The findings reported last year suggest that there are antioxidant compounds found in chocolate, just as there are in teas, wine, fruits and vegetables. And there is growing scientific evidence that a diet high in antioxidants may protect against certain chronic diseases such as cancer, coronary heart disease and cataracts. They form a line of defense to scavenge free radicals which escape in the course of ordinary biological processes and can do harm to body cells. I heard a good analogy given by Felicia Bush, a dietitian who spoke at a Minneapolis meeting last fall, discussing the important antioxidant found in tomatoes, lycopene. She said free radicals are like gatecrashers at a party, looking for a mate, seeking an unstable pair .
Antioxidants are like bouncers.
They connect with the free radicals and give themselves up to throw out the free radicals and save the party. Research must still be done to find out if the human body can absorb the antioxidants found in chocolate. What has been determined so far is that chocolate, especially dark chocolate and cocoa powder, is an excellent source of high quality polyphenol antioxidants. According to Today s Chemist at Work, Joseph Vinson at the University of Scranton found that the concentration of polyphenols in milk chocolate is higher than in red wines and black or green teas. It is 20 times higher than in tomatoes.