A Bit of Dark Chocolate

I've been thinking about chocolate lately - not just any type of chocolate, but specifically dark chocolate. It may be because I devoured nearly three large bars of dark chocolate this week, but also because I found the results of this neat study, which were revealed at the 247^th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

Eating chocolate has historically been associated with lower body weight and lower blood pressure. Earlier studies have found that polyphenols from chocolate increases "good" bacteria such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli, while also reducing the presence of other potentially pathogenic microorganisms that cause inflammation, gas, bloating, and constipation. But according to a new study that observes the effects of dark chocolate on the various types of bacteria in the stomach, the interaction between chocolate and our gut microbes may have even more benefits than previously thought.

In the study, the authors passed cocoa powder through a device that mimics the human gut, and found that the bacteria break down polyphenols in cocoa powder. Polyphenols, healthful molecules that are known to help the heart that also found in dark berries and black tea, are normally too large to be easily absorbed into the blood. But gut bacteria break down these large polyphenols into smaller chemicals; these smaller chemicals can easily pass into the blood.

"We found that there are two kinds of microbes in the gut: the ‘good' ones and the ‘bad' ones," explained Maria Moore, one of the study's researchers. "The good microbes, such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria, feast on chocolate," she said.

"When you eat dark chocolate, they grow and ferment it, producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory," said John Finley, Ph.D. "When these compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the long-term risk of stroke. These are good compounds to have in your gut," he said, "they can get absorbed into your blood and protect cells in your blood vessels from stress... The microbes [also] break down the fiber from cocoa into short fatty chain acids, which get absorbed and can have an effect on satiety," he said.

There's still more work to be done to confirm whether gut bacteria are responsible for the beneficial effects of chocolate. The authors now want to feed real human patients cocoa and see if they find the same chemicals that the bacteria produced using the device in the laboratory.

"Those types of experiments are critical to figuring out exactly what's in chocolate that makes it healthy for the heart," says Joshua Lambert, a food scientist at Pennsylvania State University.

Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I have another bar of dark chocolate to start eating!

Image Credits

Dark Chocolate (Simon A. Eugster, via Wikimedia)

References

American Chemical Society. The precise reason for the health benefits of dark chocolate: mystery solved.

Farhat, G. Dark chocolate rich in polyphenols improves insulin sensitivity in the adult non-diabetic population. Endocrine Abstracts 34.(2014).

Pereira, T., Boas, M., Conde, J. Dark chocolate intake improves endothelial function in young healthy people: a randomized and controlled trial. Cardiovascular System. (2014).

Zomer, E., Owen, A., Magliano, D., Liew, D., Reid, C. The effectiveness and cost effectiveness of dark chocolate consumption as prevention therapy in people at high risk of cardiovascular disease: best case scenario analysis using a Markov model. BMJ 344. (2012).

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