When Cocoa Met Cardio: The Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

By: Vanessa Leikvoll, CINHC | February 13, 2018
Co-author: Giselle Ginsberg, MS, R.D

Love stories remind us of true love and scenarios of pure mutual understanding and harmony. We always think of love stories in terms of ‘when Harry met Sally’ – but in honor of February being American Heart Month AND the host of one of America’s favorite sugary and romantic (and over-commercialized?) holidays, we wanted to share a different kind of love story…

Cocoa – a crop that’s Greek name, Theobroma, means ‘food of the gods’, and that’s reverence dates as far back as the time of the Mayans with their ceremonial rituals– has now been linked to many health benefits, most notably being those related to our ‘ticker.’

Heart conditions are so common in the US that, odds are, you probably know someone with one, either directly or indirectly. According to the CDC, Heart Disease is the leading cause of death among men and women in the US, and costs the US economy about $200 billion each year. Some risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, smoking, and obesity. There are several things you can do to help combat these risk factors for heart disease, like adding exercise to your daily routine, cooking heart-healthy meals, and taking steps to stop smoking. But one thing you can do that you may NOT have thought about doing is eating a bit of dark chocolate each day.

…wait, chocolate?

You read that right!

Dark chocolate (one of the many beautiful and delicious commodities crafted from the natural cocoa bean) has been shown to improve or prevent many of the risk factors associated with heart disease and other cardiometabolic disorders through its consumption – how great is that!? In fact, studies have shown that consuming dark chocolate lowers the risk for heart disease by 1/3.

Here are the other cool things that studies have shown eating dark chocolate regularly may do:

• Lower blood pressure
• Inhibit the oxidation of LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol
• Raise levels of HDL (‘good’) cholesterol
• Decrease insulin resistance
• Increase blood circulation to the brain and raises cognitive levels
• Improve mood
• Help the microbes in our gut process food more efficiently

As you can see, dark chocolate boasts many natural benefits for your entire body!

But let’s take a look at the love affair between dark chocolate and your heart a little more closely by examining cholesterol.

Cholesterol is a substance that your body needs to build cells, and has many natural and necessary functions that it performs for the body to keep you healthy. It is made by the liver, and also accumulates in our bodies, through our food intake and poor lifestyle habits. Too much cholesterol in our body as a result of high saturated and trans-fat intake, overweight/ obesity and inactivity, will cause it to build up in the walls of your arteries, narrowing the passage of blood flow (which carries the oxygen) to the heart. If too little oxygen reaches your heart due to these narrowed arteries, you may experience chest pain, and if the blood supply to a particular portion of the heart is completely blocked, a heart attack may result. All of this contributes to heart disease.

There are two kinds of cholesterol: LDL and HDL. LDL is the ‘bad’ cholesterol and, when oxidized, is the main source of artery-clogging plaque. HDL is the ‘good’ cholesterol and works to actually clear excess cholesterol from the blood. Here is where dark chocolate serves as a ‘Knight in Shining Armor’: Dark chocolate’s natural inflammation-fighting properties have been shown to help inhibit the oxidation of LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol, thus supporting a healthy balance in the body. This explains the importance of keeping your cholesterol intake from food as low as possible.

Dark chocolate reigns as an inflammation-buster against cholesterol due to its density of varied antioxidants. Antioxidants help prevent against serious diseases by inhibiting harmful radicals in the body from forming and developing into inflammation and/or disease. We can see why dark chocolate’s natural strong and protective qualities make for a perfect fit for the sensitive heart! But how much should we eat to feel the benefits? Most experts agree that the recommended ‘dose’ is 1 to 2 ounces per day.

In honor of American Heart Month and Valentine’s Day – show your employees some love by introducing them to the health benefits of dark chocolate with our 'Dig Into Dark Chocolate' Program– it’ll be a match made in heaven!

[1] https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_heart_disease.htm