Comments on: Loving the BITE: High Polyphenol Dark Chocolate

By: Heather Nielson

Heather Nielson — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:34:00 +0000

I have a small piece of dark chocolate everyday

By: Darryl

Darryl — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 20:00:00 +0000

We had the following comment on Twitter today, and wanted to provide a reply to it so here is what Kelli has to say.

@Digsby: @lovingthebike 2008 study found 60% to 90% of the antioxidants in chocolate are destroyed when alkalized. Make sure to get the right stuff!

Kelli:

Thanks for the tweet – this is a good point. However, when scored using the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) system, which is generally the accepted scoring tool for antioxidant levels, all natural raw cocoa has a score of over 80,000 units. Alkalized (or “Dutched” or “Dutch-processed”) cocoa plummets to just over 40,000 units. This seems bad until you compare it to most fruits and vegetables, which score between 500 and 900. Of course, there are some higher ones, such as blueberries, which have a score of ~6500 for 100 grams. So, with a dark chocolate bar that is 80% cocoa, even if it is alkalized, you’ll get a lot of antioxidants – and especially much more than other dessert foods. To compare calories to calories, 100 calories of blueberries may yield ~10,000 units ORAC, and 100 calories of a 80% dark chocolate bar, alkalized, may yield between 10,000-11,000 units ORAC – still pretty good. Anytime you can find it, it’s best to get natural non-alkalized dark chocolate that is cold-processed. However, not many companies are completely forth coming with this information. My advice is to choose high % cocoa bars that are organic, and when possible, non-alkalized. Thanks again!

By: Kelli

Kelli — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 15:38:00 +0000

Awesome – thanks for the comments, and I whole-heartedly agree. It’s fun to find the % and brand that you agree with and love, as there’s a huge difference in taste among different brands. Kelli

By: Shebicycles

Shebicycles — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 13:42:00 +0000

Mmmm mmmm mmm … chocolate! I have long-standing and highly committed relationship with the dark side – and yes, only a little at a time. My cacao number is 85% (my favorite). When I first began sampling and collecting fine dark chocolate, and began learning about cacao – how/where it’s grown, cultivated, harvested – it quickly became apparent that I needed to support organically-grown, fair-trade and ecologically responsible suppliers. My two personal favorites are Green & Black and Dagoba. Dagoba also offers several high-cacao bars with “additions” – like their Superfruit 74% cacao bar, packed with antioxidants, including acai, currents and Goji berries. Green & Black’s 85% bar is my favorite “pure” choice.

Bottom line: if you’re going to do chocolate – do it well and do it responsibly; for me, organic and fair-trade is the only way to go.