Chocolate has a long and illustrious reputation. Made from cocoa, which is derived from the beans of the cacao tree , it was used by some of the earliest Mesoamerican cultures as food, medicine, ritual offering and perhaps even currency. It’s no less valuable in modern times; the global chocolate market grew by nearly 20 per cent between 2016 and 2021, with an approximate revenue of US$980 billion in 2021, according to the market research firm Statista.
Cocoa beans are packed with fibre and “loads of phytonutrients,” Dr. Mozaffarian said, referring to the natural chemicals found in plants. Cocoa is thought to contain about 380 different chemicals, among them a large class of compounds called flavanols that have attracted significant research interest for their potential health benefits.
In a systematic review published in February in the journal JAMA Network Open, Dr. Mozaffarian and his colleagues examined how certain foods and nutrients were associated with heart health conditions.
To address some of these shortcomings, Dr. Manson and her colleagues conducted a large, randomized trial of more than 21,000 older adults in the United States. Half of the participants were given a cocoa extract supplement containing 500 milligrams of cocoa flavanols, and the other half were given a placebo. Results of the study, called the COSMOS trial, were published in June in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Chocolate is “a wonderful treat, but to perceive it as a health food, I think it has its limitations,” Dr. Manson said.
Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)
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