Chocolate Facts

There are many types of chocolate and each type has a distinctive flavor and color. Indeed, almost everyone knows chocolate, but few people know how chocolate changed from the first cocoa bean factory to the last item on the market. During the manufacturing process, the combination of mixed ingredients determines what type of chocolate will be produced. Cocoa solids in chocolate give a special flavor to the chocolate. Chocolate with a lot of cocoa solids is usually dark in color and a distinctive flavor.

A wide range of chocolate is available in the market, ranging from various shapes and flavors. The first type of chocolate to discuss is dark chocolate . As the name implies, dark chocolate is a dark brown type of chocolate. This color is due to the high content of cocoa solids in this type of chocolate, which is 35 percent or more. The main components of dark chocolate are cocoa, fat, and sugar solids (1). The higher the cocoa is, the less fat and sugar are added. This causes chocolate to have a bittersweet flavor and its consistency is not soft (2).

Milk chocolate is the type of chocolate that most berebdar on the market. This type of chocolate has a lighter color and taste sweeter than dark chocolate . In the making, there is a reduction of cocoa solids and milk feeding which results in a softer texture and flavor (3) and the color becomes light brown. Components used are cocoa solids, cocoa butter , sugar, and inflammation is also given vanilla flavor (1). If the fat used is not fat from milk or cocoa, for example from vegetable oil, then the product can not be called chocolate or milk chocolate . Usually products that use fat substitutes like this have the label "made with chocolate".

Next is the white chocolate chocolate type . White chocolate is unique because it is not made by using cocoa solids so it is not brown. White chocolate contains sugar, milk, and cocoa butter (4). Cocoa butter is a fat obtained from cocoa beans. Cocoa butter is a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fats that have a carbon length of 20 to 16, this makes a soft white chocolate texture (2). According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), white chocolate contains up to 55 percent sugar, cocoa fat more than or equal to 20 percent, and milk fat more than or equal to 3.5 percent (5).

This one food is much believed to improve the mood is not good, so chocolate is known as a friend in times of stress. However, much of the information circulating about chocolate has the opposite effect to make the psychological state of mankind worse. Confusion about the effects of chocolate on health is also a widespread issue. So, which one is right?

In a medical context, stress is a physical, mental, or emotional condition that can cause a person's physical or mental stress. Causes of stress can be due to external and internal factors (1). Stress can cause various responses from the body, ranging from increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, tense muscles, to hormonal changes. Hormones that play a role during stress include cortisol, norephinephrine, and adrenaline. Then what is the role of chocolate in a stressful condition?

There are various types of chocolate circulating in the market. For solid chocolate itself, which we often hear there is milk chocolate, dark chocolate , and white chocolate . What distinguishes the three types of chocolate is from the composition of the constituent material. This difference in constituent material must have a different impact on the human body. Of the three types of solid chocolate mentioned, dark chocolate is a variant that contains the highest cocoa. The amount of its own content varies from product to product, from 35 percent to 100 percent. Cocoa contains flavonoid antioxidants, one type of antioxidant class of polyphenols. In addition, cocoa is also rich in epchiquin, catechins, and prosianidin (2).

Flavonoids, based on several studies, can lower blood pressure. So by consuming flavonoids, rising blood pressure in stress conditions can go down. The consumption of dark chocolate is also shown to decrease the stress hormones cortisol and epinephrine (3), although clear mechanisms do not yet exist. It should be underlined that the role of the stress hormones, is not limited to affect the bad mood . The condition of severe stress on a person also not only affects the mood . Many things are more complex than that. Studies of the literature even discussed many stressful associations with diseases such as angina pectoris, atherosclerosis , stroke, and even cancer (3,4).

Cortisol itself has a role in energy metabolism. Cortisol stimulates the conversion of amino acids and other substrates into glucose in the liver and helps the breakdown of proteins in order to increase blood sugar levels (5). Increased levels of this actual sugar need to watch out for. Chocolate is sold to the community mostly is the type of chocolate that has been processed in such a way, so that the chocolate products are high in sugar and flavonoid levels down. A journal discusses the comparison of the catechin phenol content of chocolate processed products, the result in milk chocolate is 15-16 mg / 100 g, 48-137 mg / 100 g in dark chocolate, and 296-327 mg / 100g in cocoa powder (6 ).

So, actually if chocolate becomes our friend in times of stress. It's just the selection of the type of chocolate we should consider. Dark chocolate that contains high flavonoids is the right choice because of its good effect for your body, also your mood. Be a careful consumer by paying attention to food content. In choosing chocolate, choose chocolate with a high cacao content which means having more flavonoids.