Chocolate Is Good for You!

By Janette Blackwell


Great news on the chocolate      in milk chocolate can be even 
front! Chocolate is good for    lower, and she does not       
you. Under certain              recommend it. She says, I    
circumstances.                   recommend cocoa or an ounce   
                                 per day of dark chocolate,    
Katherine Tallmadge,         which may be about 110 to 150
spokesperson for the American    calories, depending on the    
Dietetic Association, says, in   chocolate. Any more than that
the February 9, 2005,            and you're probably going to  
WASHINGTON POST, that cacao,     take in too many calories for
or cocoa beans, contain          weight control.               
'flavanols,' naturally                                         
occurring plant compounds also    Do you have any idea of   
found in tea, red wine, and      what you just read? A highly
apples. Their properties have   qualified nutrition           
been studied as heart disease    professional is RECOMMENDING  
inhibitors.                     that you eat chocolate! Maybe
                                 not large quantities of       
Carl L. Keen, chair of       chocolate, but chocolate. If
the department of nutrition at   you have suffered much in the
University of California,        area of chocolate, you may    
Davis, states in the same        want to enlarge that statement
article that the flavanols in    and post it on your bathroom  
cocoa help maintain a healthy    mirror, where it can cheer you
vascular system. They reduce    on rainy mornings.            
blood clotting -- an aspirin                                   
like effect -- reduce             Now comes the chocolate   
oxidative damage and improve     frosting on the cake. Deanna
blood flow.                      K. reports: The Diabetic     
                                 Educator told me about        
Unfortunately the            CARBOLITE, a 1.1 oz. low carb
flavanols in chocolate are       chocolate bar made with       
bitter and are mostly removed    Splenda, containing 0 sugar   
from processed chocolate. The   carbs, 15-18g carbohydrates,  
level decreases with each        depending on flavor. On      
step, from the bean to the       Google type in 'Carbolite'for
cocoa powder, and ultimately     more information.             
to a finished product. But                                    
big manufacturers like Nestle     Deanna continues, The     
and Mars Inc.producers of        other chocolate bar that I    
MMs are working on chocolate     think is acceptable is Amber  
items that are -- what else?     Lyn Chocolates fine imported  
-- good for you. We can soon    Belgian chocolate, sugar free 
expect chocolate bars and        and carb conscious. A little 
candies that advertise their     higher in calories than       
high level of flavanols. In     Carbolite, the 1.2 oz bar has
the meantime, the only product   15-16g carbs. For nutrition   
that states its flavanol         information visit             
level is Mars' Dove Dark         www.amberlynchocolates.com.  
Chocolate, which has 150 mg.     The dark chocolate bars have  
in 1.3 oz., a high level. It    157 calories.                 
also has 200 calories. We                                     
live in an imperfect world.       Flavanols are not listed, 
                                 but these dark chocolates are 
While we're waiting for      a good bet for that HEALTHFUL 
more high-flavanol products,     piece of chocolate it is your 
Ms. Tallmadge recommends         DUTY to eat regularly. And   
unsweetened cocoa powder, but    soon, no doubt, manufacturers
not the alkalized Dutch          will begin to formulate their
processed kind, which has had    candies to be high in         
its flavanols reduced. Next     flavanols -- and say so.     
in desirability is semisweet                                   
or bittersweet chocolate with                                  
a high cocoa percentage. Some                                 
chocolates contain as much as                                  
70 percent cocoa, but they                                     
can have as little as 35                                       
percent. The percent of cocoa   

About the author:
Find Janette Blackwell’s storytelling country cookbook, STEAMIN’ DOWN THE TRACKS WITH VIOLA HOCKENBERRY, at Food and Fiction, http://foodandfiction.com/Entrance.html-- or visit her Delightful Food Directory at http://delightfulfood.com/main.html



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