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Chocoholics, Rejoice! (January 20, 2006, Hour One)

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Program Summary

In Woody Allen’s film comedy “Sleeper,� our cryogenically preserved hero is defrosted in a future that has discovered that hot fudge sundaes are good for us. Yeah, right, we thought. If only. Well, the future is NOW! Studies show that chocolate is healthy! Go crazy!

Uh, hold up a sec. Before you stuff yourself full of bars and bonbons, let’s look at the facts. Scientists have identified a compound in cocoa called flavanol that is actually heart-healthy – it relaxes blood vessels and may help decrease hypertension. We’re not talking truffles and ganache, though; researchers studied raw cocoa, made from cacao tree beans (which, by the way, are actually fruit). This cocoa is dark and very bitter, not something you’d look forward to eating, although the Aztecs and Mayans absolutely loved it. Cacao beans were even used as currency and demanded as tribute from conquered tribes. The chocolate we know is full of fat and sugar, which have their own little problems.

On the bright side, the Mars Company has learned how to replicate the compound, meaning that perhaps it could be added to candy to boost the flavanol levels and truly make it healthy. And, as all chocoholics know, chocolate is full of the same endorphins that our bodies create when we’re in love! Reason enough to keep on eating.

Guests

Harold Schmitz, chief science officer of Mars, Incorporated

Related Links and Resources

WebMD.com, January 18, 2006: Why Cocoa May Help Heart Health
Medscape.com Cocoa, Flavanols and Cardiovascular Risk (requires free registration)

For Discussion:

• What is flavanol? What are its health benefits?

• What’s the difference between cocoa and chocolate? Are they equally healthy?

• What kind of cocoa is the highest level of flavanol found? What happens to it when cocoa is processed?

• What other foods can flavanols be found?

• Why did researchers study the Kuna Indians of Panama? What did they find when they compared the island population to the mainland population? What accounts for the difference?

• What does the Mars Company hope to do with flavanols someday?

Activities

Chocolate’s phat! Get the skinny on the many possible health benefits of cocoa and chocolate at WebMD Health Search - Cocoa. Ingredients in dark chocolate may help diarrhea, relieve coughs, and repair smokers’ blood vessels. Who needs vitamins!

Oh, fudge! Is it Good for You?, asks the New York Times Learning Network. Students study flavanols and cocoa in depth and compare a new “healthy� chocolate product from Mars Company with other snack foods that claim to be healthy.

A truffling matter. Chocolate: The Exhibition from the Field Museum explores the history of chocolate, its global distribution, and its importance as an economic factor. You’ll learn how cacao is grown and harvested, meet the Aztecs and Mayans, who valued cacao as much as gold, study chocolate facts and fiction, and see how different kinds of chocolate are made. Harvest and process a virtual cacao crop, then make your own candy bars at a virtual chocolate factory. Take the chocolate challenge, solve a crossword puzzle, and try out some delicious recipes.

Chocolate fun-due. You can find links to more fun chocolate sites at One Sweet World: On the Trail of Chocolate. The Worldwide Gourmet, for example, has a fascinating history of chocolate. Did you know that chocolate has different flavors depending on where the beans are grown? Munch on nuggets of information about the great chocolatiers of the world and try your hand at some mouth-watering, gourmet recipes.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

Hear the Program

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