Niki Bezzant: A sensual, scoffing pleasure

Chocolate is a treat. Take time to really enjoy it for the voluptuous pleasure it is this Easter.

When I meet someone who claims not to like chocolate, I am immediately suspicious. Are they serious? It's hard to believe anyone could be ambivalent about its voluptuous texture and complex sweetness.

These days artisan, boutique "bean to bar" chocolate has become a thing; we're getting serious about exploring the flavours of chocolate instead of just scoffing it down.

But Easter, of course, is a time when we tend to scoff. And at this time, we love to latch on to any bit of research that offers justification for the scoffing; cue media stories about how chocolate is good for us. Much like stories about wine, these are often slightly misreported; the benefits are overstated and the harms downplayed.

It's fair to say that when it comes to the evidence, chocolate's report card is mixed. Happily, it's not all bad news.

On the pro side, the cocoa from which chocolate is made has health benefits. It contains antioxidants known as flavonoids; these may lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation and prevent blood clots. Cocoa flavonoids may also reduce blood pressure and unhealthy LDL cholesterol, increase healthy HDL cholesterol and lower insulin resistance.

There are also interesting possible benefits of cocoa for brain health. One study found that older adults who drank two cups of cocoa a day for 30 days had improved blood flow to parts of their brain needed for memory and thinking.

That doesn't mean we should all down chocolate bars on a daily basis. The dose of cocoa flavonoids we'd need to get benefits is high — up to 400mg. To get that amount from chocolate, we'd need to eat several large bars a day.

What's more, when fat and sugar is added to cocoa to make chocolate, we lose some of the health benefits.

The fat in chocolate is usually, in better quality chocolate, cocoa butter, which is made up of saturated and unsaturated fats. Overall this appears to have a neutral effect on cholesterol levels. Cheaper chocolate can use vegetable oil; it's not always easy to know what kind of oil this is, but it's often palm oil, a mostly saturated fat that's bad for heart health and also raises concern on the environmental front. Any kind of fat adds significant calories to chocolate.

There can also be a good whack of sugar in chocolate. This depends on the type — darker chocolate has less sugar, milk chocolate has more. White chocolate is not really chocolate, but it's usually pretty sugary, too. And sugar, of course, adds more calories.

So, though you don't have to give up the choccie, it pays to be discerning about what you choose. It depends on your taste, but health-wise, a dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa — 70 per cent or more — means you're likely to get less sugar and more flavonoids. Keep servings moderate and whatever you choose, try to take time to really enjoy your chocolate for the sensual pleasure it is.

• Niki Bezzant is editor-at-large for Healthy Food Guide. www.healthyfood.co.nz