Chocolate for Your Heart

Chocolate for Your Heart

People say this all the time, “dark chocolate is good for your heart.” 

Okay – if only that were it. But it isn’t. 

There is so much more to this. 

One: Overall lifestyle matters. It always does. 

People can’t continue to avoid fruits and vegetables and not exercise and think that chocolate will save them. 

This caveat may seem obvious, but in my experience, people think like this. 

Two: More is not better. 

As always, moderation matters. 

Three: The devil is in the details. 

Chocolate isn’t the part that is good for the heart, but the cocoa flavanols. 

Chocolate is cocoa beans with added sugar and fat (from cocoa butter). 

Chocolate isn’t the part that is good for the heart, but the cocoa flavanols. 

Milk chocolate has added milk, and white chocolate doesn’t have cocoa beans. 

Added sugars and added fat isn’t the best for our heart. 

So, this is why dark chocolate gets the biggest promotion of heart health. 

However, dark chocolate still has cocoa butter and added sugar (just less) compared to milk chocolate. 

Cocoa is what benefits our hearts. There is a group of phytochemicals (phyto- meaning plants) called flavonoids. High-flavonoid foods include onions, tea, red wine, and citrus fruits. 

Flavanols (a sub-group of flavonoids) are in leafy vegetables, apples, onions, broccoli, and berries. 

When people have a diet high in flavanols and flavonoids, there is a solid correlation to a lower risk of heart disease. These are most often coming from fruits and vegetables. 

How does chocolate fit in? 

Cocoa has flavanols – that would be in the cocoa solids, which are not that high in the chocolate. 

So that piece of dark chocolate you have for your health? It may be more for mental health and happiness than any potential heart health benefit.  

I don’t want to squash your happiness, but I promote Real World Nutrition. So there it is. I am sorry if this is disappointing.  

You can still have your chocolate and enjoy it. And, if you want to tell yourself it is for your heart, that is fine. 

Here is what I do: I add one teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder to my coffee each morning. It may not have the heart health benefits either since the serving size is so tiny, but it could help as much as your piece of chocolate does. 

Will I stop doing this? Not anytime soon. And it isn’t specialty cocoa, either. Just one I get at the regular grocery store. 

Are you ready to address your health and overall eating habits and patterns to help your heart? There are many benefits, not just heart health. Let’s talk about it. Schedule a free introductory call today.