Evening Edge

[Comment on this story: Is chocolate a health food?]

Chocolate and Valentine's Day go together like turkey and Thanksgiving, but is chocolate the health food the media headlines would have us believe? When we first heard that chocolate contained healthy compounds with hard-to-pronounce chemical names (such as polyphenols, flavanols and procyanidins) we justified our M&M's habit by saying it was good for us. Are we fooling ourselves and letting our taste buds rule?

Have a question of general interest? E-mail Chris Rosenbloom Fit to Eat columns Are benefits of organic food worth the cost?  Weight under control reduces diabetes risk  Reception to FruitaBü snacks is tepid at best         More Fit to Eat • Chris Rosenbloom, Ph.D., R.D., is a member of the nutrition faculty in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Georgia State University Related: • Carolyn O'Neil: Eat around world for fewer calories  Good links: • Evening Edge • AJC Food & Drink • AJC Health Channel • Diet and Nutrition headlines, resources • Atlanta Restaurant reviews and search • Low fat/ heart healthy recipes • Search recipes

Early research with cocoa compounds was done in vitro — that means in cell cultures in petri dishes (remember high school biology?). Many compounds show promise in the lab, but do the benefits transfer to a real person?

Cocoa and chocolate are thought to exert an anti-oxidant effect, specifically by preventing LDL-cholesterol from accumulating in blood vessels that can clog them and lead to heart disease. Chocolate has also been found to relax blood vessels by reducing inflammation. That could help blood move more freely through the body thereby decreasing risk of heart attack.

Newer research touts that chocolate can improve our brains by helping to increase blood flow to improve concentration.

Research is far from conclusive, but there is tantalizing evidence that chocolate has positive health effects. A closer look at the research, however, leaves us with more questions than answers.

For example, in studies with real people, the amount of chocolate consumed is often more than we would normally eat and would contribute to excess calories and fat. Several studies use 100 grams of chocolate and that is equivalent to slightly less than three 1.3 ounce Dove dark chocolate bars or 4 cups of hot chocolate. (I know what you are thinking: No problem eating three candy bars a day, but can you afford the 570 calories, 36 grams of fat and 21 grams of saturated fat that come with the candy bar?)

Another concern is that it is hard for consumers to know how much of the good chemicals are found in their favorite chocolate — processing can remove the healthful compounds. As a general rule, dark chocolate is higher in polyphenols than milk chocolate and white chocolate doesn't have any heart-healthy benefits. (White chocolate isn't really chocolate because it doesn't contain any cocoa.)

Unfortunately, the amount of cocoa solids (the trend in choosing chocolate) doesn't help consumers know which chocolate is better.

In a 2008 review paper in the British Journal of Nutrition, the authors say, "chocolate may contain 70 percent cocoa solids but due to processing only contain the same content of polyphenols as normal milk chocolate."

There are also some reports that milk might bind the good compounds in chocolate and stop them from being absorbed. So, milk and chocolate cookies may not confer the benefit you were hoping for.

If you are a real chocolate lover and can't let a day go by without a chocolate treat, consider the following:

• Dark chocolate is more likely to have the heart-healthy benefits shown in studies, so stick to dark chocolate.

• Limit the portion size to control fat and calories; buy mini-chocolate bars or small pieces of chocolate and limit to one serving.

• Chocolate of any kind contains a lot of calories in a small package, so look at the label to know how many calories are in a serving.

• Increase your activity to burn the excess calories. To burn off 100 extra calories, you need to walk a mile.

•Consider chocolate a treat that has potential health benefits, not a health food that should be eaten daily in 1-pound portions.

Chris Rosenbloom, Ph.D., R.D., is a professor of nutrition in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Georgia State University. She'll answer nutrition questions of general interest. Send your questions to her c/o The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sixth Floor, 72 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303. Or e-mail her at dietitian@ajc.com.

Comment on this story: Is chocolate a health food?