How Chocolate is made
The Geography of Chocolate
Chocolate Economy
Coffee, Tea, Wine and Chocolate
Chocolate Health
Dark, Milk and White Chocolates
Fair Trade Chocolate
The Anti-Oxidant Puzzle: Deciphering the Chemistry of Chocolate
At A Glance
If you're confused about chocolate's nutritional benefits, it's not surprising. You'll hear that chocolate contains "antioxidants", "phytonutrients", "polyphenols" , "flavonoids" and "flavanols" or "flavonols". Sometimes you'll hear all these words in the same ad, and you'll wonder at the variety of natural chemicals available in a single chocolate bar. Unless you happen to be a food chemist, you'll probably be disappointed to know that most of these terms refer to the same thing! Still, it's a good thing, so let's take a minute away from that chocolate brownie mix to get it all sorted out.
The Oxidant, or Free Radical: The Bad Guy
For most of us, a free radical is the guy we knew in college who grew interesting plants under special lights in his dorm room closet, but in biological terms, a free radical is a lot more dangerous and also more common. Smoking, exposure to sunlight and the effects of pollution result in an increase in free radicals in the body.
You've probably heard that free radicals are generated in response to disease or pollution, but what you may not know is that these unstable, destructive molecules are generated as a mere fact of life. Anything that uses oxygen (as I do, and I'm sure you do too) also suffers the effects of oxygen's breakdown in the body--a process that, while keeping us alive, also creates free radicals.
Free radicals cause cell damage and cancer and can mutate DNA, so it's no wonder that we're all on the lookout for "anti-oxidants" those miracle compounds that neutralize or remove free radicals from your bodily systems. Free radicals are to some extent unavoidable, since all oxygen-using life forms have them built into the system, but free radicals can be reduced or neutralized by--
Anti-Oxidants! Anti-oxidant is the term given to any chemical compound that can bind with and neutralize the effects of a free radical. Anti-oxidants help with wound healing and cellular regeneration and reduce inflammation all over the body--and even in the brain. The most well known anti-oxidants are Vitamins C and E, but melatonin, various enzymes and many plant nutrients (phytonutrients) also have anti-oxidant properties.
Phytonutrient
The word "phytonutrient" (phyto = "plant", nutrire, from the Latin, means to nourish) means nutritionally important chemical compounds found in plants. "Phytochemicals" are all compounds found in plants, whether they are nutritionally useful or not. So, a phytonutrient is a compound that comes from a plant and is helpful in human health: many phytonutrients are anti-oxidants. There are thousands of different phytonutrients, but the major groups are
Polyphenol Anti-Oxidants
You will also hear that chocolate contains "polyphenols". Polyphenols are a type of anti-oxidant, classified by their molecular structure. The name means "lots of phenols" (this is a loose translation by someone who never took organic chemistry, but it gets the point across). If there is more than one phenol group in a molecule of a compound, it's referred to as a polyphenol. The important thing to know is that oodles of the plant-derived anti-oxidants (or phytonutrients) are polyphenols. Polyphenols are found in fruits, vegetables, red wine, tea, bee pollen, grains and even herbs.
Flavonoid
Polyphenols are further divided by type: there are tannins, lignins, phenylpropanoids and flavonoids. A flavonoid is a plant pigment (a chemical that gives plants color) that's water-soluble. So, we can say that although not all phytonutrients are flavonoids, all flavonoids are indeed phytonutrients.
Flavonols or Flavanols
Flavonols--the Bigger Picture
Aside from the nutritional factors, modern research has found that chocolate is rich in flavonoid chemicals such as epicatachin, catachin, and anthocyanins which have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and reduce the damage done by smoking by increasing arterial blood flow in smokers.
Flavonols also increase brain activity. In a British study, scientists found that giving participants a chocolate drink dilated cerebral blood vessels, increasing oxygen to the brain for a period of two or three hours. The study suggests that chocolate may be used for increased "brain power". Chocolate also contains caffeine, often used to combat sleepiness. By the time you get this far in your chemical research into chocolate, you may be needing a little pick-me-up. May we suggest a brain-boosting cup of cocoa? And if you want to avoid the extra fat, milk products and sugar present in some cocoas, here's a delicious recipe that skips the additives and lets the flavonols shine through!
Coca Recipe: Just Cocoa
2 Heaping teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder.
1.5 Level teaspoons Sucralose (brand name "Splenda").
2 Cups boiling water.
**this recipe has about 15 calories, total. That's fewer calories than one stalk of celery!
Add a dash of boiling water to the cocoa and sucralose, and stir into a smooth paste. (Skip this first step at your own risk! You will have lumpy cocoa without it!) Add the rest of the water and stir vigorously. Pour into your favorite cup and enjoy!