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Even small children know that chocolate is a delicacy, which can be savored on special occasions. But the “dark” variety, which contains more cocoa, is considered healthier and even health-enhancing. It has been suggested that dark chocolate can reduce all kinds of problems from high blood pressure to depression while improving mental acuity. Several studies, often paid for by Big Chocolate, indicate that this may be true. Sadly, the best research rejects this idea.
The purported benefits of dark chocolate are thought to be due to compounds called flavanols, which are especially abundant in cocoa. In randomized controlled trials (gold-standard type of studies) researchers have looked at the health effects of flavanol-containing capsules as well as the consumption of flavanol-rich foods such as cocoa products, coffee, tea, berries, grapes, and apples. Some trials have found beneficial effects, for example on blood pressure. But overall results have been inconsistent. Furthermore, these trials typically last only a few weeks, so they may not reflect the results of continued consumption.
Observational studies, which ask about diet rather than prescribe it, have sometimes found that people who eat more flavanols from a variety of foods, or especially from dark chocolate, are healthier. (For example, they are less likely to develop diabetes.) But such individuals may also have other things going for them—for example, higher incomes that allow them to buy expensive things like dark chocolate. Research published in 2024 found that people who ate a lot of dark chocolate were less likely to smoke than those who ate less.
A large randomized trial called COSMOS, established in 2015 in the US, aimed to address these shortcomings. It measured the effects of a daily cocoa-extract supplement containing 500 mg of cocoa flavanols. (To achieve that dose you would need to eat 50 grams or half a bar and 280 grams of dark chocolate, depending on its flavanol concentration.) The participants, who were 60 years of age or older, took the capsules for an average of 3.6 years. Flavonols made no difference to the rates of new cases of diabetes, heart attacks and strokes, cancer or serious circulatory problems such as cognition. However, it reduced deaths from heart disease by 27%.
Sadly, this positive result is not proof that dark chocolate is heart healthy. Getting 500 mg of flavanols from it means consuming a lot of sugar, which is added extensively by manufacturers to counter the bitterness of cocoa. It also means consuming half (for men) or 70% (for women) of the recommended daily maximum of saturated fats, which are harmful to the heart because they increase artery-clogging cholesterol. A better option for adding cocoa flavanols to your diet may be cocoa powder or ground cocoa beans (often called nibs). However, all told the healthiest flavanol-boosting strategy is to eat more fruits, vegetables, nuts and beans – and get the kettle on.
Two apples, a portion of nuts and a large amount of strawberries provide about 500 mg of flavanols. So drink two to three cups of green tea. If you decide to treat yourself to some chocolate from time to time, don’t be afraid to look for the darkest chocolate you can find. Some very dark chocolates contain very little flavanols, while some milky varieties contain very high amounts of flavanols. Sadly for chocoholics, the health claims about dark chocolate come from wishful thinking and slick marketing, not the findings of science.
© 2025, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under license. Original content can be found at www.economist.com
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