Is Chocolate a Guilt Food?

 I know it's not exactly stereotypical for dancers to eat a lot of chocolate, but I have to tell you, I'm a dancer and I'm friends with a lot of dancers, and so far - we all love our chocolate! From giant chocolate muffins during down time at a competition or Hersey bars in between performances.

During one of my recent nutrition classes we were asked to research a food myth, and either prove or disprove it. So, being the chocoloholic like I am, I wanted to research a myth about chocolate being healthy for you. Was the person who told me this myth pulling my leg, or telling the truth?


Well, a little of both, based on what type of chocolate (milk, dark..) and how much you eat will determine if chocolate is benefiting you. 

If you want to get straight to the bottom line here it is- one ounce of dark chocolate every day is going to be beneficial to your health. 

Chocolate has high levels of antioxidants (which resist against cell damage and free radicals), and in fact have higher antioxidant levels than green tea, black tea, or red wine. They also have high levels of polyphenols and procyanidins, which are thought to be involved in improving the cardiac system. In Nutriciόn Hospitalaria (if I haven't mentioned before, I'm working on getting my Spanish minor), they assembled a chart of 21 studies done with chocolate. Each of the 21 studies focused on different areas of health and chocolate (e.g blood pressure, cholesterol levels), but there was a consistent connection between improved heart health and chocolate.  

Dietitians and doctors have been hesitant about advertising chocolate as a ‘health food’ for fear that the public will take it too far by eating too much cocoa and actually cause a reversal to the benefit chocolate offers. You can’t go so far as to say that it’s a type of medicine, and it can’t take the place of fruits and vegetables, but chocolate doesn’t have to be a guilty pleasure anymore either.