Cocoa powder boosts mood, improves circulation, and increases cognitive powers

Welcome to Epoch Insight with Tiffany. My name is Tiffany Brenn. Last year, during the Christmas season, a new movie called Wonka came out. And it was a new take on the old story of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or also known as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Originally by Raoul Dahl, it's been adapted to screen several times. And it's all about a mysterious man who makes really great chocolate. And all of these film adaptations tend to go far beyond just the idea of good chocolate. And he makes very fanciful things with different strange properties and things it can do to you. Particularly the newer film, Wonka, is focused on chocolate itself. That's one of the main things that he makes. But I think that I was just thinking about it because there's an article in the Epoch Times about cocoa. And it reminded me of the difference between what we often see as chocolate all over the place and cocoa powder in its more pure forms. It raises the question, is chocolate really good for you? We hear that a lot. Particularly that dark chocolate is a health food, really, a superfood. But is that just a marketing stunt? Or is there really some benefit to be derived from chocolate besides that it tastes great? And if you're a chocolate lover, as I am, this article has good news for you. Chocolate actually is very good for you, particularly dark chocolate. Now, as this article mentions, not all chocolate is alike. And there are many things that don't have that much cocoa in them because it's the cocoa powder that has the beneficial properties. Now, why is that? Because cocoa is rich in polyphenols. Now, these are properties that are found in plants that give them their color. And when people say, eat the rainbow, they're referring to all the different polyphenols and the numerous but very diverse health benefits which they offer. Mainly because polyphenols have antioxidant properties and they fight against stress, reduce inflammation. These are all things that we need to happen in our bodies to remain strong. Inflammation causes pain and deterioration, so anything that's anti-inflammatory is positive, and oxidative stress is one of the biggest causes of aging and illness as it breaks down our cells. So antioxidants counteract that. There are many different studies which this article cites, but some of the main takeaways could be that chocolate improves blood sugar, elevates your mood, can help lower stress, and help you respond better to stressful events, particularly if you eat in an hour before the stressful event you're going to encounter. It also has been shown to have great effects on the mind. And in some studies taken in a 2020 review, it was shown that cocoa isn't just a treat, but also a cognitive enhancer that can boost brain performance both in the short term and over time because it increases blood flow and oxygen levels to the brain, so it can increase your memory ability and make your thinking stronger and sharper. Researchers have also found that cocoa high in flavanols, which is another property that can be found because cocoa is flavonoid, that is what causes cocoa to help lower blood pressure, increase blood flow, and enhance the function of blood vessels, thereby reducing the risk of heart disease. And because of its flavanol properties, it can reduce vessel damage during mental stress. And it was compared with high-fat foods because when one is under stress, one tends to go to comfort foods, which often are junk foods like chips and baked goods, whereas junk food makes the health of your blood vessels go down. Flavanols improves the blood vessel health, which makes your circulation better and can lead you to just feel better in general. Now, another term we hear is cacao, which is spelled C-A-C-A-O, as opposed to cocoa, which is C-O-C-O-A. And what's the difference between those things? Is cacao just a fancy name for cocoa? They are quite different because cacao refers to the raw or unprocessed beans of the theobroma cacao tree. But after they've been processed, then it's chocolate bars and cocoa powder, and that's cocoa. So this article is mainly talking about cocoa, and it can protect against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's because of improving the blood flow, as well as improving your mood. I don't generally like candy or a lot of sweet things. I never really have. But one thing that I always love to have is chocolate, especially if you're just a little bit hungry or maybe a little depressed, feel like you need a boost, always go to the chocolate. And I always just think it's because I like it. But there is some science behind it, too. It's shown that cocoa, particularly in the form of dark chocolate, can improve your mood when you're feeling down. Now, these trials have tried to determine whether it's a connection between the gut and the brain or it just has an impact on your mood. But in this test group, they had three different groups. A 70% cocoa dark chocolate group, an 85% cocoa dark chocolate group, and a third group, which is the control group. And participants in the chocolate groups consumed 30 grams of this dark chocolate daily. And results showed that eating 85% cocoa dark chocolate significantly reduced negative emotions compared with the control group. But the group eating only 70% cocoa did not experience the same mood improvements, which shows that you need the higher cocoa quality to have those mood-enhancing benefits. In addition, the gut microbiome analysis showed that there was increased diversity in the gut microbiome from the group who ate the 85% cocoa dark chocolate, particularly in one bacterium, which is linked to mood modulation through the production of a hormone which prevents leaky gut and has been shown to exert antidepressant-like effects and it reverses depressive behavior in rats. So in simpler terms, it seems that dark chocolate has a very positive effect on the gut microbiome, which more and more studies are showing is very closely connected not only to your mood but also to your mental health and your overall health and well-being. So maybe that's a big part of why dark chocolate is so good for you. Now, one thing it mentions is that cocoa can improve insulin sensitivity and contribute to better blood sugar management. So it's also good for those benefits. It also showed that eating polyphenol-rich chocolate helped lower blood sugar levels after a meal. And the findings suggest that cacao polyphenol-rich chocolate could help people with diabetes maintain lower and more stable blood sugar levels post-meal by increasing insulin. One thing to consider when introducing cocoa into your diet, particularly for the health benefits, is the nutritional content. Processing cocoa can dilute the polyphenol content in the chocolate by up to 90%. And this depends and varies greatly on the quality of the chocolate, the percentage of the cocoa, and the manufacturing process. Dark chocolate with a higher cocoa percentage offers more antioxidants and polyphenols, and it tends to taste more bitter as a result than milk chocolate. Milk chocolate has a higher quantity of milk, sugar, generally, and other additives, and less cocoa. That's why it's lighter in color and it has more of a milky flavor and less of that rich, dark chocolate. The article suggests if you're using cocoa as a supplement, adding it to yogurt, oatmeal, smoothies, and just with cocoa powder with no sugar. And that way you can get those benefits as well as the naturally pleasant taste of cocoa. And she recommends if you're going to have a chocolate bar, get one with at least 70% cocoa. Especially if you go to a place like Sprouts or another health food store, you can find really high quantities of cocoa, some of which don't even have sugar in them. Sometimes they'll be sweetened with more natural alternatives like monk fruit or stevia, and they'll sometimes be flavored with mint so that you have something to counteract the bitterness without sugar. The potential downsize to increasing cocoa consumption is that many chocolate bars you find in the grocery store don't really have enough cocoa to have health benefits, and they're often high in added sugars, fats, and other unwanted ingredients. It's recommended to limit added sugar intake to 50 grams per day for the average adult. So that's about 4 tablespoons of sugar. And it's equivalent to eating approximately 2 pieces of commercially prepared chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Now, cocoa does contain caffeine and theobromine, which are both stimulants. So if you're sensitive to that, you might want to just keep an eye on how much cocoa you have, particularly when you have it before bedtime, compared with... But it's still lower caffeine than both coffee and tea. So comparatively, it's not as much. Now, cocoa does contain oxalates, which can cause kidney stones in susceptible people, but that's mainly just people who live on nothing but spinach. So if you're having a healthy diet, particularly if you balance it with either carbs, like if it's a chocolate cake, or with fats, like dairy. So if you have your chocolate with whole full-fat milk, which is a great combination, it reduces the likelihood of all the oxalates getting stored in your kidneys. So that's a good way to take it. Now, recently, there have been some news topics in the last couple of years about heavy metals in chocolate, particularly lead and cadmium. It was found in Hershey's, most notably, but it's not just the more sugary and processed ones. They've actually found more of these heavy metals in the organic, darker chocolate brands, and that's because it's coming from the soil. So to be careful, look for brands which say that they test the soil a lot, because everyone's aware of this now. So many of these brands, which are regenerative farming, will test frequently so that you can avoid heavy metals, if possible. So chocolate is a really great thing to enjoy because it tastes great and it has a lot of health benefits too. Hot chocolate used to be a beverage that was consumed in the morning instead of coffee or tea. When we think of the way it is now, it seems it's not really something you want to have in the morning, but it didn't have the high sugar content. As a matter of fact, you would sometimes add milk and sugar cubes as you would to tea or coffee. So you can find some more natural hot chocolate brands, some of which don't have a lot of sugar or don't have any, or you can even just make your own hot chocolate with cocoa powder and mix in some milk and heat it up, and there you'll have some nice, more natural hot chocolate. But when you're wanting to have something for a sweet tooth or to perk you up when you're feeling glum, try exploring dark chocolate because it's a great treat which has many health benefits as well as tasting delicious. Thank you for watching. If you enjoyed this video talking about dark chocolate and its many health benefits and how it has great abilities to boost your mood, if you enjoyed this video, I hope you'll like it, subscribe to the channel, share it with your friends, and leave a comment letting me know what you think about chocolate. Thank you for watching.