Chocolate also stimulates the brain to release endorphins that act on the central nervous system. Endorphins are natural painkillers and also appear to affect behaviour. Yes, Cesar Fraga, of the University of Buenos Aires, and his colleagues told the American Association of the Advancement of Science's annual meeting in Washington earlier this year. Adults who eat chocolate, Fraga's team found, have increased levels of anti-oxidants in their blood. The researchers also suggest that the cells of chocolate consumers are less vulnerable to 'free radical' damage.
Free radicals are unstable atoms or molecules that lack an electron.
They 'steal' an electron from a neighbour, triggering a damaging chain reaction in surrounding biochemical compounds. But clearly, chocolate is not a 'health food'. Tissa Kappagoda from the University of California at Davis, a cardiologist who has studied flavonoids in grapes and cocoa is wary about studies that appear to validate the benefits of eating chocolate. Many people cheerfully describe themselves as 'chocoholics'. I don't think that chocolate produces anything comparable to these drugs.