Dark Chocolate Isn’t So Dark

I love chocolate… who doesn’t, right? I crave chocolate constantly, and I could not make it through a single day without consuming some type of chocolate. Even though I prefer milk chocolate and white chocolate over dark chocolate, I have always heard that dark chocolate is better for you. Dark chocolate contains healthier ingredients and has greater nutritional value. I decided that it was time to finally research whether this rumor is true or not, so that if I am eating chocolate everyday I can at least choose the healthier option.

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There was a study done by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition testing if dark chocolate is better for a person over white chocolate. The study was conducted on only fifteen participants in good health that included eight men and seven women. The study conducted was a randomized control trial. The fifteen participants were randomly distributed either the dark chocolate or the white chocolate to consume. This would have not been considered a randomized control trial if the participants had options regarding which type of chocolate they preferred to eat. The study was designed to observe whether the two different types of chocolate would affect the fifteen participants’ blood pressure at the end of the observational study.

The results of the study were not very shocking because they matched the rumors that I had been hearing. The participants that were given white chocolate within the duration of the study had a spike in their blood pressure levels. The participants that were given dark chocolate within the duration of the study found a drop in their blood pressure levels. Certain ingredients and nutrients that are necessary to make white chocolate, such as cocoa butter, is the main reason that the participants experienced a spike in blood pressure levels and the dark chocolate participants did not.

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The study conducted at the The American Society for Clinical Nutrition was handled very smoothly, but it was small and simple. The fact that this study only tested fifteen people makes the results hard to construe as completely credible. The same study should be repeated many more times, but with considerably more people in each experiment to actually confirm the results. If this is not redone in the future, The American Society for Clinical Nutrition could never rule out the possibility of chance being the reason that the people who ate the dark chocolate experienced a drop in blood pressure levels. Also, the study did not consider any third confounding Z variables that may have been the reason for the lower blood pressures associated with dark chocolate. For example, the participants that were randomly assigned to eat dark chocolate may have more active lifestyles and thus lower blood pressure than the white chocolate group. Something as random as having a more physically demanding job or taking the stairs more often could affect the outcome of the study.

In addition to the study conducted at The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, CNN wrote an article titled “Is Dark Chocolate Good or Bad For Our Health?” that discussed similar topics. This article agrees with The American Society for Clinical Nutrition because they also mentioned that dark chocolate lowers blood pressure levels. Based off what I read in this article, dark chocolate is a very helpful antioxidant that has been known to have beneficial effects on the body.

In conclusion, the rumors are true! Dark chocolate is better for you over other types of chocolates. Dark chocolate may lower your blood pressure. Based off how much I eat chocolate, I should probably start incorporating dark chocolate into my lifestyle more often. The transition to dark chocolate over other types of chocolate won’t be easy, but by the sounds of it, it’s worth it!

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