Suffice it to say, chocolate is all the rage this time of the year since it's already Valentine’s Day next week. Chocolates have always had a track record of being a delectable treat yet considered as a no-no food, especially with the figure-conscious. In the present day, studies have revealed that chocolate turns out to have a handful of nutritional benefits and is not conclusively a food taboo.

Regardless of the fact that chocolate contains saturated fat, scientific studies indicate that consumption of chocolate does not have any influence on the level of  cholesterol in your blood. This is possible for the reason that not every saturated fat is the same. The fat found in chocolate is derived from cocoa butter, the natural fat present in cocoa beans.

More or less, 36% of cocoa bean fat is deemed "good fat", be it monosaturated or polyunsaturated fat, and oleic acid accounts for the biggest percentage. Among the saturated fat that cocoa butter contains, more than 50% stems from stearic acid. Stearic acid is proven in a number of studies to have a fairly neutral influence over cholesterol in the blood.

The key reason may very well be that stearic acid is converted from a saturated fat to an unsaturated fat after being metabolized in the liver. Numerous studies have shown that cocoa is one of the richest sources of stearic acid in the food that we usually eat. You can easily get about 500 mg of stearic acid by consuming a bar of chocolate. On the other hand, a dietary supplement generally consists of between 1% - 2% stearic acid or 10 mg - 20 mg of stearic acid for every capsule, or 1000 mg to 2000 mg for each bottle, that’s between 20% - 40% of a chocolate bar for the whole bottle!

Stearic acid can also be commonly present in our typical food supply such as beef, chicken, fish, grains, eggs, butter, and certain dairy products. In meat, it can be 1/3 of the saturated fat. The average consumption of stearic acid in American women on a daily basis is 5700 mg, and 8400 mg in men.

Your chocolate cravings aren’t so bad after all. Just always remember to keep your chocolate intake at a moderate level and stick to dark chocolate as much as you possibly can.

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Joanna Maligaya

Staff Writer/Content Developer at Chocolate University Online

Ever since she can remember, Joanna has always considered chocolate as the ultimate food for her soul. She believes in the saying, “9 out of 10 people love chocolate, and the 10th always lies.”

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