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Is chocolate good or bad for you? Here’s the science bit – concentrate!

September 05, 2022•1 min read

“Is chocolate good or bad for you? To answer that question, you must know the type of chocolate you’re eating.” - Seth Godin

A study by Dr Claudio Ferri, published in the American Heart Association journal, Circulation, saw 15 healthy volunteers randomly assigned to eat either a 100g dark chocolate bar rich in polyphenols, or a 90g white chocolate bar, which does not contain polyphenols.

These bars were eaten every day for 15 days.

After eating no cocoa or chocolate for a week, the volunteers then switched to the other type of chocolate.

Compared with white chocolate, the dark chocolate was associated with lower blood pressure and with improvements in insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity, which are important markers for diabetes.

A similar study by Dr Ferri is of even greater clinical importance. This was carried out in patients with high blood pressure.

The study found that dark chocolate, but not white chocolate, decreased blood pressure and serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL) while improving blood flow and insulin sensitivity.

Interesting studies by other researchers suggest that cocoa proanthocyanidins (flavonoids which are powerful antioxidants) prevent the elevation of blood glucose levels in diabetic obese mice.

So, the short answer is this: some chocolate is far better than others. If you’re going to eat it, choose dark chocolate and do it in moderation.

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Sue Worrall

What I Do: Clinical Nutritionist - Senior Associate of the Royal Society of Medicine I have been involved in nutrition for over 30 years, working with many different people, from sick children and their families to world champion Olympians. I have run clinics in London & Cardiff here I help people reach their optimum health and wellbeing, helping them sustain busy lifestyles and high energy levels to manage their careers, family, and hobbies. Before the first lockdown, I canceled my consulting rooms and found a much better way of empowering more people to take responsibility for their own health and well-being. I launched an online resource for all things health and wellness. This enables all health professionals to include offer online courses on a high-end platform. They can also use my programs with picking lists of meal plans, recipes, specific illness information, tips, and S.M posts. All are accredited by HHA. In sport, I have worked with sportspeople in many disciplines including: Cycling, Rugby Basketball, Golfers on Tour, Horse Riding, Ice skaters on Tour, Ice Hockey, Swimming and Dance. For high love Sportspeople, I Have a personalised program which I used to take a Paralympic cyclist with a severed spine to gold and 2 silver medals in 2 years and 2 months. What Others Say: I have always been result-led and have run my clinics from referrals. I am passionate about delivering the results people need to live the life they deserve and people love their newfound enthusiasm for living with wellness. Who do I want to Connect with: My mission now with HHA is to "Help Health Thrive globally". I would love to connect with any health-related practitioners, clinicians, therapists, or business owners. At HHA I and our Health Advisory Board can help deliver high-end online courses, and share our extensive library and archive of health & wellness information, recipes, meal plans, and programs.

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