TheChocolateLifeLIVE | There’s Vitamins In My Chocolate!

Or: Chocolate as a Functional Food

This episode of TheChocolateLifeLIVE will examine the question of why food scientists and others view chocolate as a good – if not the ultimate – vitamin delivery vehicle.

For decades now (and as recently as this past month in the r/chocolate subreddit) we have been regaled by breathless posts about chocolate as a healthy food. I am sure you know what I mean. (I am not going to go into the equivocations (e.g., can, or may) that accompany these claims.) And I often wonder at the credentials and motivations of the people who are making these proclamations.

Promoted benefits include:

• Chocolate is good for the heart and blood circulation
• Chocolate reduces the risk of stroke
• Chocolate is rich in minerals
• Chocolate reduces cholesterol
• Chocolate helps to lose weight
• Chocolate is good for moms and babies
• Chocolate helps prevent diabetes
• Chocolate makes you feel better
• (Not on the list but) Chocolate improves your chances of winning a Nobel Prize!

But, apparently, these benefits are not enough for chocolate companies of all sizes so something must be done to make chocolate even healthier!

In this episode, we will look into some of the ways that chocolate, and other foods, are being “improved” through the addition of other ingredients to make it even better for you. I will also ask – and propose some answers to – the questions: “Is this even a good idea?” and “Are there other (and perhaps better) ways to communicate about consuming chocolate as healthy food?” Finally, Is it possible to produce healthier chocolate using existing processes?

Resources

Sweet babies: chocolate consumption during pregnancy and infant temperament at six months - PubMed

In addition to producing subjective feelings of psychological well being, chocolate may have effects at multiple environmental and psychological levels.

PubMedKatri Räikkönen

JSTOR Home

JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.

ResearchGate | Find and share research

Access 135+ million publications and connect with 20+ million researchers. Join for free and gain visibility by uploading your research.

ResearchGate

TheChocolateWire Curates ¿Dangerous? Videos

What is a Dangerous Video? It’s a video that – in my opinion – contains bad and/or wrong information. It’s hard to know sometimes how much the maker of the v…

YouTube

Functional chocolate 2.0

Chocolate may be an ideal functional food when fortified with omega-3 and probiotics.

Vitafoods InsightsNatalia Franca Rocha

The Functional Chocolate Company - Everyday Health Solutions

Naturally vegan and gluten free, Functional chocolate bars tastefully address some of the most common health realities; from sleep to energy, focus and stress, to women’s health concerns including PMS, menopause and low libido.

The Functional Chocolate Company

Cocoavia Health Facts : Fortified chocolate good for heart, but there’s a catch - Harvard Health

Looking for CocoaVia health facts? The Harvard Health Letter reports that although CocoaVia chocolate contains plant sterols and flavanols that benefit heart health, there is a big catch to be awar…

Harvard Health

Therapeutic effect of ACTICOA powder, a cocoa polyphenolic extract, on experimentally induced prostate hyperplasia in Wistar-Unilever rats - PubMed

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a non-malignant enlargement of the prostate that results in obstructive lower urinary tract symptoms. Plant extracts are frequently used to treat BPH rather than therapeutics that can cause severe side effects. ACTICOA() (Ba0rry Callebaut France, Louviers, Franc…

PubMedJean-François Bisson

The Top 10 Aphrodisiac Foods

Asparagus, honey, bananas and other foods can get you in the mood and help get your blood flowing down to your sexy parts.

Alternet.orgSanela

Chocolate: Food or Drug? (at Science Direct – abstract)

My LinkedIn profile
TheChocolateLife page on Facebook (live event)

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