Chocolate and health Essay

Submitted By PhyllisRen
Words: 1057
Pages: 5
Open Document
Title:To what extent can chocolate be considered a healthy food? Discuss with reference to relevant evidence on potential harms and benefits.

Introduction
Chocolate, whose main ingredient is cocoa, has certainly been one of the most popular confectionery worldwide for centuries.Nevertheless, there have been hot debates during recent years on whether chocolate should be included on the healthy eating list or not. A large number of researchers (Adams,S.,2006; Backett,S.T.,2008) have demonstrated the benefits of cardioprotection after eating chocolates, considering that cocoa contains rich flavanols, but Ding, E., Hutfless, M., Ding, X. and Girotra, S. (2006) suggest that more attention should be attached to the long-term outcome in this respect.This paper is aimed to analyze some potential merits and harms related to human health through showing dominant arguments from different sources, and it will be organized as follows. The first section of this paper illustrates reasons why chocolate can be beneficial for human health.Then some disagreements will be shown in the second part,focusing on potential harms that chocolate may have,as well as limitations of studies in this area.The third section will summarize the views presented and briefly provide comparisons and analysis on such basis.The last section concludes.
Positive health effects
Cardioprotection
Recently numerous studies have reported the positive effects that chocolate can take in the aspect of decreasing risk of cardiovascular disease, this merit can be contributed to a kind of polyphenols which is called flavanol contained in cocoa.Adams,S.(2006) reports that the cardioprotection of chocolates can be achieved through two main ways. ’ In vitro, the antioxidant activity of cocoa decreased LDL oxidation even more so than green and black tea,23 which are known to have antioxidant activity far greater than most fruits and vegetables ’.Although he has to admit that the fact is established on most human trials, rather than all. Another way he points out is relied on the ability of products contain cocoa such as dark chocolates ,which is known as ‘thin the blood ’ because of the decline in platelet activation.

Anti-hypertension
According to Backett,S.T.(2008), there are many other potential benefits of flavanol as well.’Flavanols have been shown to suppress some inflammatory reagents and increase the anti-inflammatory nitric oxide ’,and nitric oxide is a critical element for releasing blood pressure and fastening blood flow rate.He suggests that this point equips chocolate with properties of anti-hypertension.
Besides, he attempts to demonstrate that chocolate eating have no close links with some alleged negative effects,such as migraine, tooth decay,acne,allergies, due to lack of evidence.

Present limitations and Potential harms
Obesity or blood pressure relaxation
In terms of anti-hypertension, Adams,S.(2006) has shown different arguments.He claims that except a population study conducted in Spain which found no direct connection between chocolate consumption and incident of hypertension, there is no epidemiological evidence available to prove that chocolate will have positive effect on relaxing blood pressure.More importantly, he points out the amount of chocolate we need to take effects on blood pressure may theoretically lead to overweight, which is the chief culprit of many other cardiovascular disease.That means the more chocolates you eat for fighting against hypertension, the higher risk it might result in obesity.In his demonstrations he described it as ’ cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face ’.

Immediate effect on moods
It is generally suggested that eating chocolates can cheer people up.However, Parker(2006,149)examines that any positive psychological effects after consuming chocolates can not last for long time.Supported by showing different motivations of chocolate craving and emotional eating, he proves that chocolate craving and
Show More

Related Documents: Chocolate and health Essay

Paper on Chocolate

Did you know chocolate comes from a fruit? That’s right; it’s called the cocao bean. Most people would pronounce it coco but it’s actually pronounced ca-ca-o. There are many different kinds of chocolates and the uses for them. Chocolate goes far beyond just candy and cakes. There’s cocao powder, unsweetened, dark, bittersweet, semi-sweet, sweet dark, milk, white, couverture, gianduja, and candy coating chocolate. What kind of chocolate do you like? It's not wishful thinking; chocolate can be good…

Words 565 - Pages 3

Mock Essay

Eating Chocolate Makes Humans Healthier "Chocolate is the yummiest, tastiest thing in the whole wide world. Chocolate also makes you happy and makes you feel better "Katherine Howell states in The Story of Chocolate (13). Chocolate is something everyone devours. Chocolate helps the human body stay healthy. Wouldn't you rather eat chocolate than eat vegetables to stay healthy? There are three main types of chocolate: White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, and Dark Chocolate. Dr. Hartford, at Baylor…

Words 397 - Pages 2

Essay about Marketing Summary

examine why the sales volume of Choice Chocolate has dropped over the past two years since its peak in 1998 and to recommend ways of increasing the volume. The research draws attention to the fact that in 1998, the market share of Choice Chocolate was 37%. The shares of their key competitors such as Venus and Bradbury were 22% and 18% respectively. The size of the chocolate market then was $36 million. Over the next two years, although Choice Chocolate retained its market share the volume of…

Words 326 - Pages 2

Preparation Outline Informative Essay

Benefits of chocolate Specific Purpose: At the end the presentation the audience will be informed on why they should add more chocolate to their lives I. Introduction (Your goal here is to draw us into your speech...) A. Attention Grabber(This step helps us focus our attention on you and your message. It is suggested that you begin with a story, quote, statistic, definition, use of suspense, etc. Never begin with, "Hi I am ___ and today I am going to talk about ___."): Who in here loves chocolate? (hand…

Words 794 - Pages 4

School Candies Research Paper

with chocolate selling. Even then, the school need to raise funds for 2 or 3 years before being able to make something. There is another way for school to make money, but it is very controversial. This way is to sell candies, chocolate and soft drinks at school. The majority of people are saying that doing this is very bad. However, selling candies at school is very good in two ways and there is no negative points. For my first point, I will argue on the fact that candies are good for health even…

Words 278 - Pages 2

Essay on Why Chocolate Is Goods for You.

Dark chocolate -- not white chocolate -- lowers high blood pressure, say Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Their report appears in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. But that's no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure -- if you've reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less…

Words 414 - Pages 2

Essay about 5 brands of similar products

hersheys.com/pure-products.aspx) Hershey’s which was also known as Hershey Foods Corporation is one of the oldest and largest chocolate manufacturers in the United States advertising Hershey’s Special Dark, which replaced the sweet chocolate bars by Hershey’s in early 1970s. The positioning of Hershey is quite high and the geographical target is global in the chocolate market due to the quality and the standard of their products. Hershey’s adopted a differentiation strategy in its products quality…

Words 1586 - Pages 7

White Chocolate Essays

2 English 4 December 4, 2012 Chocolate “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get” (Forrest Gump). This is a very true quote because chocolate can relate to a person’s life in many ways. Chocolate may be just a sweet treat that can come in many different varieties, but to some people it can symbolize different things in their life’s. There can be many different flavors of chocolate. There is dark, milk, and white chocolate. They all have a different meaning…

Words 809 - Pages 4

Chocolate Milk Should Be Allowed In Schools

been a huge debate on whether chocolate milk should or should not be served in schools. Many people believe that chocolate milk should be served in school because it has a delicious taste and rich flavor as well the same nine nutrients that white milk contains in the liquid such as calcium, vitamin D, vitamin A, vitamin B12, potassium, protein, phosphorus, riboflavin, and niacin. Although there have been many strong arguments that were on the for side of having chocolate milk, there is also substantial…

Words 1006 - Pages 5

Marketing Research on Whittaker's Essay

1. Introduction 1.1 Purpose The purpose of this report is to identify, analyse and evaluate the marketing factors that Whittaker’s has adopted in attempts to position themselves as a top-quality chocolate confectionery brand. In addition, this report would also be an aid to the major assignment in terms of developing detailed plans with marketing factors, data and facts. 1.2 Scope This report will cover the background understanding about the confectionery industry and do an in-depth analysis…

Words 2198 - Pages 9