Nutritionist Tim Spector has just offered a sweet revelation to chocolate lovers: Chocolate is good for your health, but only if you choose the right kind. The professor at King’s College London and founder of health app Zoe recommends eating dark chocolate, which has a cocoa content of over 70%, to reap the biggest health benefits.
The magic lies in polyphenols, beneficial compounds that reduce inflammation in the body and may ward off diseases like dementia, arthritis and diabetes.
Professor Spector, who has just written a new book titled Food for Life Cookbook, shared in a recent Instagram post: “Everyone loves chocolate. I love it too. I didn’t need to read a book to find out that, but writing the book has opened my eyes to a lot of new facts that chocolate isn’t just delicious, it actually has health benefits.”
He continued: “We’re talking about good quality chocolate that’s over 70% cocoa, and all the cocoa comes from plants. The beans themselves are full of polyphenols, which are further increased by the fermentation process. So these polyphenols are very healthy for us and give us a lot of the benefits of eating chocolate.”
In addition to polyphenols, Professor Spector stressed that high-quality chocolate also boosts your intake of dietary fiber, which is important considering that 90% of us don’t meet the minimum recommended intake of 30 grams per day. Professor Spector said that consuming five grams more fiber per day can lower blood pressure twice as effectively as reducing salt. Gloucestershire Live.
He added: “Chocolate also contains fibre – regular dark chocolate has more than twice the fibre of wholemeal bread. It’s a great little treat to have at the end of the day. Not only is it delicious, it’s good for you too, and I love it.”
He explained its efficacy as follows: “Cocoa is rich in polyphenols such as flavanols, which act as fuel for gut bacteria, promoting their beneficial growth and reducing the number of pathogenic and bad bacteria. One study found that the total amount of polyphenols in cocoa powder exceeds that of so-called ‘superfoods’ acai, blueberries and pomegranates.”
“One thing that always surprises people is how much fibre is in chocolate – around 712g per 100g of 70% cocoa dark chocolate, and the amount of fibre increases as the cocoa percentage increases.”
“85% of the Lindt chocolate bars featured in this video contain 15g of dietary fiber per 100g, or 6g per 40g serving. This is a significant amount, considering that the average European eats less than 15g of dietary fiber in total per day. However, we are not recommending that you replace vegetables with dark chocolate.”
“Some chocolate bars contain emulsifiers, so it’s best to check the label and choose one with the highest emulsifier content possible to minimise sugar and maximise polyphenol and fibre content.”
