Introduction:
Dark chocolate is a healthy food. However, according to many doctors, chocolate is indeed healthy. With a little search, you'll find a lot of content online about the health benefits of dark chocolate. To a large extent, while consuming cocoa brings some health benefits, dark chocolate is not as fashionable as advertised, a healthy food.
There are almost no delicious and healthy foods in the world.
Dark chocolate is a healthy food. Although this may not sound true – after all, there are almost no delicious and healthy foods in the world. However, according to many doctors, chocolate is indeed healthy.
With a little search, you'll find a lot of content online about the health benefits of dark chocolate. Tabloid and mainstream media say the food is not only delicious, but also healthy.
But to what extent is this health propaganda deceptive?
Is the propaganda that dark chocolate is a healthy food, just to make chocolate a food that people can eat with their bellies open?
To a large extent, while consuming cocoa brings some health benefits, dark chocolate is not as fashionable as advertised, a healthy food.
Behind the benefits of dark chocolate
Indeed, eating dark chocolate is not all bad. The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health reports that dark chocolate contains 50%-90% cocoa solids, cocoa butter and sugar. When compared to other chocolates, dark chocolate does not seem to have much advantage. After all, other types of chocolate are only 10 to 50 percent cocoa solids and cocoa butter, and milk chocolate also contains milk.
The good side of dark chocolate
Cocoa is rich in flavanols, a chemical found in many vegetables and fruits, and is currently known to have antioxidant properties that are good for the heart.
Flavanols have been shown to promote the production of nitric oxide by cells in blood vessels, which improves blood flow and lowers blood pressure. In addition, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Health says flavanols have been shown to improve people's insulin sensitivity, thereby potentially reducing the risk of diabetes.
If you believe the hype that trumpets these benefits, you'll accept it as a remedy for many diseases like diabetes and heart disease. However, that image is deceiving.
However, such images as these are deceptive.
A media outlet recently published a detailed article questioning the prevailing notion of dark chocolate as a miracle "safe food." In the article, a journalist named Julia Belluz looked at 100 health studies sponsored by Mars, one of the world's largest food manufacturers, whose brands include Dove. The study hints at the health benefits of consuming foods rich in cocoa and chocolate.
Research:
Belluz quoted Paulette Goddard, a professor of nutrition studies and public health at New York University. The professor said Mars, and many others like it, "invest in scientific research in a way that makes their products look less like a delicious snack and more like a "healthy food."
"That way, people can sit in place and eat chocolate bars and think they're eating flavanols." Belluz said.
This is a marketing ploy that a candy company might adopt. Originally, parents would blame their children for eating too much sugar. But now, that could change when dark chocolate is repackaged as a food that protects against serious health problems.
The media traced the history of Mars until 1982, when Mars, which launched chocolate brands such as M&M, established a research center to study health sciences related to cocoa. Part of the purpose of the research centre at the confectionery centre is to detect and disseminate the benefits of cocoa.
Since 2005, Mars has supported 140 peer-reviewed scientific studies demonstrating the health benefits of flavanols contained in cocoa. So, is it really bad to immerse yourself in dark chocolate? Dr. JoAnn Manson, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Harvard University, says enjoy your Christmas candy, but don't listen to all the reports that exaggerate its health benefits.
"I think the key is that chocolate is a wonderful treat, but it's not really a healthy food," Dr. Manson said.
"In fact, the cocoa flavanols you know are indeed found in dark chocolate, but the amount of this substance varies depending on the chocolate product you consume," the doctor said.”
"The amount of flavanols varies from product to product. I don't know if you eat high levels of cocoa, and chocolate tends to be high in calories, saturated fat, and sugar. ”
Doctor's opinion:
Dr. Manson is also involved in a large-scale clinical study that randomized approximately 22,000 subjects of different genders nationwide to see if daily use of cocoa flavanol supplements or common multivitamins reduced the risk of cancer, stroke or heart disease.
"Cocoa flavanols do appear promising to reduce the risk of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases, but this benefit is still being studied and there is no conclusive evidence that this substance reduces the risk of related events such as clinical heart attacks." Due to the large number and scale of the study, this research is currently halfway through. Researchers may be able to report results in 2021.
Professor Manson stressed that current research was not ready for definitive answers to what the health benefits of cocoa flavanols were. Early research suggests that cocoa flavanols may aid cognitive function and reduce the risk of heart disease.
"Columbia University is doing some research. Actually, we are working with them. In two to three years, we will further explain the health effects of cocoa flavanols and the benefits of the substance. We should all wait for the results of the study to fully assess the effects of flavanols extracted from chocolate on human health," added Professor Manson.
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