be conclusive) many other health benefits have been claimed regarding chocolate.
Some studies have shown, for example, that a diet rich in cocoa could help to protect the body against bowel cancer. Again, the research done in this area is very patchy, and further work would need to be done to prove that chocolate can have a strongly beneficial effect.
A study was also conducted into the effects of chocolate on stress levels. Whilst the study, which involved 30 healthy people being given 40g of dark chocolate each day for two weeks, seemed to show a reduction in their stress levels, critics have argued that the fact that it was carried out by a major chocolate manufacturer has made it biased, and that the results cannot be trusted.
Overall, any beneficial effects of chocolate do have to be weighed against the fact that chocolate is high in sugar and fat, two substances that can harm the health of the human body in several other ways.
