You can't have missed the headlines over the past few years. Chocolate, dark, decadent, deep chocolate is not only good for the soul, but also rich in antioxidant polyphenols such as procyanidins, epicatechins, and catechins (simillar things are found in blueberries, green tea, and red wine). "Yes, Dr. Kris, this is old news" you say to me. And you're right.
But wait! While wandering the aisles of my local supermarket, an old friend was wearing a shiny new look. Hershey's Special Dark has been reborn along with some stylin' new friends.
The Product
I promise, I'm not getting kickbacks from the folks in PA, nor am I getting discounts at the spa (gosh, that does sound nice though.....but I digress)
Hershey's has redesigned their dark chocolate line with packaging to reflect some of current science. They are not able to make specific health claims on the packaging--which they very nicely don't do. I applaud them as well for coming right out and saying that chocolate is an "indulgent treat". On the large bar that I bought, they provide calories per serving, and also the total for the whole 100g bar. The candies also come in those nifty Hershey's minatures size. Some might argue that the bag of candies is too small for the price, but I say that our indulgent treats shouldn't really be available in jumbo-size.
The Flavors
In addition to the original Special Dark, there's also Extra Dark, Extra Dark with cranberries, blueberries, and almonds, and Extra Dark with macadamia nuts and cranberries.
All of these ingredients contain nutritional fiddly-bits hypothesised to be very good for you, which presumably drives the development and marketing of the new flavors.
I think that the new flavors are simply divine and rather sophisticated.
The Bottom Line
I shouldn't have to tell you this, but the amount of added ingredients such as blueberries and nuts are probably too small to provide any additional nutritional punch on their own. That's fine, I say, since I place more value on my food tasting yummy than on living up to a particular nutritional profile.
Research suggests that dietary sources of antioxidants are good for your health in a way that pills aren't, and the truth is we still know very little about all of the chemical components of our food. I will almost always tell you to get your nutrition from food rather than from supplementation. There are cases where supplements are good and useful things, but I want you eating FOOD darn it.
And here's my usual disclaimer, if you want to eat nummy chocolate, go right ahead, but please have an awareness of your indulgence. If you add a high fat, high calorie food into your diet, out must come something else!