Say It With
Chocolate
-
Researchers find it's not as bad for you as your mother told you it was
The Los Angeles Times syndicate
According
to a study from Harvard's School of Public Health, it
appears that people who eat
chocolate live longer than those who don't.
"So much
for 'death by chocolate,'" writes Michael Scheider, editor
in chief of Chocolatier,
a magazine for chocolate aficionados. "Maybe we should call
it 'life by chocolate,'"
he added.
Life by chocolate - what a wondeful concept. And what an
excellent gift idea for anyone at holiday
time.
The reatail chocolate industry, now worth $12.5 billion per
year, is booming. Chocolate manufacturers use 40 percent of
the world's almonds, 20 percent of the world's
peanuts
and 8 percent of the world's sugar.
A 1997 survey revealed that Americans consumed more than 3
billion pounds of chocolate
that year, an average of 11.7 pounds per person. This
number is expected to
increase as chocoholics read the results of newly released
research, which shows that
chocolate doesn't deserve the bad rap from health-care
providers and nutritionists.
Chocolate is derived from several different kinds of cocoa
beans, each with its own distinctive
flavor, with Forastero making up 90 percent of the world's
crop. Once processed,
chocolate contains more than 400 substances, including
pleasure-inducing chemicals.
Since the beginning of history, chocolate has been believed
to have aphrodisiac powers.
Before entertaining his harem, Aztec King Montezuma sipped
a nightly cup of hot
chocolate.
The American Cocoa Research Institute, the research arm of
the Chocolate Manufacturer's
Association, monitors developments in health research as
well as conducts studies that have dispelled some commonly
held beliefs about chocolate. Their findings
are good news to everyone who loves
chocolate.
Studies done by the ACRI found that cocoa butter, one of
the highest natural sources
of stearic acid, does not raise blood cholesterol levels
when consumed by healthy
humans. In fact, a Pennsylvania State University study done
in 1991-92 showed
that a daily consumption of one milk-chocolate bar actually
had a favorable effect
on HDL ("good") cholesterol. Chocolate also contains a
relatively high level of heart-healthy
antioxidants.
Studies at the U.S. Naval Academy established that,
contrary to what our mothers
told us, chocolate does not cause or worsen acne. And a
1997 study at the University
of Pittsburgh found that "chocolate does not appear to play
a significant role in
triggering headaches in typical migrane, tension type or
combined headache sufferers."
Recent studies at Vanderbilt University and the University
of Iowa School of Medicine
found no evidence that chocolate causes hyperactivity in
kids. And parents worried
about high dental bills might do well to encourage their
child to eat chocolate, because chocolate contains an agent
that prevents cavities.
But the best research news is this: According to the ACRI,
chocolate is no more involved
in causing obesity than other foods.
Now that chocolate has received the modern-day seal of
approval, how should one
indulge in this most decadent of
delights?
According to the U.K.'s Sweet Seduction Chocoltier:
"Tasting chocolate is like tasting
wine. All the senses are brought into play...When you
compare one chocolate against
another, start with the 'best,' the one with the highest
cocoa solids, and so on down the
line."
Chocolate, how do I love thee? Let me count the
ways.