TAKE TWO CHOCOLATES AND CALL ME IN THE MORNING

After Years With A Bad Rap, The Most Delectable Treat Gets Healthier Billing

Chocolate.

Sweet, velvety, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate.

Perhaps no food in the world is more desired than the unique substance
derived from the tropical cacao tree.

Chocolate will be playing its traditional romantic role as a symbol of love
and passion on Valentine's Day this Sunday. The pleasure it brings,
however, is often followed by feelings of guilt and worry about possible
health consequences.

But recent studies are melting old notions that chocolate is an unhealthy
food. Some research shows that chocolate could be the way to a person's
heart in more ways than one.

"Eat chocolate, enjoy it, but just don't go overboard," said Penny M.
Kris-Etherton, distinguished professor of nutrition at Pennsylvania State
University. "Consumers should read the product's nutrition label and watch
the fat calories. But chocolate is a food that's not bad for you and could
even confer some benefits."

Her research has shown that eating milk chocolate does not raise
cholesterol levels. Participants in her studies ate foods high in different
forms of saturated fat, including milk chocolate. Those who consumed
saturated fat in the form of milk chocolate were the only ones who did not
have an increase in their blood cholesterol.

Kris-Etherton said chocolate also appears to prevent cholesterol from being
oxidized, which is an initiating event in the development of
atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque that can lead to clogging of the
arteries.

Research by Dr. Margo Denke, an associate professor of internal medicine at
the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, supports
Kris-Etherton's findings. She and her colleagues found that stearic acid --
a saturated fatty acid found in cocoa butter, a large component of
chocolate does not raise cholesterol levels like most saturated fats.

"Stearic acid is a unique saturated fat in the sense that if you look at
the total saturated fatty acid content of cocoa butter, you definitely
would overestimate its cholesterol-raising potential," Denke said.

She cautioned, however, that eating chocolate in excess -- like with most
foods -- is not good. "The stearic acid finding suggests that chocolate can
easily fit into a heart-healthy diet," Denke said, "with the usual
stipulations that portion sizes and frequency be limited."

Moderation is required because chocolate isn't a completely guilt-free
food. It contains other fats and is high in calories. Denke tells patients
who are on weight-reduction diets that they can have a small portion of
chocolate, such as a couple of Hershey's Kisses, as an occasional treat.
"That is a satisfying way of finishing a meal that is pleasurable and
doesn't make you feel as deprived as you might feel," she said. "And it
always produces a smile."

Phenolic Levels Are High

Researchers at the University of California at Davis recently discovered
that chocolate contains high levels of phenolics -- the same chemicals that
act as anti-oxidants in laboratory tests of red wine.

Andrew L. Waterhouse, a wine chemist at UC-Davis, found that a 1.5-ounce
piece of milk chocolate contains nearly the same amount of phenolics as a
5-ounce glass of red wine. His research also discovered that the phenolic
compounds in chocolate produced an anti-oxidant effect equal to or greater
than that of red wine.

The anti-oxidant effect is believed to be a factor in the so-called "French
paradox," in which Frenchmen who eat lots of saturated fat appear to be
protected from heart disease because they drink wine as part of their daily
diet. Waterhouse, an associate professor of viticulture and enology, said
the theory that dietary phenolics can inhibit atherosclerosis has been
widely accepted as a plausible explanation for wine's effects, but it has
not been proved. He said other researchers at UC-Davis continue to study
chocolate's anti-oxidant effects.

"Chocolate isn't a health food," Waterhouse said, "but the main thing is
that consuming a reasonable amount of chocolate isn't going to hurt you.
There's always a possibility that these phenolics in the chocolate could
actually help reduce heart disease, but it's going to be a little while
before that's established."

In addition to research about the food's possible effects on the heart,
other research in the past few years has found that many of the notions
about chocolate's impact on a variety of health problems may be incorrect.
Recent studies suggest that chocolate:

* Does not promote tooth decay.

* Does not cause or aggravate acne.

* Does not cause hyperactivity in children.

* Does not trigger chronic headaches.

Why Do We Crave It?

While many researchers are examining the health aspects of chocolate,
others are looking into explanations as to why many people crave chocolate.

Although the average annual U.S. consumption of chocolate is nearly 12
pounds a person, scientists agree that the substance is not addictive --
there's no withdrawal related to chocolate as with nicotine, caffeine and
other drugs.

Chocolate contains more than 300 known chemicals. Much of the research into
the reason for the substance's pleasurable effects has focused on whether
any one or a combination of those chemicals might affect desire for the food.

Caffeine is the most well-known of those chemicals, but it is present in
only small quantities in chocolate. A 1.5-ounce milk-chocolate bar contains
about 9 milligrams of caffeine, compared with 137 milligrams of caffeine in
a 5-ounce cup of coffee.

Another weak stimulant in chocolate, theobromine -- which causes fatal
chocolate poisoning in dogs -- also might provide a "lift," along with an
amphetamine-related chemical called phenylethylamine. These stimulants
increase the activity of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters that
might affect a person's desire for different types of food.

Study Gets Continued Attention

One intriguing study about chocolate's chemicals that appeared in the
journal Nature nearly three years ago continues to receive attention.
Daniele Piomelli of the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego reported
chocolate contains substances that might mimic the effects of marijuana.

Piomelli, now an associate professor of pharmacology at the University of
California at Irvine College of Medicine, said chocolate contains small
quantities of anandamide, which is also produced naturally in the brain and
stimulates the same neural receptors that THC -- the principal active
chemical in marijuana -- does. They also found that two ingredients in
chocolate inhibit the natural breakdown of anandamide, which might lead to
increased levels of anandamide in the brain.

Scientists in Italy reported recently, also in the journal Nature, that
cocoa contains no more of the suspect chemicals than milk or oatmeal.
Vincenzo Di Marzo of the Istituto per la Chimica di Molecole di Interesse
Biologico in Naples said most of the marijuana-mimicking chemicals are
broken down in the digestive system before they reach the brain.

Other skeptical researchers have estimated that a 130-pound person would
have to ingest the equivalent of 25 pounds of chocolate in one sitting to
get any marijuana-like effect.

Adam Drewnowski, a professor of epidemiology and director of the
Nutritional Sciences Program at the University of Washington, doesn't think
there is anything addictive in chocolate.

"I don't think there's any evidence that chocolate has any so-called 'love
chemicals' or pharamacological activity," said Drewnowski, who has been
studying why people crave the candy. "It's what your brain manufactures in
response to chocolate. You react with a certain degree of pleasure, and
that is expressed at molecular levels -- the brain probably manufactures
endorphins (natural opiate-like chemicals) in response to chocolate."

Drewnowski said there are "chocoholics," primarily women who identify
themselves as binge eaters. He said the binge eaters crave sugar-fat
mixtures, "and the perfect, quintessential sugar-fat mixture that we have
in our diet is chocolate."

Sensory Properties Figure In

Mindy S. Kurzer, an associate professor of food science and nutrition at
the University of Minnesota, says that women who crave chocolate appear to
do so because of its sensory properties -- its smell, taste and feel in
their mouth, she said.

"Women have much more of a relationship with food," Kurzer said, "and that
is why they are studied much more than men when it comes to foods'
psychological aspects. Men approach food from a much more biological
perspective -- 'I'm hungry, it's time to eat, what's in the refrigerator.'
The sexes are different in so many ways, it should be no surprise that our
food cravings are quite different, too."

A new study suggests that culture may play a role in food cravings.

Debra A. Zellner, a psychologist at Shippensburg University in
Pennsylvania, led a research team that found about 60 percent of American
women crave sweet foods over savory or salty food, while 60 percent of
American men craved salty, meat-containing food. The same percentages were
found in Spanish men and women.

However, when the participants were asked what food they craved, nearly 50
percent of the U.S. women said chocolate along with 20 percent of American
men. But only about 25 percent of both Spanish men and women indicated a
craving for chocolate.

"So it seems that the craving for sweet foods in women might be
physiological, but which sweet foods they crave is determined by cultural
learning," Zellner said.

Scientific research about chocolate -- whether it focuses on cravings or
health effects -- is replacing many of the myths and revising the way we
view the food, said Susan S. Smith, spokeswoman for the Chocolate
Manufacturers Association.

"But more research is needed and the jury is still out about whether
chocolate affects the body in a good way," Smith said. "We're not going to
claim there are any health benefits yet. But as long as it's consumed in
moderation -- and that's the key -- we think it can fit into anybody's
healthy diet and lifestyle."

You can reach Richard L. Hill at 503-221-8238 or by e-mail at
richardhill@news.oregonian.com

[Sidebar:]

The Sweet Facts

- -Source-- Cocoa beans from tropical cacao trees.

History: The ancient Olmec people of southern Mexico were the first to
develop processed chocolate about 3,000 years ago. The later Maya and Aztec
civilizations made food and drink from the cocoa beans, and the beans also
were a form of currency.

Although Christopher Columbus knew about it, the first documented evidence
of chocolate's appearance in Europe was when the Maya presented it to
Prince Philip of Spain in 1544. It eventually spread throughout Europe,
with popular English chocolate houses opening in the late 17th century.

U.S. per capita consumption: 11.7 pounds annually.

U.S. consumption rank: 8th. The Swiss lead with an average of 20.7 pounds,
followed by Austrians at 19.6 pounds.

Total U.S. consumption: 3.2 billion pounds annually.

Ingredients: Chocolate manufacturers use 40 percent of the world's almonds,
20 percent of the world's peanuts and 8 percent of the world's sugar. They
also use 3.5 million pounds of whole milk each day.

Valentine's Day: Americans will spend an estimated $800 million on 36
million boxes of chocolate.

Givers: Half of American women are likely to give chocolate to a man on
Valentine's Day.

Dream giver: Women would most like to receive a box of chocolates from
Michael Jordan (45.5 percent) or Tiger Woods (40.6 percent).

Source- Chocolate Manufacturers Association, National Confectioners
Association