Say It With Chocolate

You can wine her. You can dine her. You can take her dancing all night. It doesn’t mean a thing without chocolate. Chocolate has benefits. Chocolate gets results. Dr. Doris Tummillo, who is board certified in cardiology and internal medicine, agrees. “If you love your significant other and want to keep them, give them chocolate.”

Though the use of chocolate dates back far earlier, Spanish explorers, who were introduced to the cacao bean by the Mayans and Aztecs, were the first Europeans to cultivate the plants and to mix the cacao into a tasty beverage. In Spain, cacao combined with corn syrup and spices was a pricey drink consumed by nobility. Because of its status as a luxury item, men began giving it to the women they loved or to those whose attentions they hoped to attract—thus chocolate’s first association with romance. Other Europeans, however, who did not sweeten the drink, did not enjoy the bitter taste. They relegated it to medicinal purposes, as they reasoned that anything that tasted that bad must be good for you.

Later, in the 1600s, having discovered ways to sweeten the chocolate drink made from the cacao bean, wealthy Europeans drank it for its flavor as well as for its perceived health benefits. It was even considered by some to be an aphrodisiac. Eventually, particularly with the advent of industrialization, chocolate became a drink enjoyed by the masses. Then in the late 1800s the Cadbury Company produced and packaged chocolate candies, soon thereafter offering them in heart-shaped boxes—an apt gift then, as it is now, for the object of one’s affections.

As time has marched on, it has become increasingly apparent that the Europeans of centuries past were definitely on to something. Not only is sweetened chocolate flavorful and satisfying, it also has qualities that make it good for the body.

Studies demonstrate that eating one small square of chocolate a day reduces the risk of heart attacks and improves overall health. One square does not mean an entire candy bar. Six to seven grams per day will do. Dr. Tummillo cites study results released in March 2010 by German nutritionist Dr. Brian Buijsse and his colleagues. The large-scale observational research followed almost 20,000 adults between the ages of 35 and 65 for a period of 10 years and tracked their daily chocolate consumption. In the final analysis, those participants who consumed on average 7.5 grams of chocolate per day reduced their risk of stroke and heart attack by 39 percent as compared with participants who consumed almost no chocolate.

In November of last year, Australian researchers released similar findings from a 10-year study of women over the age of 70. Those who consumed chocolate at least once a week were 35 percent less likely to be hospitalized or die during the course of the study than participants who did not. In addition, participants who consumed chocolate at least once a week were 60 percent less likely to die or be hospitalized for heart failure than those who did not. Both the German study and the Australian study appear to implicate chocolate as an important ingredient in the maintenance of good health.

More than this, chocolate makes you feel good, a probable reason why 17th- century Europeans used it as an aphrodisiac. Dr. Tummillo points out that the anti-inflammatory effects of chocolate decrease blood pressure. When blood pressure drops, the body relaxes, causing the brain to interpret the body’s change of state as a signal that, ahhhhhh, all is well. This pleasurable effect of chocolate causes a reduction of serotonin production in the brain, thus increasing euphoric sensations. Chocolate also triggers the release of endorphins in the brain, contributing to an analgesic effect. “It stimulates a lot of good things,” says Dr. Tummillo, who believes in the old adage that chocolate can make a bad day good and a good day even better.

Cocoa, according to Robin Borders, a nutritionist and clinical dietician with MCGHealth, is the component of chocolate that provides all of the benefits. Cocoa contains flavonoids (appropriately named since they occur in many delicious foods and beverages), a category of antioxidants that scientists believe is responsible for chocolate’s anti-inflammatory properties, reducing the chance of blood clots and inhibiting cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels. The darker the chocolate, the higher the cocoa content and, therefore, the more beneficial it is.

All chocolate products begin with the cacao tree, the pods of which contain seeds, known as cacao beans, which are harvested to produce chocolate. Not all chocolate is created equal, however, in terms of positive effects on health. Milk chocolate is sweeter and creamier than dark chocolate and far more popular as a treat. In comparison to dark chocolate, however, gram for gram, it has more sugar, fat, cholesterol and calories. Plus, according to Borders, the milk in milk chocolate tends to block the body’s absorption of flavonoids.

Powdered cocoa mixes available in grocery stores also do not have the amount of cocoa necessary to render the desired health benefits. And though this may come as a disappointment to some, white chocolate isn’t chocolate at all. Borders also recommends that chocolate lovers steer clear of morsels, even dark chocolate ones, containing added ingredients such as nuts, nougat and caramel that increase calories and fat.

So when selecting the perfect box of chocolate for your Valentine, tell her how much you love her by giving her dark chocolate. Just remember, less is not more and more is not more. In Buijsse’s study, those people who consumed the least amount of chocolate did not alter their expected outcomes in terms of cardiovascular disease. On the other hand, eating more than the six to seven grams suggested by Dr. Tummillo may simply increase calorie, fat and sugar intake without appreciably influencing a person’s health outcome. A moderate amount, in other words, goes a long way.

While doctors and nutritionists are hesitant to unequivocally urge people to make dark chocolate a part of their daily balanced diets, they certainly aren’t discouraging the measure. After all, chocolate derives from cocoa, a naturally-occurring substance containing powerful antioxidants. “What is the downside of eating one piece of dark chocolate a day?” Dr. Tummillo logically poses.

As Lucy van Pelt of Charles Schultz’s Peanuts says, “All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” This Valentine’s Day, go ahead, give her your heart, the dark chocolate version. What better way to express love than to give the gift that tastefully sends the message, “I want to keep you around for a long time to come?”