Why you shouldn’t feel guilty when eating chocolates

There is nothing like sinking your teeth into a chocolate bar, taking a bite, rolling it in your mouth and letting its silky-smooth rich taste melt in your tongue—it’s a sensory delight par excellence—a total bliss!

It’s no secret that everyone loves chocolates—no matter, old or young. And it goes without saying that kids hanker for them and would not mind trading fisticuffs with friends or family over them. The truth is, the whole world loves it.

But did you know that eating chocolates can be beneficial to your health? I did not. I always thought they were high in calories, saturated with fat and sugar, and overall very bad for our health.

Wrong! Some chocolates are good, too! Still very skeptical about it, my research, however, led me to a new finding that there are chocolates that really pack nutrient values. Dark chocolate is one such variety, having at least 70 per cent or more of cocoa, less sugar or sugar-free but free of dairy (milk) and gluten.

When chocolate is mentioned, a name pops up—Cadbury’s, named after John Cadbury (1801-1889). But the first ever chocolate bar was introduced by the Bristol-based company, Fry & Son in 1847.

Let’s take a look at a brief ‘bean-to-bar’ history of chocolates. Chocolate bars are made from cocoa which comes from the cacao beans that grow on cacao (theobroma cacao) trees, meaning ‘food of the gods’ in Latin. The cacao trees bear fruits or pods that are oval in shape and when ripe turn a vibrant yellow/orange in color. The pod bears seeds which are called the cacao beans.  After being fermented, dried and roasted, the beans get the name of cocoa beans.

Next the beans go for ‘winnowing’–they are shelled, and the meat inside called ‘nibs’ is extracted. The nibs are then finely crushed and milled into a thin paste called ‘chocolate liquor’ or ‘cocoa mass’, out of which come two things: cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

It is at this stage the chocolate maker decides what type of chocolate to produce. Dark chocolate requires only cocoa mass, cocoa butter, and low quantity of sugar. If he adds milk powder, then it becomes milk chocolate.

White chocolate is made with cocoa butter, sugar, and milk powder (but no cocoa mass). So, the name ‘white chocolate’ is a misnomer and is not a chocolate in the true sense of the word.

The cocoa mass then undergoes further processing called ‘conching’. It is then tempered and finally molded. After donning different attractive wrappers, the end-product—the chocolates—are ready for the market.

The main cocoa-producing countries of the world are: the Dominican Republic, Peru, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Nigeria, Mexico, Colombia, Madagascar, and Indonesia.

The bulk of chocolate-loving countries include: Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, Belgium, Australia, and of course, the United States of America.

Better get down to the brass tacks now. Let us consider the goodness of eating chocolates—of course, the dark ones with 70 per cent cocoa content and above.

Dark chocolates with labels that read ‘organic’, ‘intense dark’, or ‘artisan’ chocolate are generally carried by chocolates with higher quality. The higher the cocoa content, the better it is.

In the recent years, dark chocolate has been identified as a potential ‘super food’. Some have even named it ‘health chocolate’. This has led to a substantial rise in the demand for it in the global market.

Research scientists claim that dark quality chocolates are rich in fibre, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc and selenium. Studies conducted have shown that they are higher in antioxidant, polyphenol and flavanol than some fruits such as blueberries and acai berries.

Shall we now take a look at the many benefits of eating dark chocolate?