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The Chocolate Myth Factory - health claims of chocolate

Nutrition Action Healthletter, March, 2001 by Bonnie Liebman

"Chocolate and cocoa drinks, it turns out, contain an abundant dose of flavonoids, potent antioxidants that have been found most notably in red wine, green tea and fruits and vegetables, and have been associated with a decrease in the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke," reported The New York Times last October.

"Recent studies indicate that eating chocolate resulted in higher anti-oxidants, which are believed to fight cardiovascular disease by cutting cholesterol, a panel of scientists told the American Dietetic Association here Monday," noted The Deseret News of Salt Lake City in a dispatch from Denver last November.

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"Research at the University of California, Davis, has found that chocolate carries high levels of chemicals known as phenolics, some of which may help lower the risk of heart disease," wrote the Copley News Service in a November 2000 article on "Simple Stuff that Can Add Years to Your Life."

A couple of Hershey bars can ward off heart disease? Welcome to 21st-century medical folklore, courtesy of the chocolate industry. After a brief visit to the Web site of the Chocolate Manufacturers and National Confectioners Associations (www.candyusa.org), you might also believe that a box of Godiva can stave off cancer or that a Lindt bar can delay aging.

Not content to merely dispel myths that have soiled chocolate's reputation, chocolate makers are out to recast their product as the ultimate health food ... even if that means creating new myths. And why not?

Sales of chocolate reached a high of $13 billion in 1998, the last year for which numbers are available. Some credit goes to the everywhere-you-turn availability of ever-expanding portions of candy--in vending machines, at movie theaters, in shopping malls, on ice cream, in milk shakes, and elsewhere. Instead of the usual 1 1/2-ounce candy bar, movie theaters hawk 3 1/2-ounce, 500-calorie behemoths. Instead of a single scoop of ice cream, you're more likely to see a waffle-sized megacone with M&M's, chocolate chips, and chocolate coating (on the cone, the ice cream, or both).

But chocolate is also getting a boost from the "growing body of research" that it's a wonder food. That research has largely been funded by the American Cocoa Research Institute (ACRI), an arm of the Chocolate Manufacturers Association. Is that a good PR strategy or what?

"This campaign that chocolate is a health food is just silly," says Barbara Rolls, an obesity expert at Pennsylvania State University and author of Volumetrics: Feel Full on Fewer Calories.

Here are a few of the latest myths about chocolate:

Myth #1 Chocolate helps prevent cancer.

"Studies have shown that chocolate contains a very high level of antioxidants, ranking with the top fruits and vegetables for antioxidant content," says the chocolate industry's Web site. While it doesn't say flat-out that chocolate prevents cancer, it notes that antioxidants "mop up" free radicals, which may be the "triggers" for cancer.

And it quotes researcher Penny Kris-Etherton of Pennsylvania State University, who says that "chocolate holds the promise of healthful benefits from its antioxidant content." (Kris-Etherton's studies on chocolate have been funded by the American Cocoa Research Institute.)

Truth: Chocolate had more "antioxidant capacity" than fruits and vegetables in a study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But it's not clear whether the study's test-tube measure --the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity, or ORAC--reflects what happens in the body.

Then there's the larger question: Do more antioxidants automatically mean less cancer ... or any other illness?

"Antioxidants may be protective for some cell functions, but we can't leap ahead and conclude that antioxidants prevent cancer or any other disease," says Norman Krinsky, a Tufts University researcher who chaired the National Academy of Sciences' committee on antioxidants. "We just don't have the evidence."

Indeed, several studies that have looked for a lower risk of cancer in people who consume more antioxidants called flavonoids (from any foods, not just chocolate) have mostly come up empty.(1,2) And the only word for the chocolate industry's attempt to lump chocolate together with fruits and vegetables is chutzpah.

"We have hundreds of studies showing a link between fruits and vegetables and a lower cancer risk," says Krinsky. "We don't have any studies on chocolate and cancer in people."

Myth #2 Chocolate protects the heart.

"Even though it contains saturated fat, milk chocolate does not affect blood cholesterol levels," says the chocolate industry's Web site. But why stop there?

"Chocolate lovers can take heart in the growing body of research that shows this favorite food is packed with high-quality polyphenol antioxidants that scientists say may reduce the risk for developing cancer and heart disease, as well as offer some anti-aging health benefits," claims the site.

Truth: Stearic acid, one of the saturated fats in chocolate, doesn't raise cholesterol levels. But chocolate contains other sat fats--especially palmitic acid--that do. That's why chocolate raises cholesterol compared to monounsaturated fats like olive oil, which are considered neutral.(3)

The Chocolate Myth Factory - health claims of chocolate

Nutrition Action Healthletter, March, 2001 by Bonnie Liebman

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