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Are Antioxidants The Power Behind HEALTHY Dark Chocolate?

By Timothy Prahl

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 02Aug2008 Word count: 734 Viewed: 112 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

"Healthy Dark Chocolate" appears to make about as much sense as "Clean Dirty Laundry". However, evidence is mounting that the extremely high concentration of "antioxidants" found in quality dark chocolate may well provide significant protection against oxidizing agents suspected of being responsible for many serious diseases.

An antioxidant is a molecule capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules.

Oxidation is a chemical process in which an electron is attracted from a stable substance and moves to an unrelated oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can be caused by "free radical" molecules, which by themselves, can cause harmful chain reactions that will damage otherwise healthy cells.

Healthy dark chocolate is an excellent source for providing your system with high concentrations of antioxidants, which can neutralize and thus limit the damaging effects of free radical molecules in your body

Let's take a look at this cell damaging villain ... the "Free Radical".

Free radicals are not the result of disease or injury. They are created naturally in our bodies as the result of several kinds of chemical reactions, such as when we burn energy by exercising our muscles. They can also be imported into your system through cigarette smoke and other airborne pollutants.

Free radicals are chemically imbalanced, missing one or more electrons and thus having a 'positive' charge.

These radical molecules will seek to balance their charge, and will attract or 'steal' electrons from other molecules, including the molecules that make up your body's DNA and the mitochondria in your cells.

The mitochondria creates the energy necessary to sustain the life of the cells. Damaged mitochondria are weak and have lower energy and less resistance to disease.

Your body's cellular DNA carries the blueprint necessary for duplicating and producing new cells.

When the DNA is altered as a result of the free radical, the new cells that are created are imperfect and possibly malignant with the potential to form tumors or cancers.

Free Radicals are linked as a significant cause of most degenerative diseases, including heart disease, premature aging, diabetes, high blood pressure, and the creation of cancer cells and tumors.

Enter Antioxidants! Antioxidants are molecules that have one or more 'FREE' electrons. They therefore have a 'negative' charge, and can attract and neutralize a wandering, 'positive' charged, free radical. This free radical is now chemically balanced, and is no longer a threat to 'steal' electrons from your body's healthy cells.

So, having established the vital importance of having free radical neutralizing antioxidant molecules in your body ... where do they come from?

The human body is an amazing organism. Much of what we need to sustain life can be synthesized within our own body. This is somewhat true for antioxidants; however, dietary supplementation is also required.

A good case in point is vitamin C. Unlike most other animals, vitamin C is NOT synthesized by the human body and must be acquired through diet.

Most people have grown up hearing of the importance of vitamin C in their diet. Vitamin C is a monosaccharide antioxidant, and proper levels must be maintained either through diet or supplementation in order to maintain a healthy body.

So, what is the relationship between healthy dark chocolate and antioxidants?

Scientists have known for years that cocoa contains significantly high levels of antioxidants.

According to research cited in The New York Times, fresh cocoa beans are super-rich in the type of flavonoid called flavanols, which are very strong antioxidants. All 3 known flavanols are found in the cocoa bean at an amazing 10% antioxidant concentration level.

Another research study conducted by researchers of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Cornell University showed that flavanols in cocoa make blood platelets less likely to stick together and cause blood clots. They also prevented fatty substances in the blood stream from sticking together and clogging arteries.

So, eat chocolate and get healthy? Well, it is not nearly that simple. Any product resulting from the processing of the cocoa bean can be called chocolate; however, very few of these products would realistically qualify for a clinical definition of being 'healthy'.

An understanding of how the cocoa beans are processed and the type and quantity of additives in order to create a specific chocolate product is essential for determining potential health benefits.

The multitude of Health benefits certainly appears to justify doing some research and identifying a source for antioxidant rich, Healthy Dark Chocolate.

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