Dark, milky or bittersweet and always melt-in-your-mouth creamy, chocolate is one vice in which many people indulge. Lovers of chocolate’s dark variety may have more reason to pick up the bar.
Dark chocolate contains antioxidants, which studies have shown may help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. In a 2003 study conducted by Cornell University, researchers found that dark chocolate contained nearly two times the number of antioxidants as red wine and three times the number in green tea.
Bob Bury, Euphoria Chocolate Company owner, said a “major swing” toward dark chocolate in recent years is partly due to the publicity about dark chocolate’s benefits, though he prefers the sweet mostly because his mother and grandmother “weaned” him on chocolate, he said.
But news media tend to “sensationalize and exaggerate the results” of studies that show the health benefits of consuming foods such as chocolate, said Pat Lombardi, a University biology research assistant professor, in an e-mail.
A 2007 study from the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany found that regular intake of cocoa-rich foods improves heart function and lowers blood pressure. Lombardi commented that he was skeptical of the study because of the “relatively small sample” of 44 subjects and the “not spectacular” drop in blood pressure.
Dark chocolate in small doses can help, Lombardi said, but he recommended moderation, consistency and balance as the keys to a healthy diet.
“Don’t go crazy with dark chocolate and use these small studies to justify or rationalize your consumption of five Reese’s peanut butter cups in a day,” he said.
University senior Michelle Gundelach, a biology major, said she has heard about antioxidants in chocolate, but they are not the reason she eats it.
Gundelach craves chocolate at least once a day, she said. Though she typically has a mini Milky Way or Symphony bar, she admitted that a few times she has bought a tub of chocolate frosting to eat.
During finals week, she makes a pan of brownies when she really needs a fix. “I can eat it all by myself,” she said. “But I usually don’t.”
The “regulars” at Bury’s chocolate business drop by three to four times a week, he said. Bury, who has been selling chocolate in town for 27 years, describes himself as a bartender, as he always knows what customers want.
Bury considers “vice” an apt description of how some people view their chocolate addiction. “I think people like to call it a vice because they think they’re getting away with something,” he said.