Nutrition Q&A - Chocolate Is Good For You
I’ve been trying to break the chocolate habit for years, but recently saw a news item claiming that it’s actually good for you and, what’s more, can actually help you lose weight. Any truth to this?
When it comes to chocolate, we’re looking at the old good news / bad news scenario. The good news is that, yes, it appears that a little chocolate is good for the heart. The bad news is that chocolate has been to shown to have addicitve properties, meaning that once you get started, it’s rather difficult to limit yourself to ‘the little’ that you need – but you hardly need me to tell you that. As far as losing weight goes, chocolate has not been shown to have a thermic effect on the body so maybe that news item was pushing the bounds a little on that one.
The good stuff in chocolate is called flavanoids. Flavanoids are also found in fruit and red wine, but they are more plentiful in chocolate. It is also apparent that flavanoids from chocolate have a greater bioavailablity than those from plant sources. Flavanoids have the effect of thinning the blood, helping to prevent clotting. Research also shows that flavanoids may help the body’s cells resist damage by free radicals. A study published in the January 2001 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also suggests that consumption of certain chocolate can modulate synthesis of certain hormone-like compounds, or eicosanoids, which may help to maintain cardiovascular health by reducing blood vessel vulnerability and platelet clumping.
Now all of these positive effects of eating chocolate are dependant upon two things – the type and the amount of chocolate you eat. It appears that milk adversely affects the bioavailability of flavanoids. So, light chocolate (that with milk added), according to research published in Nature magazine in August 2003, does not provide the same cardiovascular benefits as dark chocolate. Yet another study claims that dark chocolate is a better choice because it contains more flavanoid rich cocoa than does white chocolate. So, when you get that chocolate feeling, reach for a dark bar. Now, on to the central issue of this whole thing – how much chocolate can you have before you should start feeling guilty?
Chocolate contains a rather heavy concentration of saturated fat. For a bodybuilder, that makes it a concern. So, whereas experts may – and are – suggesting that one small bar of dark chocolate per day may be ideal for providing maximum cardiovascular benefit to the average person, bodybuilders do not come into this category. Sure, we still need the positive cardio benefits, but we simply cannot afford to take in the saturated fat as a consequence. Our recommendation, then, is simple – on a balanced nutrition program you should allow yourself one cheat meal per week. Have a bar of chocolate with that meal (or, in fact, any time that day) and you’ll be getting the positive health benefits while minimizing the potential fat laden dangers.
About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com
When it comes to chocolate, we’re looking at the old good news / bad news scenario. The good news is that, yes, it appears that a little chocolate is good for the heart. The bad news is that chocolate has been to shown to have addicitve properties, meaning that once you get started, it’s rather difficult to limit yourself to ‘the little’ that you need – but you hardly need me to tell you that. As far as losing weight goes, chocolate has not been shown to have a thermic effect on the body so maybe that news item was pushing the bounds a little on that one.
The good stuff in chocolate is called flavanoids. Flavanoids are also found in fruit and red wine, but they are more plentiful in chocolate. It is also apparent that flavanoids from chocolate have a greater bioavailablity than those from plant sources. Flavanoids have the effect of thinning the blood, helping to prevent clotting. Research also shows that flavanoids may help the body’s cells resist damage by free radicals. A study published in the January 2001 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition also suggests that consumption of certain chocolate can modulate synthesis of certain hormone-like compounds, or eicosanoids, which may help to maintain cardiovascular health by reducing blood vessel vulnerability and platelet clumping.
Now all of these positive effects of eating chocolate are dependant upon two things – the type and the amount of chocolate you eat. It appears that milk adversely affects the bioavailability of flavanoids. So, light chocolate (that with milk added), according to research published in Nature magazine in August 2003, does not provide the same cardiovascular benefits as dark chocolate. Yet another study claims that dark chocolate is a better choice because it contains more flavanoid rich cocoa than does white chocolate. So, when you get that chocolate feeling, reach for a dark bar. Now, on to the central issue of this whole thing – how much chocolate can you have before you should start feeling guilty?
Chocolate contains a rather heavy concentration of saturated fat. For a bodybuilder, that makes it a concern. So, whereas experts may – and are – suggesting that one small bar of dark chocolate per day may be ideal for providing maximum cardiovascular benefit to the average person, bodybuilders do not come into this category. Sure, we still need the positive cardio benefits, but we simply cannot afford to take in the saturated fat as a consequence. Our recommendation, then, is simple – on a balanced nutrition program you should allow yourself one cheat meal per week. Have a bar of chocolate with that meal (or, in fact, any time that day) and you’ll be getting the positive health benefits while minimizing the potential fat laden dangers.
About the Author: Dane Fletcher is the world's foremost training authority. He writes exclusively for GetAnabolics.com, a leading online provider of Bodybuilding Supplements. For more information, please visit http://www.GetAnabolics.com
posted by GetAnabolics.com at
2:03 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home