Cioccolata: tutta salute!

via commons

In realtà, più che la cioccolata, è il cacao a essere in un certo senso... salutare! Per esempio, nel 2010, nell'abstract di questo articolo (dal titolo troppo lungo che mi stavo annoiando solo a leggerlo!), troviamo:

In patients with coronary artery disease medically managed according to currently accepted guidelines, we tested whether a 1-month dietary intervention with flavanol-containing cocoa leads to an improvement of endothelial dysfunction and whether this is associated with an enhanced number and function of circulating angiogenic cells.

In un certo senso qualcosa del genere viene confermata anche in Cocoa flavanols: effects on vascular nitric oxide and blood pressure:

Cocoa derived products, rich in flavanols, have been thoroughly studied and demonstrated to be efficient improving endothelial function and decreasing blood pressure in humans and animals.

Come ricorda Science, il cioccolato, però, rpesenta un alto contenuto di grassi che in qualche modo controbilanciano gli effetti positivi del cacao. Nel 2016, però, un gruppo di ricercatori ha sviluppato un sistema che, utilizzando i campi elettrici, ha sviluppato un sistema che ridurrebbe i grassi all'interno della cioccolata:

Chocolate is one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world. Unfortunately, at present, chocolate products contain too much fat, leading to obesity. Although this issue was called into attention decades ago, no actual solution was found. To bypass this critical outstanding problem, two manufacturers introduced some low-calorie fats to substitute for cocoa butter. Somehow, their fats are forbidden in most countries. Here we show that, by applying an electric field to liquid chocolate in the flow direction, we aggregate the suspended particles into prolate spheroids. This microstructure change reduces the viscosity in the flow direction and enables us to reduce the fat level by 10–20%. A new class of healthier and tastier chocolate should come soon.