Dark chocolate is packed with natural elements called antioxidants that can protect your body and promote good health. In fact, dark chocolate and cocoa have more antioxidants than do foods like blueberries, green tea and red wine.

Surprised? Many people are. That’s because they forget that chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables.

The health benefits of high-antioxidant foods are from flavonoids, which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals.

Free radicals are a natural by-product of life, but as we get older the natural antioxidants our body makes to fight them off begin to decline. The best way to recharge your antioxidant power is to get them through your diet.

Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries). Flavonoids also help relax blood pressure and balance certain hormones in the body.

Two tablespoons of natural cocoa have more antioxidant capacity than four cups of green tea, 1 cup of blueberries and one and half glasses of red wine. And,

The reason dark chocolate and cocoa rank so high is that the antioxidants are very concentrated.

Before you grab a chocolate candy bar, let’s look at what forms of chocolate would be ideal over others:

• When cocoa is processed into your favorite chocolate products, it goes through several steps to reduce its naturally pungent taste. Flavonoids provide this pungent taste. The more chocolate is processed (such as fermentation, alkalizing, roasting), the more flavonoids are lost. Most commercial chocolates fit this category.
• Dark chocolate appears to retain the highest level of flavonoids. So your best bet is to choose dark chocolate over milk chocolate.

*   Here’s Rule of Thumb #1: The more nonfat cocoa solids a chocolate product contains, the more antioxidants it tends to contribute.

And what about the fat found in the cacao bean? It’s true that cacao contains some saturated fat. But most of it is stearic acid — which studies have suggested doesn’t elevate blood cholesterol levels as much as other saturated fatty acids.

*   Here’s Rule of Thumb #2: If the chocolate contains fat ingredients other than cocoa butter, it might contain the more harmful saturated fats and trans fats, rather than stearic acid.

Perhaps in the near future, labels on chocolate products will list amounts of flavonoids.

So only dark chocolate can be considered a healthy chocolate, and only in certain amounts, roughly one to two ounces. Most bars are 2-3.5 ounces in size. It is difficult to eat only an ounce of chocolate and leave the bar unwrapped.

How To Choose Healthy Chocolate?

1. – Stay away from chocolate containing the following ingredients: trans fat, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, soy proteins, monosodium glutamate, preservatives, stabilizers, milk and milk byproducts.
   
2. Choose chocolate products made from the least destructive processing techniques – Over-processing depletes the nutrient levels in the chocolate and can introduce lead contamination. Organic dark chocolate is your best choice.
   
3. Avoid chocolate made with milk or milk byproducts – Adding milk to chocolate during processing can deplete the antioxidant content.
   
4. Low sugar content is always better – Sugar is one of the main obstacles to good health and can seriously weaken your immune system.
   

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Yours truly, Polly – Organic Gardener