Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate!

It’s everywhere. Is this media frenzy funded by Hershey’s or Mars? Or could it be true? There is a type of chocolate that really is good for you! The headlines read, dark chocolate increases energy and reduces chronic fatigue; a natural way to enhance mood and mental clarity; reduces the risk of heart attack and supports normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels; can chocolate really replace aspirin as a blood thinner?; chocolate for shiny hair and smooth skin (I am so confused—I thought chocolate caused pimples!); what does the future hold in store—betty ford treatment centers for chocolate addiction?

Personally, I knew all along that chocolate was good for you. After all, it is a vegetable, isn’t it?

Chocolate contains antioxidant compounds called flavanols. According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Journal of the American Chemical Society, dark chocolate is the food richest in antioxidants. Antioxidants are measured by oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Dark chocolate has 13,120 ORAC units per 100 grams. Prunes, raisins, and blueberries contain 2,400–5,770 ORAC units.

If the above information is true, why do we feel so guilty when we eat chocolate? Part of the problem may stem from the commercialization of chocolate. The “Food of the Gods” has become adulterated with refined sugar, wax, lard, hormone-treated dairy, and other cheap fillers.

Conventional cocoa plantations use a huge amount of pesticides. In addition to the ecological damage caused, these pesticides can be retained in the fat of foods. And since chocolate contains high quantities of cocoa butter, it can retain and store pesticides applied to the plant.

These are very good arguments for avoiding chocolate, but let’s go back and visit the ancient civilizations of the Incan, Mayan, and Aztec peoples. When chocolate was first discovered, health and nutrition were common sense. Historians recount that a chocolate drink produced a happy sense of euphoria, a warm-all-over sensation (oh, my childhood cup of cocoa!). They didn’t know whether to call it a food or a medicine. They eventually called it Theobroma Cacao, which translates as “Food of the Gods.” Only the royal family was allowed to drink it. Montezuma reportedly drank it with his royal court and concubines for enhanced energy and virility.

When Cortez sailed to the New World, he was greeted and treated as a god. He was given many gifts, chief of which was the ceremonial Theobroma Cacao drink. He and his men quickly recognized the value of this treasure and took it back to Spain.

For the present, I will let science and Hershey’s and Mars continue their fight to prove the health benefits of chocolate. But I will not wait for the results of these studies. Instead, I will continue incorporating an ounce of quality dark chocolate into my day and into those of my weight loss–seeking clients because, personally, I think of chocolate as a SuperFood: a food that provides health benefits far beyond its recognized nutritional value. SuperFoods help embrace health, instead of fighting disease. When you increase your SuperFood consumption, the inevitable result is a more nutrient-dense, lower-calorie, health-promoting diet. I believe SuperFoods make creating health fun and pleasurable. And shouldn’t eating be pleasurable? It used to be.

I offer Coco’s Chocolate Clues for Healthy Living:

* Choose organic ingredients.
* It should taste like pleasure feels.
* Don’t chew chocolate or swallow it right down. Savor and enjoy it—let it melt in your mouth.
* There is some debate about the percent of cacao and claims that it needs to be 70 percent or higher. I do believe it should be at least 60 percent cacao, but for some people, the higher cacao content tastes bitter.
* Most important to me is the list of ingredients. I like to see as few listed on the label as possible. The ingredients should come from Mother Nature, rather than a laboratory. Note the difference in the ingredients of the following two chocolate bars.
-o-Dark Chocolate Bar A: organic dark chocolate, organic raw cane sugar, organic chocolate liquor, organic cocoa butter, soy lecithin (used as an emulsifier), organic vanilla (65 percent cacao)
-o-Dark Chocolate Bar B (name brand bar): sugar, chocolate, cocoa (processed with alkali, milk fat, lactose), soy lecithin, PGPR (emulsifier), artificial flavor, milk (50 percent cacao)
* If you choose to use chocolate as your only SuperFood, know that you will probably gain weight. Chocolate is about 50 percent fat. Although I use chocolate as a part of a healthy weight loss program, I recommend a portion size that yields fifty to one hundred calories. I find that that portion of healthy chocolate provides satisfaction and pleasure and helps decrease carbohydrate cravings.

Coco’s recipe for improving health includes an ounce of healthy dark chocolate added to ten to fifteen SuperFoods every day. Other SuperFoods include apples, almonds, avocados, beans, berries, broccoli, cinnamon, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, wild salmon, oats, flaxseed, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and quinoa. What makes these foods super? As mentioned earlier, a SuperFood offers health benefits far beyond its nutritional value. Quinoa, for example, is a high-energy protein, rich in minerals—including calcium. It eases digestion. Quinoa is gluten-free, which makes it great for those with wheat intolerances. There are many SuperFoods, each with their own health benefits, so go for variety. In addition to SuperFoods, drink adequate amounts of pure water and engage in thirty minutes of daily exercise, preferably outside. Stir and watch as your hair shines, your skin glows, and you come alive with newfound health.

** This article is one of 101 great articles that were published in 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health. To get complete details on “101 Great Ways to Improve Your Health”, visit http://selfgrowth.com/healthbook3.html