Chocolate: A Happy-Tasty Way to Health

by Lawrence Downing, March 28, 2016: The last few months have generated a fair amount of welcome hoopla promoting the benefits of dark chocolate. The October 19, 2015, Adventist Review weighed in, reporting a Loma Linda University study leading to the conclusion that the consumption of dark chocolate can lower blood pressure, improve cognitive abilities, and result in other marvelous and wonderful benefits.
Not to be trumped (one must be judicious in the use of this word!) by a parochial religious journal, the February 2016 AAP News (American Academy of Pediatrics), page 7, carried a report by H. Cody Meissner, M.D., FAAP, with the headline, “Studies reveal why chocolate is good for you.”
In his article, Meissner, professor of pediatrics at Floating Hospital for Children, Tufts Medical Center, reports that “…chocolate with a high cocoa concentration is the healthiest but also the most bitter. Consumption of two chocolate bars a day for four weeks is likely to result in a reduction in serum low-density lipoprotein levels….Chocolate enhances cognitive function, and a direct correlation exists between a country’s annual per capita chocolate consumption and the number of Nobel laureates. Regular consumption of flavanol-rich chocolate has been shown to lower blood pressure by a statistically significant amount. Consumption of dark chocolate is helpful for people with iron deficiency anemia.” (Yes, it is two BARS a day, not two squares, as advocated in an Adventist Review article.)
With such powerfully positive aspects awaiting the person who scarfs down a simple chocolate bar, I’m ready to propose that the consumption of at least one bar a day be made part of the Adventist health message. The cooking school presenter, with a stack of chocolate bars on the counter, will have a wider and more diverse arsenal with which to entice the attendees to practice a healthier diet. Think brown rice, tofu and a dark chocolate bar. How can one go wrong? The recipe variations excite the imagination: tofu slathered with melted dark chocolate; Haystacks a la Chocolate; chickettes dipped in chocolate. The creative possibilities are exceeded only by the number of people lined up to indulge in the goodies!
There is another potential benefit to adopting the “Bar or two a day” mantra. The theologically deficient members among us, should they be persuaded to indulge in a two- or three-candy-bar-a-day regimen, may be more astute and reasonable. If a chocolate bar has the potential to increase intellectual capacity, why not extrapolate to include the possibility that a more mature theological construct awaits the person who has the discipline to indulge in a chocolate bar or two as part of his/her healthful living program? For the more advanced thinkers, consider this: the Tree of Life. Who is to deny that one of the “fruits” produced by that wondrous bush, flourishing beside the River may have as one of its stupendous products a chocolate bar? Toss in, for variety, the possibility that the wilderness manna may have been the product of the cocoa. The possibilities boggle the mind!
In summary, we can take satisfaction that the tropics produce savory, theobroma cacao seeds which, when roasted, ground, fermented and flavored, produce a taste fit for royalty, and, to boot, do a body good!
Lawrence, you have brought joy to my life! Thank you for reminding us that something that tastes good can actually be good for us. These links also say that chocolate is beneficial:
1. http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?2.
2 tabnum=1&art_id=14761well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/why-chocolate-is-good-for-us
3. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/16/more-evidence-that…
So many for so long have said that eating chocolate will kill us and that is bad for us. Why is chocolate viewed with suspicion? The answer is because it tastes so good. As a “pleasure” it has been seen as sinful. There are also linkages between chocolate and that other great “sin” of humanity-sex. Hence, there is the association of guilt
Now this is all well and good, you may say, but you can get the most of the same minerals and antioxidants from other sources. This is where the extra dimension of chocolate comes in. Apart from providing goodness for us, our food needs to give us joy. Relaxation and fun are important for health too. Chocolate scores ten out of ten.
So the good news is that there is no need to feel guilty about eating chocolate on Easter or on any other day. This does not mean a bar a day and yes you can get all the above nutrients from other sources, perhaps without the same amount of enjoyment. The best is 70% cocoa and organic is great if you can get it.
As part of a balanced healthy lifestyle chocolate hits the spot. So enjoy without over indulging.
Ah Lawrence……… theo broma……. food of the gods. What else is more fit to grow on the tree of life? Two bars a day, you say? Can you put that in grams/ounces?
And since the same scientific process which lauds the health benefits of cacao 70%+ also teaches us that two glasses of red wine a day is highly beneficial, do you think the Review might soon be advocating the judicious use of vino rosso? After all, Jesus does require that His followers all drink of it.
Serge,
Do you think some conditioning of personal preferences might be essential to a transition from the super-sweet of highly-sugared milk chocolate to the bitterness of 70% cacao? I used to love milk chocolate but some years ago after reading about the health benefits of higher cacao concentrations switched to a 30% cacao chocolate bar. I tried 70% and spat-out the first bite because it was so bitter. Maybe 40% or 50% will give me a happy medium. What do you think?
Completely agree, William N. I never had a taste for ‘dark’ chocolate, even when it was about 30%. I simply cannot abide 80%, tho many I know love it. 50% is good for me now, but 70 is passable. However, no way can I take 2 bars a day. The sugar content is crucial to keep an eye on. Std milk chocolate is too sweet for me now also. American chocolate, eg Hershey drops, are far too sweet. So tastes can and do change. btw, a good dark chocolate goes nicely with a good red (pref. shiraz). But I do not take enough of either, I must add.
Serge,
My wife and I sometimes like to watch a cooking show where contestants are given a “mystery basket” of ingredients and must prepare dishes using them. We’ve been surprised by some of the pairings they’ve had for chocolates.
Kenneth, you have brought joy to my life! Thank you for reminding us that something that tastes good can actually be good for us.
So many for so long have said that eating chocolate will kill us and that is bad for us. Why is chocolate viewed with suspicion? The answer is because it tastes so good. As a “pleasure” it has been seen as sinful. There are also linkages between chocolate and that other great “sin” of humanity-sex. Hence, there is the association of guilt
Now this is all well and good, you may say, but you can get the most of the same minerals and antioxidants from other sources. This is where the extra dimension of chocolate comes in. Apart from providing goodness for us, our food needs to give us joy. Relaxation and fun are important for health too. Chocolate scores ten out of ten.
So the good news is that there is no need to feel guilty about eating chocolate on Easter or on any other day. This does not mean a bar a day and yes you can get all the above nutrients from other sources, perhaps without the same amount of enjoyment. The best is 70% cocoa and organic is great if you can get it.
As part of a balanced healthy lifestyle chocolate hits the spot. So enjoy without over indulging.
I eat milk chocolate and take statins.
Jovan,
Be careful with those statins because they can cause some very serious adverse effects in a big hurry. I have one friend who suffered very serious side-effects and his experience helped me detect potentially life-threatening side-effects early enough that the damage I suffered was minimal. Doctors say statins are safe, but the FDA files documenting adverse results show that they are actually quite risky.
There is historical precedent theologically for heresies being redeemed as truth, or even adjuisted as present truth, (review the convoluted machinations of the first three hundred years of church history). And so now chocolate in our time!
My palate trusts this is the final word, this health message permanent, final, revision on this topic! If not, and it reverts, notice in advance I refuse to repent and will be totally reestablished in my reputation as a heretic. This blip is most welcome. What next, coffee. I am yet a “backslider” there, (with hopes of a revision), roasting my own, grinding and brewing daily. And red wine. Whew. Surely it won’t travel to the consumption of dead animal proteins.
I’m 75, take no medicines, suffer no chronic pain, had my prostate removed five months ago by a surgeon who never performs that surgery for anyone over 70 (they aren’t healthy enough, he says). So, as an act of contrition, a preceded by a confession of sorts, ignoring my family heredity lineage of long lives, and seeking absolution for being “Toast,” (credit to William Abbot’s sense of humor, maybe), I recognize the possibility that the first 34 years of my life as SDA gets some credit for the moderation learned. And while there, I learned to be thankful for things, and for these I am eternally thankful.
And I also credit the love experienced and reflected in my life, which qualifies me as a Christian, as also responsible for my good fortune.
“Bugs” Larry, I admire your picture of good health! I’m a few years older than you, never had a prostate so never had to have it removed, but I did have spinal surgeries [twice] and have recovered beautifully. I’m in really good health also. BUT…. I can’t stand the taste of dark chocolate. And I’m told that milk chocolate doesn’t have the same properties as does the bitter, dark stuff.
So… I guess I’ll just have to hold my breath, get in my exercise every day, and be thankful I’ve survived into my mid-80s without any further problems. Thank you for your delightful comments!
Good boy!!!! As a Christian, however, we must report this amazing news “CHOCOLATE”, FROM THE TREE OF LIFE”, to all the world, and within 6 months, demand will be so great, it will be rationed out to only 2 squares a day each, and then one square per day each, hmmmmm, and then the price will soar out of sight, and only the beautiful people will be able to afford it. Sigh, sigh.
At first Earl, assuming I was the good “boy” you referred to, my personal offensive senses went on high alert. Then I remember your lid is flipped, maybe. And then I remember your clocked chronology surpassed mine and I reduced the ire vigilance to a restful peace level expressed as “I’m honored to be named a ‘boy’ by a man of your vintage!” Chocolate might be the heavenly flavor available on the “Tree of Life.” Can any good thing come from planet earth. See, the answer is Yes! Eating chocolate now just might be a preview of things to come! Even in multiverses. And it can’t be in short supply or overpriced there!
OK, here is the question of the day…
Which is harder to swallow…80% cacao or no salt dinner cuts?
I know some would say..”neither..it is the investigative judgment.”
Jimbob,
Please! Let’s keep the investigation and the judgement separate. The combination might be too controversial. 😉
KOOL, Jimbob, i’m delighted to find you are humorous; btw, no salt on anything, ughhh.
Larry, i’ve still got my prostate, not that it is a benefit, and recall year 75 with great joy, but now 14 years later, i’m searching for the fountain of youth, and detest watching the teenagers wasting their lives.
When will the health writers for the Review begin recommending coffee, especially for seniors for cognitive improvement and multiple other benefits? Science has presented many studies showing its benefits, but especially for seniors. As a 91-yr. old I love that one cup daily in the morning. Milk chocolate is much better than dark chocolate. But I can limit it to one small milk chocolate peanut butter cup daily.
Hot chocolate parties were all the rage in the late 1800s. http://www.replacements.com/thismonth/archive/v1301t.htm
Yet Ellen White never writes anything against chocolate. In fact, in 1874 Ellen writes in a letter to her son Willie, “Sunday morning, Brother Chittenden and Brother Vincent took us in a large sail boat across the bay to Oakland. The boat was convenient. It has a cabin and little stove for cooking in the cabin. We went across the bay to Oakland seven miles. We took our dinner on the boat. Brother Chittenden cooked dried corn and fish and made chocolate. We had a very pleasant time.” Lt16-1874 (February 24, 1874) par. 4
We must therefore assume that L. Downing’s musings are not too heretical.
Donald Trump announces Doug Bachelor as his nomination for supreme court justice?
Ted Wilson resigns in penance for male headship heresy?
Geoscience institute agrees world may be at least 6002 years old?
Little Debbie snack foods gets Noble Prize for Health Promotion?
And now you expect me to believe that the Review promoted chocolate?
Really Larry, the fact that I am reading this on April 1, has me suspicious.
Some things are just “too good to be true”……. 🙂
Do I hear the rustle of dentists rubbing their hands with delight??
Not an April Fools folly, Jack. The October 19, 2015 Adventist Review did promote the benefits of eating chocolate. Referenced in the article is a Loma Linda University study that affirmed there are certain benefits to a moderate amount of chocolate consumption. As for Doug B’s appointment to the Supreme Court? I’ll take chocolate!