Chocolate « Dr. Susan Mitchell

February 11, 2010

I’ve Never Met a Chocolate I Didn’t Like

Filed under: Chocolate, Health and Prevention — Tags: antioxidants, blood pressure, chocolate; dark chocolate, Diet, dietitian, Dr. Susan Mitchell, flavanols, heart, Hershey’s, nutrition, nutritionist, sugar — admin @ 4:43 am

Hi everyone! If you’ve been listening to me for a while, you know I’m a self-proclaimed chocolate lover. I’ve never met a chocolate that I don’t like. I adore dark chocolate and enjoy tasting a variety of flavor profiles. In fact, I just heard that Orlando is having The Festival of Chocolate in March presented by the Orlando Science Center. Have you attended a chocolate festival? Would you go again?

The news has been abuzz with the potential health benefits from eating chocolate so let’s get right to the source and find out. And who better to chat with than my guest on my podcast this week, Dr. Amy Preston from The Hershey Company.

Amy_Griel A registered dietitian and PhD, Dr. Amy Preston is a Senior Nutrition Scientist at The Hershey Company. Dr. Preston also currently holds an adjunct position within the Nutritional Sciences Department at The Pennsylvania State University. She has studied many different populations, including healthy participants, overweight/obese subjects as well as those at risk for cardiovascular disease. Now her focus is on chocolate and health. Dr. Preston updates you about the latest research on chocolate.

Some of the questions I ask Dr. Preston include:

Would you break down the latest research on chocolate and heart health? What about chocolate’s effect on blood pressure?
Do the levels of flavanols/antioxidants in chocolate vary?
Does processing affect the flavanol/antioxidant content?
How does this antioxidant content compare to other foods such as wine or blueberries? If I prefer hot chocolate to red wine, would I get similar benefits?
Does percent Cacao on the label indicate the level of flavanols in a chocolate? What should we go by when choosing chocolate?

You’ll going to like the news about chocolate. If you’re looking for Valentine’s Day ideas, check out their website at Hersheys.com. You’ll find decadent Valentine’s Day recipes and all types of ideas for a chocolate covered February. Now I need my little dark chocolate fix for the day!

Listen to this week’s podcast

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February 11, 2009

Chocolate for your Valentine

Filed under: Chocolate — admin @ 2:57 pm

choco-valentines

If you read my blog regularly, you know I’m a chocolate lover. I have some chocolate most every day and dark chocolate is my favorite. Dark chocolate with cherries, hazelnuts, spices…I love it all. If you feel the same way or plan to give chocolate to someone special and whose heart you care about this Valentine’s Day, then you’ll want to read this new research.

Dark chocolate has a sensual mouth feel and is loaded with phytonutrients called flavonoids. Guess what? These flavonoids may have anti-inflammatory effects in the body that can lower the CRP. What’s CRP you might be saying? CRP stands for C-reactive protein found in the blood that is tied to inflammation and heart disease. Recent studies out of Johns Hopkins found that eating dark flavonoid rich chocolate lowered the CRP level in women by 23% and improved lipid profiles in both men and women.

I think more research will be conducted to determine if it’s the flavonoids or other compounds in chocolate which provide this cardiovascular benefit. Remember, portion control is still key due to the calories and fat in good chocolate but at least we can kick the guilt to the curb.

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