Move over, milk chocolate. Dark chocolate is commandeering real estate in the candy aisle, quite pleased with its deep, dark self.
It's not just pricey imported chocolate bars taking up shelf space and boasting how dark they are. Take a look at the dark chocolate M&Ms and dark Hershey's Kisses.
There's method to this darkness. It just so happens that researchers recently have focused on the potential health benefits of dark chocolate, which ultimately could translate into ... cha-ching. In fact, candy makers are reporting an increased demand for the biting taste of dark chocolate.
So far, candy packaging doesn't claim such benefits, but some labels now billboard the candy's "percent cocoa" content -- 50 percent, 60 percent, 70 percent. That's because the higher the cocoa content, nutrition researchers say, the better.
Chocolate is made from cacao beans, a great source of flavonoids, a beneficial plant compound that's in other good stuff, including green and red fruit and vegetables, red wine and green tea.
"The dark color serves as a marker that it's got more of the flavonoids," said Pete Beyer, associate dietetics and nutrition professor at the University of Kansas.
What good are flavonoids? Scientists are finding that higher blood levels of flavonoids create good cardiovascular effects, the kind that may lower the risk of heart disease and certain cancers.
For dark chocolate lovers, the research, much of it sponsored by candy maker Mars Inc., is promising.
A report in the March issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition linked high-flavonoid dark chocolate with improved blood pressure.
One study showed that dark chocolate consumption reduced the "stickiness" of blood, reducing clots and clumps, an aspirinlike effect. Another showed that dark chocolate improved blood vessel function, a nitric oxidelike effect that could benefit cardiovascular health. Another study found that a diet that included dark chocolate increased good cholesterol and helped prevent bad cholesterol from oxidizing.
These effects aren't unique to the plant compounds in dark chocolate. Diana Rodenberg, registered dietitian at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., said that these are the same antioxidant effects people get from fruit and vegetables.
Carl Keen, chocolate researcher and nutrition professor at the University of California-Davis, said that an initial research question about dark chocolate was whether the body actually absorbs its beneficial compounds. The answer was yes.
