Nutritionguru1's Blog

Healthy chocolate sales – downright dirty war

Chocolate sales have soared during the recession as we turn to cheap treats for comfort  throughout  the storm. Kraft is trying to buy Cadbury, some say for its wide product range and healthy profits margins.  Cadbury have successfully relaunched Wispa and nostalgia advertising lulls us  back  to  happier times – providing a sense of security and attachment to the past. Consumers are reaching  out for the familiar to enhance that  human need for security and stability whilst the recession bottoms out.

Our favourite, trusty chocolate bars might make us feel secure in troubled times, but its the biochemical kick  that chocolate gives which alters our mood and plays with our brain receptors and pleasure centres. In Portrait in Sepia, Isabelle Allende’s flamboyant character Paulina del Valle invests in sugar and dramatically enlarges her fortune by being savvy about the craving for sweetness during  hard times. Today confectioners rub their hands as robust chocolate sales boost their balance sheets.

Chocolate exploration

That deep desire for familiarity hasn’t killed the need for adventure or exploration into various continents to stimulate new chocolate innovation.  We are seeing the re-emergence of premium chocolate products from around the world, especially south America. Like coffee, chocolate from each geographical region has different qualities and chocolate conosiers can tell them apart.

Japan is the  consistent front runner in chocolate innovation, creating some of  the most exciting inventions of our time.  Japanese chocolate not only tastes good, but  some of the products create additional biochemical changes in the body.  Japanese confectioner Esaki Glic developed an anti stress, mental balance chocolate  fortified with  inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma aminio butyric acid  and scientifically proven to reduce stress and anxiety.  Studies have shown chocolate to be a mood enhancing food, but with additional nutritional ingredients, the Japanese have created a double punch. Sly….

Is chocolate healthy?

Can chocolate ever be healthy?  Nutritionists say yes when it’s consumed in its healthiest form. Chocolate can be one of the most highly nutritious foods with multiple health benefits. Research has even shown it has biochemical effects similar to aspirin in reducing platelet stickiness and it therefore plays a role in heart health. However, the term  ”healthy chocolate” remains a misnomer until confectioners decide to stop adding sugar, e numbers and artificial ingredients. Unlikely. Chocaholics become addicted to particular products and confectioners create  highly addictive formulations -  a heady mix of taste, sweetness  and fat  – yielding and consistency that keep’s us coming back for more.

Raw, sexy chocolate

Raw chocolate provides a healthy alternative to cheap, mass produced, low cocoa content chocolate , and is one of the world’s fastest growing health foods and provides unadultarated naked goodness.

The main ingredient in chocolate is cocoa (a fruit) and one of the healthiest fruits commonly eaten by us. Raw cocoa has the highest antioxidant value of all the natural foods in the world. Food scientists discovered that cacoa powder has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine, and up to three times the antioxidants found in green tea.  Recent research  has shown a link between cocoa and cardiovascular health, with reduced risk of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks.

Waking up to the benefits of chocolate

Today there’s an increasing demand from healthy savvy consumers for chocolate in its most natural, unrefined and non-processed state (raw) state. Consumers want health and you can’t get healthier than raw, unprocessed chocolate. Consequently, we are seeing a slew of new raw chocolate products and recipes hitting the market and this trend is set to get bigger and bigger.

Raw chocolate is the healthiest way to eat chocolate because its production preserves the intrinsic goodness of the cacao – which is highly nutritious and rich in essential vitamins and minerals including the mineral magnesium (known to nutritionists as nature’s tranquiliser). It’s thought that many chocaholics are actually deficient in magnesium, which is probably why they are craving chocolate.

Raw and unprocessed cacao beans or cacao powder made from raw beans which have not been heated or treated with alkalis are true “healthy chocolate”. This kind of chocolate contains the most flavanols and are the healthiest chocolate products. Chocolate consumed in this way can serve us well as a health food and has a whole host of benefits, especially for heart health, blood pressure, cholesterol lowering, mood enhancement etc.

So yes,when eaten in the right way ( i.e raw), chocolate can be healthy so enjoy it  in moderation.

www.nutriheal.net