chocolate milk

Question
How about if you mixed the chocolate milk yourself with cocoa powder?
Does regular cocoa have flavenoids?
Please explain why or why not.
Thanks.
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Followup To

Question -
Hasn't cocoa been advertized as being healthy now and thats why they say the healthiest chocolate is the chocolate that is made mostly from cocoa?
What is the reason they claim cocoa is so healthy?
I'm guessing that in milk though, whatever the benefits are, the cons outweigh the pros.
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Followup To

Question -
HI,
Is chocolate milk made with cocoa actually healthier than milk alone?

Answer -
Hello Jeff!

  Thank you for your nutrition question.  Chocolate milk made from cocoa would not be a healthier choice then milk alone. The biggest case against chocolate milk is that adding any flavoring to milk adds extra sugar and calories to an otherwise healthy drink. Even the newer 'no sugar added' varieties, like the Nesquik Chocolate No Sugar Added brand, has 3g of extra milk sugar and an extra 40 calories. And the more traditional varieties can add up to 18g of sugar and 90 calories per serving, which more than doubles the amount of calories that you would get from just the glass of milk.
Keep in mind that the no sugar added varieties use artificial sweeteners.


Resolution
Although milk is an important drink and an easy way to get calcium and Vitamin D into your diet, it is usually best to drink low fat white milk. Adding chocolate flavoring just gives you unnecessary sugar and calories. If you don't drink plain milk, you might try alternative sources of calcium before jumping to flavoring milk with chocolate.

For more answers to your nutrition questions check out "Ask the Nutritionists" by George Rapitis at www.authorhouse.com or your favorite bookstore.

-George Rapitis, Bsc. Nutritionist
www.juiceblend.com

Answer -
Hello Jeff!

    Thank you for the follow up question.   The cocoa found in dark chocolate has some health benefits however, not in chocolate milk because it is over processed.  There is new evidence of the potential health benefits of an ingredient in dark chocolate.

Several studies have shown flavonoids found in dark chocolate can improve heart health, but new research takes the first look at whether eating dark chocolate can actually lower blood pressure.

Researchers looked at 10 men and 10 women with hypertension and high blood pressure who did not have any other health issues. Half the group ate 3.5 ounces of dark chocolate every day for 15 days. The other half ate the same amount of white chocolate, which has no flavonoids. Then, the two groups switched chocolates for another 15 days.

"What they found was the people who ate the dark chocolate had a decrease in blood pressure," said Alice Lichetenstein, a Tufts University spokeswoman.

Systolic blood pressure dropped 12 points and diastolic fell 9. The group eating white chocolate had no change in blood pressure at all. The results are published in Monday's issue of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

But researchers said the findings don't mean you should add too much dark chocolate to your daily diet.

What the study does show is the potential for flavonoids to decrease blood pressure.

With more research, scientists said flavonoids could some day be isolated and prescribed for patients with high blood pressure and other heart problems without the added calories and fat in chocolate.

-George

Answer
Dear Jeff,

  Yes, plain cocoa does contain flavonoids which can be beneficial to your health. I would recommend adding one or two tablespoons to low fat milk or to a fruit smoothie.  Here is why: Here is another study done with cocoal powder that you might find interesting.

Cocoa Study

In one set of tests, healthy young men drank beverages made from cocoa powder that was high or low in a type of flavonoid called flavonols. Mars supplied the cocoa powder.

Each man tried one of the drinks after an overnight fast. More than two days later, they fasted again and then tried the other drink. Their blood vessels relaxed more after drinking the flavonoid-richer cocoa.

Next, scientists isolated and purified cocoa's flavonols. Some participants got a drink containing those flavonols; others got water without flavonols. Blood vessels were more relaxed after drinking flavonols but not pure water. That finding suggests that those particular flavonols -- not something else in cocoa -- are important, the researchers write.

For more answers to your nutrition questions check out "Ask the Nutritionists" by George Rapitis at www.authorhouse.com or your favorite bookstore.

-George Rapitis, Bsc. Nutritionist
www.juiceblend.com

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