Dark Chocolate Delivers Antioxidant Benefits

ROME--The day after the Journal of the American Medical Association printed two review letters about the health benefits of dark chocolate, a study in Nature noted dark chocolate--but not milk chocolate--increases blood antioxidant levels. The study was posted online (www.nature.com) in advance of its Aug. 28 print edition (424:1013, 2003).

Researchers from the National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome gave 12 healthy volunteers 3-oz. of dark chocolate, 3-oz. of dark chocolate plus milk, or 2.5-oz. of milk chocolate on different days. Blood analysis showed consumption of dark chocolate increased the total antioxidant capacity of blood plasma and levels of (-)epicatechin, a primary flavonoid found in cocoa. However, the effects were significantly reduced when milk was consumed concurrently, either as a beverage or in the form of milk chocolate.

Mauro Serafini and colleagues were unsure why milk interfered with the absorption of the antioxidants in chocolate, and suggested other nutrients in the diet may also impact antioxidant activity of flavonoids in the body. "There is a need to take into account dietary habits when designing studies to assess the association between flavonoid-rich foods, antioxidant activity and degenerative disease," they said.