Press release

University research proves that dark chocolate should be gift of love this Valentines

You’ll be doing your sweetheart a big favour this Valentine’s Day if your gift contains dark chocolate. Researchers from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh have shown that dark chocolate rich in polyphenols can serve as a convenient daily source of antioxidant, reduce blood pressure and lower blood sugar levels. Surprisingly results also showed that participants involved in the research did not gain any weight while consuming their quota of dark chocolate.
Both dark chocolate and cocoa (the plant) are amongst the riches sources of polyphenols which possess potent antioxidant properties. Antioxidants are essential for neutralising the harmful and ageing affects of free radicals.

Dr Emad Al-Dujaili, senior lecturer in Biochemistry at Queen Margaret University, explained: “Our research into the effects of dark chocolate consumption has shown that it can reduce blood pressure and therefore has the potential to alleviate hypertension. It can also reduce blood sugar levels which is helpful for diabetics. These effects can benefit patients with metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and obesity.”
He continued: “Some of these results were surprising. The research dispelled the common belief that eating chocolate leads to weight gain. In fact, none of the participants in the study gained any weight.”

The participants in the research consumed especially designed dark chocolate produced by the company Barry Callebaut, which was particularly rich in polyphenols.
Dr Al-Dujaili said :“We hope that the findings of our study will serve towards designing food products that will promote health and prevent the occurrence of chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases that are very common in our society.”
Scientists at Barry Callebaut, the company which produced the chocolate for the research trials, have succeeded in preserving the naturally present favanols in the cocoa bean without compromising on the taste. They have developed a special ACTICOA™ process to preserve, in the ACTICOA chocolate, a maximum of the health-giving components present in the cocoa bean.

Following the results of this research, Dr Dujaili said: “As a confectionary loving nation, I would now urge people to incorporate a moderate amount of dark chocolate into their diet.”
Dr Al-Dujaili concluded: ”This type of research confirms Queen Margaret University’s commitment to improving quality of life.”

ENDS

Note to editor

The research was conducted by Suzana Almoosawi, a self funding PhD student at Queen Margaret University, and supervised by Dr Al-Dujaili and Dr Lorna Fyfe, senior lecturers in the subject area of Dietetics, Nutrition and Biological Sciences at Queen Margaret University.

ACTICOATM

Products containing ACTICOATM chocolate or cocoa can be recognised by the ACTICOATM quality seal. At present, around 30 products containing ACTICOA™ cocoa or chocolate are sold in more than 10 countries around the world.
Taking part in dark chocolate trials Suzana Almoosawi is continuing her research into dark chocolate. If anyone is interested in taking part in her trials, please contact Suzana on tel: 0131 474 0000, email: salmoosawi@qmu.ac.uk

Background to the research

Cocoa and DC are amongst the richest sources of polyphenols and these confer potent antioxidant properties. In fact, per serving, cocoa contains more polyphenols and flavonoids than red wine, green tea or black tea (Lee et al, 2003) or herbal tea (Richelle et al, 2001). For centuries, the medicinal properties of cocoa and DC were recognised and used to treat diseases such as inflammations, angina and heart pain (Dillinger et al, 2000). It is only in the 1970s that cocoa and DC became viewed as a confectionary (ICCO, 2005), and that the various commercial processing methods developed resulted in the loss of much of cocoa’s and DC’s antioxidants (Natsume et al, 2000). Although, the majority of cocoa and DC products available on the market are poor in polyphenols, processing have been developed that may enhance the polyphenol-content of cocoa and DC products (Tomas-Barber et al, 2007). It was therefore, essential to investigate how these polyphenol-rich products could influence health.

The study

In the preliminary study, the effect of 100g of commercially available DC with 2200mg polyphenol content consumed over 2 weeks was investigated in overweight individuals. Mean fasting blood glucose levels decreased significantly from 4.50±0.83mmol/l to 3.83±0.75mmol/l during Week-1 [p=0.05] & to 4.06±0.74mmol/l during Week-2 [p=0.041], without significant alterations in body weight or body mass index (BMI) ((Almoosawi et al, unpublished results, 2007).

In another study, the research team investigated the effect of varying doses of polyphenols dark chocolate on fasting glucose, blood pressure and total cholesterol. Subjects were asked to ingest 20g of dark chocolate containing either 500mg or 1000mg polyphenol. It was found that the low dose polyphenol to be equally effective in reducing blood pressure but more effective in reducing fasting glucose levels than 1000mg polyphenols. This might indicate that a saturation effect might occur with increasing polyphenol dose. No changes in anthropometrical measurements were observed suggesting that including a small portion of polyphenol-rich dark chocolate as part of a healthy balanced diet does not promote weight-gain. However, long-term intervention will be required to examine the effect of dark chocolate on anthropometrical measurements and biochemical markers. The advantage of using 500mg polyphenol dark chocolate is that unlike the 1000mg dose, it is more palatable and acceptable to the consumers, as a reduction in the polyphenol content implies a reduction in the bitterness of chocolate.

For further media information please contact Lynne Russell, Press and PR Officer, Queen Margaret University, tel: 0131 474 0000.

11 Feb 09