Chocolate is good for cardiovascular disease. Is this true?

Chocolate has always been a delicious temptation that girls can't resist. For those who don't like snacks, it can't stop the temptation of chocolate. But because chocolate is high in sugar, high in fat and high in calories, it also contains caffeine and other factors. We are discouraged from it, and chocolate is a snack that we love and hate. Recently, many articles have said that chocolate is good for cardiovascular diseases, so some girls have eaten chocolate without hesitation. Is this true?

Chocolate is good for cardiovascular disease. Is this true?

First of all, let's take a look at what is good for us in chocolate. The principle that chocolate may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease is presumed to be related to cocoa flavanols. Flavanol is an antioxidant flavonoid (a type of phytochemical). Cocoa flavanols may help lower blood pressure and blood lipids. Observational studies have found that eating chocolate may help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and age-related memory degradation, but observational studies are unable to achieve causality. We need more evidence to explain whether flavanols have a direct causal relationship with reducing cardiovascular risk.

The content of cocoa flavanol in different chocolates

Common chocolates on the market are dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. These three chocolates are made in different processes and contain different ingredients.




Dark chocolate: Because it contains a lot of cocoa powder (or cocoa solid), it contains more flavanols, but it also contains more caffeine. Therefore, it should not be eaten in excess, about 10 grams per day. The nutritional value of black chocolate is related to its cocoa solid content. The nutritional value of high cocoa content will be higher. The best cocoa content is between 55% and 75%. When the cocoa content is between 75% and 85%, the taste is bitter. Above 85%, only an avid chocolate fan will like it. Although the black added sugar is whiter and less white, the black chocolate itself contains more carbohydrates, so the heat difference between the three chocolates is not large.

Milk chocolate: The flavanols and caffeine are less, but the taste is more silky.

White chocolate: Made from cocoa butter, sugar, and additives, it does not contain cocoa powder, so it does not contain flavanols and caffeine, so it does not help cardiovascular. But because there is no caffeine, for those who are sensitive to pregnancy and caffeine, if you really want to eat chocolate, you can eat white chocolate to solve the problem.


Black is a healthier snack than some high-calorie, low-nutrition, high-processing snacks. For nutritional value: black chocolate > milk chocolate > white chocolate and other chocolate processed products. But need to pay attention to is:

1. The three types of chocolate are high in calories, and the calorie per 100 grams is more than 500 kilocalories, so it should not be consumed in excess.

2. Pay attention to the trans fatty acid content, pay attention to the word "cocoa butter". Because cocoa butter is more expensive, some chocolates are made by substituting cocoa butter for chocolate. The process may have some trans fatty acids, but it may be almost completely converted to saturated fatty acids after hydrogenation. The fatty acid content can be reduced to zero. However, such chocolates are greatly reduced in terms of taste and nutritional value, so try not to choose such a few dollars to buy a large piece of chocolate.

3. Dark chocolate is not currently given to any cardiovascular disease patient as a nutritional prescription, but it is good to eat and may be good for health.