Just One Piece

How many people have sadly turned their back on a tempting piece of chocolate? Chocolate has often been maligned as an unhealthy snack, and it is taken for granted that eating it can only have adverse effects. But can this be true? Although it cannot be denied that chocolate does, more often than not, bring about health problems, recent studies have shown that the consumption of chocolate can indeed have beneficial effects. This essay will explore some of the pros and cons of eating chocolate and attempt to determine whether or not people can succumb to the temptation of the cacao sweet.

One of the major grievances often brought against chocolate is its high fat and caloric content and the harm that it brings, such as the increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, as for the fat, around 33% of cocoa butter is oleic acid, a monounsaturated omega-9 fatty acid which is the main component of olive oil. Another third is stearic acid, which, while a saturated fat, is believed to have little effect on cholesterol. Stearic acid has also been shown to have “beneficial or neutral effects on blood pressure and clotting parameters” (Ding, et al.), so cocoa butter in itself has little ill effect on cholesterol or blood pressure. Furthermore, eating chocolate has been found to potentially lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. The antioxidants in chocolate hinder the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) molecules, one of the major factors of atherosclerosis, by reducing the cellular damage from free radicals, which also cause the oxidation of the LDL cholesterol (“Antioxidants”, “Atherosclerosis and Disease”). The flavonoids in chocolate, a type of polyphenol antioxidant, have the ability to inhibit the aggregation of pla...

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