Chocolate benefits brain, heart and mood

On St. Valentine's Day, sweet thoughts turn to chocolate.

Well, maybe not just chocolate, but there are real reasons to associate chocolate with love and other good things.

There is more that is beneficial in chocolate than the taste but to get the extra benefits, along with the best taste, you have to buy good chocolate. Common candy bars have less real chocolate than you may think.

Chocolate has a number of drug-like effects. It has caffeine, although less than coffee, another mild stimulate and diuretic called theobromine, another substance that is a building block of the neurotransmitter that produces pleasure, and more. It has substances that are beneficial for heart health, that sustain a pleasure response in the brain, and mood-altering compounds that put one in the mood for love.

The best chocolate for these effects is dark chocolate. Milk chocolate has less of the dark-colored, cocoa compounds associated with health benefits, and white chocolate has virtually none. Dark chocolate has a stronger, more intense chocolate flavor and a hint of bitterness that not everyone prefers. Ironically, the bitterness is associated with some good things.

Chocolate has compounds that make you feel good and also antioxidants, which have been associated with anti-aging and other health benefits.

On the downside, chocolate has a lot of calories without a lot of nutrients. However, many of the calories come from the sugar added to counter cocoa's natural bitterness.

Chocolate is made from the seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree, a South American plant that was cultivated in many parts of the Americas even before Columbus arrived. The Aztecs ground the seeds, partially roasted them and mixed them with water, corn, chilies and spices to make a bitter, sacred drink. Europeans added sweeteners, created the solid confection and eventually added milk solids to create milk chocolate. Chocolate and chilies are still used together in Mexican cooking.

The cocoa seeds from which chocolate is made contain a number of interesting compounds. These include cocoa butter, theobromine, caffeine, and a red plant color (cacao-red). Theobromine is a chemical related to caffeine.

The major health problem with chocolate is the extra empty calories added by the sugars that make it sweet. However, the sweetness is part of what makes chocolate so appealing to us. Some studies have indicated that some people inherit a "sweet tooth," which contributes to the chocoholic's "addiction" to chocolate. But there is more to the appeal of chocolate than the taste for sweetness.

One reason we like sweets like chocolate is that they release endorphins, hormone-like natural substances that produce a feeling of pleasure. Chocolate has other benefits. One study that compared the effects of coffee and chocolate, which both contain caffeine and antioxidants, found that chocolate produced relaxation while coffee created tension. The lower levels of caffeine in chocolate improves alertness, as it does in coffee, but the mild stimulate theobromine in chocolate also relaxes the smooth muscles of the lungs, which might add to the relaxation effect.

Chocolate contains magnesium and iron, which may be part of why women, who need more of these nutrients, crave chocolate. Magnesium deficiencies contribute to pre-menstrual tension, so give that woman some chocolate if she seems cranky.

Chocolate also contains tryptophan, which is one of the building blocks that the body uses to make serotonin. Serotonin is a neurochemical that is associated in the brain with the sensation of pleasure. Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers that bridge the gap between nerve cells, and stimulate or inhibit the nerve's receptors. Serotonin in high levels produces a feeling of pleasure, even ecstasy.

Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine. This neurotransmitter stimulates the body's pleasure centers. High levels of this substance are associated with feelings of excitement and attraction, and sexual pleasure. Another neurotransmitter found in chocolate is anandaminde. This neurotransmitter targets the same brain structures as the active ingredient in marijuana, THC. But the levels of all these substances are small and yet two more chemicals found in chocolate may play a more important role. These last two substances inhibit the breakdown of anandamide, which prolongs its pleasurable effect.

Becoming a chocoholic is a matter of becoming psychologically dependant on its pleasurable effects. The craving is real but it is not a physical addiction.

Like blueberries, wine, and many other densely colored plant foods, chocolate contains polyphenols, chemicals that act as antioxidants. Cell-damaging free radicals are created through metabolic processes involving oxygen and also enter our bodies in other ways. Antioxidants are good because they supply the extra electron that is missing in free radicals, the thing that makes them so reactive and harmful to DNA and to cell processes. Therefore, antioxidants neutralize their harmful effects.

The polyphenols in plant products like wine, blueberries, and chocolate have a bitter or astringent taste when not disguised by sugar. Plant polyphenols include flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes, and lignans. Flavonoids are associated with the pigments of plants, which give them their intense color. The mixture of polyphenols found in chocolate includes epicatechin, which is also found in red wine. Some studies indicate that consuming antioxidants, like those in chocolate and wine, together is particularly beneficial for heart health, as each boosts the other's effect. Polyphenols reduce the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, raising levels of HDL good cholesterol, and inhibit platelet formation and stickiness. These polyphenols may also work by inhibiting the formation of harmful plaques in the arteries.

An ironic aspect of chocolate is that the husks of cocoa beans contain a plaque-fighting antibacterial compound that is good for teeth, the opposite of the effect of the sugar that makes it sweet. However, the husks are removed during processing, so the beneficial compound would have to be added back in to have chocolate that is good for your teeth. Still, chocolate toothpaste would be an intriguing idea, wouldn't it?

Cocoa butter is a fat that melts at about body temperate, which is why chocolate melts in your hand or your mouth. You may have noticed that better quality chocolate, which has more of the valuable cocoa butter, is more prone to do this than less expensive brands that use other solid substances. Cocoa butter gives chocolate its smoothness and adds to its mouth appeal but the substance is also used in skin creams and other products.

Since chocolate is also good for a short-term energy boost, it is often included in rations for soldiers and is sometimes recommended for students just before tests, for the energy and the mood boost.

Here is a final chocolate fact: the name "theobroma" is Greek for "food of the gods," which is what the Aztecs called the source of their chocolate drink. That should be hint enough that this is wonderful stuff.