Saturday, January 3, 2009

Chocolate, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Part IV)


Let's take a further examination into the supposed benefits of chocolate.

Calories and Weight Gain
Premium grade dark chocolate contains only cocoa butter, a fat that naturally occurs in cocoa beans. It is made up of stearic acid (34%), oleic acid (34%), palmitic acid (25), and other acids. The combined effect of all the fats found in cocoa butter is rather neutral in regard to an individuals lipid profile. Although when lower grade chocolate or milk chocolate is consumed, part of the total fat content of chocolate comes from milk fat or other types of fat, which do adversely affect cholesterol levels.

It has been noted that cocoa does not raise LDL cholesterol but dark chocolate is a very calorie-dense food. Regular consumption will add many extra calories to the daily total. It will affect those who have to watch their calorie intake. One more consideration is that sugar is listed as the #1 ingredient in many, many chocolate products. When considering overall health, sugar, without question has more negative effects than the fat content of chocolate. Sugar is a well known contributor to heart disease, insulin and blood sugar disorder, immune system issues, moodiness, leukemia, dental problems, yeast infections, etc.

In part 3 of this series we will continue looking further at the proclaimed benefits of chocolate, stay tuned.
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