Chocolate for Your Sweetheart

Chocolate for Your Sweetheart
Valentine's Day chocolate treats are displayed at the Le Chocolatier fine chocolate store as they prepare for a Valentine's day rush on February 12, 2014 in North Miami, Florida. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Chocolate doesn’t just come in heart shaped boxes, but it might also be good for your real heart, too. The beneficial effects of chocolate are likely due to its antioxidants, called polyphenols, which may help to protect against heart disease.1,2

The “ORAC score” (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) measures the antioxidant capacity of various foods. The higher the number, the more antioxidant-rich the food is. Look how chocolate ranks with some other prominent antioxidant foods.

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According to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, in terms of healthy antioxidant content, the chocolate hierarchy in order from best to worst is:

  • Cocoa powder

  • Unsweetened baking chocolate

  • Dark chocolate

  • Semi-sweet chocolate chips

  • Milk chocolate.

  • Chocolate syrup

Dark chocolate is one of the richest sources of polyphenols. A 40-gram portion of dark chocolate contains 400 to 800 miligrams of polyphenols. That’s even higher than red wine, which has 170 miligrams (per 100 mililitres) and an apple, which has 200 miligrams of polyphenols.

Vanessa Necolettos shops for Valentine's Day chocolates for her husband at Schakolad Chocolate Factory (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Vanessa Necolettos shops for Valentine's Day chocolates for her husband at Schakolad Chocolate Factory Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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