Chocolate IS Good For You!

Sweet on chocolate? Well here's some delicious news to savor just in time for Valentine's Day: Despite its perceived decadence, some chocolate is so packed with good-for-you antioxidants it qualifies as a romance-enhancing super food.

"Beyond the fact that people enjoy it, there's a whole lot of research that suggests it is loaded with health benefits," says Gavin Pritchard, culinary dietitian at Greenwich Hospital's Center for Weight Loss & Diabetes. Chocolate's nutritional components can be good for your heart, lower blood pressure, elevate good cholesterol levels, improve your mood and even function as a tasty aphrodisiac, Pritchard says.

But before you fall head over heels and start digging into the contents of one of those heart-shaped samplers; it's time for a chocolate tutorial. Let's start with the semi-sweet bad news: When health experts refer to the beneficial properties of chocolate, they are talking -- without exception -- about the purest, dark varieties that are rich in unprocessed cocoa. "Milk chocolate contains milk and bottom line, that means more (unhealthy) saturated fat," Pritchard says.

Most commercial milk chocolate brands are so highly processed and loaded with bad fat, added sugar and calories that they can't remotely claim the same nutritional benefits as their dark chocolate cousins, explains Dr. Eugene Zampieron, an herbalist, naturopathic physician and senior lecturer at the University of Bridgeport's College of Naturopathic Medicine. "The only value of the commercial junk is as a comfort food," he says. "And while there's nothing wrong with a little comfort food now and then, it's not something that you should make a daily habit of, either."

But if you stick with more bitter dark chocolate, choosing varieties that boast more than 70 percent cocoa, you could be doing your biological and romantic hearts a world of good, explains nutritionist Annette Alfieri, founder of Lighten Up!, a Fairfield-based nutrition and weight-loss counseling service. "Chocolate is one of those things where you really have to read labels. You should be looking for at least 70 percent cocoa; not a lot of added sugar and preferably the highest, purest quality you can find," she says.

Here's why: Pure dark chocolate or raw cocoa is packed with phenethylamine, a powerful neurotransmitter that produces an amphetamine-like kick, stimulating the brain's pleasure centers, Zampieron says. It's also loaded with tryptophan, one of the building blocks of serotonin, another mood-enhancing neurotransmitter, adds Alfieri.

No wonder its love potion qualities have been embraced for centuries: Cocoa was revered by the Aztecs and their leader, Montezuma, who considered it a food of love, notes Zampieron. And that lover of all lovers, Casanova, was known to woo his conquests with gifts of chocolate, adds Alfieri.

"It contains a lot of properties that make you feel good and when you feel good, you are more open to feelings of romance," she says. "So it makes sense that eating chocolate -- and even giving or receiving it as a gift -- would make you feel more open to love."

Interestingly, Zampieron notes some studies suggest raw cocoa releases small amounts of nitric oxide, which is contained in the popular prescription erectile dysfunction drug Viagra. "I wouldn't call it nature's Viagra -- it's not that strong -- but it does have some qualities that stimulate arousal," he says.

The doctor uses chocolate to make mole sauce in Mexican dishes. He also dispenses herbs to patients of his private Woodbury practice rolled up in candy-like balls of cocoa. He calls his confections Zoom and Zen balls and says the addition of chocolate makes his herbal prescriptions taste better. "My patients love them. And of course, there's the bonus of the good things contained in the chocolate."

Dark chocolate is rich in the mineral magnesium, which is heart protective. It's also potent in antioxidant polyphenols, which support the cardiovascular system by preventing cellular damage to the blood vessels. And it's a low glycemic index food, making relatively unprocessed varieties a good option for diabetics, says Pritchard.

"Chocolate has such a fascinating chemistry that I think we're only beginning to understand," Zampieron says. Once a year he takes a group of his UB medical students to study ethno-botany with indigenous shamans in the forests of Jamaica where "they love and prescribe cocoa as a medicine for a whole variety of things."

Yet even when you indulge in the healthy good stuff, you should do it sparingly, cautions Alfieri. "The truth is to get its full benefits you would have to eat tons of it. A square or two isn't going to benefit you all that much," she says.

And dark chocolate contains as many as 150 calories an ounce, says Pritchard. "Most of the research done on its benefits involves servings of three or four ounces. That's a hefty amount of calories for the typical person to eat on one day. So to me, it's kind of like red wine ¦ there really can be too much of a good thing."

If you're used to milk chocolate, dark chocolate can be an acquired taste. "I encourage people not to compare it to milk chocolate and consider it for its own unique flavor," Pritchard says. "It's kind of like comparing a hamburger to a turkey burger. They are not the same and if you get that, you may appreciate it more. But if you don't enjoy it, you shouldn't force yourself to eat it."

In his own cooking, Pritchard tends to use dark chocolate as more of a condiment, adding small bits to a healthy banana muffin recipe or shaving a bit on top of a fruit and yogurt parfait. "It adds a nice flavor without too much sugar," he says.

Alfieri encourages her clients to savor small amounts of dark chocolate in much the same way they might enjoy a glass of good wine. "It's a treat that's good for you, but it's still a treat. So I tell them go for the good stuff, some wonderful dark chocolate from France or Belgium or Venezuela, and enjoy it in small amounts."

Yet this is the season in which Zampieron is most inclined to indulge, and not just because he's a hopeless romantic: "By February, I'm just so sick of the long, cold winter, I tend to eat a little more chocolate just to make me feel better. And it always seems to do the trick."