Dark Chocolate: A Delicious Path to Better Health

In this podcast episode, Dr. Rodney and Karen discuss the impressive health benefits of dark chocolate. 

Dark chocolate, high in flavonoids, offers anti-aging properties, supports cardiovascular health, and improves the lipid profile when consumed regularly. It also aids in blood glucose management, enhances gut health through prebiotic fibers, and elevates mood by stimulating polyphenols. 

While it could improve brain function by promoting better blood flow, it's crucial to choose chocolate with at least 70% cocoa. 

However, moderation is key as dark chocolate is calorie-dense and can contain caffeine that might disrupt sleep patterns. 

Podcast about seed oils.

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Transcript

Dark Chocolate: A Delicious Path to Better Health

[00:07] Dr. Rodney: Welcome to Stance for Health podcast with Dr. Rodney and Karen Wirth where becoming healthy is not complicated. Control your health by focusing on six areas of life that we teach you so you finally have the energy you have to do what you want instead of being a victim of your age.

[00:27] I have over 20 years experience working as a chiropractor and Karen is an author, speaker and longevity coach. We've seen how a tiny change in your habits today can open up your life to a powerful future. Start today and take your Stance for Health.

[00:50] Karen: We are so glad you joined us today. We are going to share something that is so fun. I'll tell you a secret. It's our secret weapon to stay on a longevity, cancer fighting way of eating. It's dark chocolate and it is an acquired taste. But we have acquired it and found one that we love and we enjoy it at the end of the day pretty much the two meals that we do eat.

[01:23] I had no idea that it had so many health benefits. And that's what we want to share today, the health benefits of dark chocolate.

[01:33] Dr. Rodney: What I love about flavonoids is that they're good for anti aging. The source of anti aging is typically antioxidants. What do you think of when you think of oxidation? Let's just say rust your body. Rust.

[01:47] Karen: Oh, that's good.

[01:48] Dr. Rodney: Okay. So it's one of the things that helps to keep your blood vessels from oxidizing or the cells related your blood vessels from oxidizing. So along with that is when you think of oxidation in the body, instead of it being rust, think of it as being almost like scarring. It almost looks like a scar type of material.

[02:08] Karen: Well, that makes sense. That would definitely protect the heart health.

[02:12] Dr. Rodney: Yeah.

[02:12] Karen: And it also can relax the blood vessels and lower inflammation.

[02:17] Dr. Rodney: That's really interesting because if you do relax muscles that want to be relaxed and be in that status, rest and digest in a fight or flight, they're resting when they should rest.

[02:28] Karen: I like that. And once again, just a disclaimer before we get to the end is we are not talking about milk chocolate here. That's not your candy bar necessarily. The higher level of the flavonols, the lower the sugarand that's the other thing that we like so much about it is that we mainly eat a 70% one.

[02:53] Dr. Rodney: Really?

[02:54] Dr. Rodney: That's the cutoff point, isn't it? Yes, we'd say cutoff meaning like where it starts to reach maximum benefit.

[03:02] Karen: If you have anything lower than 70, then that's not going to work. So the other part that ties into this is it may improve the lipid profile. This is the tough part. You have to eat it daily for six months.

[03:18] Dr. Rodney: Oh, no, not six months.

[03:20] Karen: It will improve.

[03:21] Dr. Rodney: Everybody's like, I have a reason to eat chocolate for six months.

[03:26] Karen: Cholesterol and triglycerides level.

[03:28] Dr. Rodney: There you go. That would answer most of our questions that we have about fat profile or lipid profile.

[03:33] Karen: Exactly, exactly.

[03:34] Dr. Rodney: So in other words, another thing it could actually do is help encourage hdl, perhaps lower your ldl, or at least bring that into a better ratio of total cholesterol to HDL ratio.

[03:47] Karen: Wow. It's getting better and better. So it may lower diabetes risk.

[03:52] Dr. Rodney: Tell me more.

[03:53] Karen: Well, so they found in the research that they did that people that were eating the dark chocolate daily had improved fasting, blood glucose levels and insulin resistance. It will help you with that.

[04:08] Now, I like this next one a lot. Good for your good gut buddies.

[04:12] Dr. Rodney: That's where we kick into the difference between pre and probiotics.

[04:18] So this is a prebiotic. It doesn't have microorganisms in it. Basically, it has more fiber in it the higher you go in the amount of cocoa. Higher fiber means that you may not digest it, but the gut buddies do.

[04:33] Karen: Exactly. And so what happens with that is it helps with that gut diversity and can help with problems with leaky gut. And we've talked about that. I can put the link in the notes below. But your gut microbiome is so important.

[04:55] Now, the other thing is it can help improve your mood.

[04:58] Dr. Rodney: Oh, now who doesn't want that? Isn't that like a primary reason why most people eat chocolate in the first place?

[05:07] Karen: Oh, yeah. But I mean, I'm thinking more like a chocolate shake. That's not what we're talking about, is it? I mean, because some people say, oh, yeah.

[05:16] Dr. Rodney: First thing that comes to mind instead of eating chocolate is like, maybe even chocolate cake or chocolate ice cream.

[05:23] Karen: Yes. So this is the difference.

[05:27] Dr. Rodney: Sorry, couldn't resist.

[05:30] Karen: That is what we've been conditioned to do. But there is a scientific reason of what happens with why it improves your mood.

[05:40] Dr. Rodney: Okay, so polyphenols. And that's when you start getting into the 85% dark chocolate. Their mood was maintained at a higher level, but that's 85%. I don't know if I want to be that serious about it. But 70% still makes a difference, right?

[05:58] Karen: Yes. At the 85 to 90%, you are eating a teeny bit and drinking a lot of water. It almost feels more like medicine, almost like bitter. It is Very bitter.

[06:12] Dr. Rodney: Yeah.

[06:13] Karen: So I just said, okay, these are expensive candy bars, chocolate that we're getting. And so I said, oh, I'm going to save money. I'm going to get a hundred percent baking. And I couldn't handle it.

[06:25] Dr. Rodney: Right.

[06:25] Karen: But 85%, I'm going to look for it.

[06:28] Dr. Rodney: Do you mind if I use a metaphor?

[06:29] Karen: I would love it.

[06:30] Dr. Rodney: Okay, so we've talked a little bit about or alluded to DMSO, right?

[06:37] Karen: Yes.

[06:37] Dr. Rodney: Dimethyl sulfoxide. Okay. So the difference between the higher percent of a percentage of DMSO and the one that we were introduced to is about 30%. You can get 99% pure DMSO in a gel formula. We have that. There are people that dries their skin and they have this itchy feel to it.

[07:00] That's kind of what we're talking about here in the terms of the difference between the chocolate that's at 70% and the 100%, it's that dryness. It's. There's. It's like almost like a drying agent. And so you may have to work your way up even to 70% before you start to enjoy it.

[07:19] Karen: That's true. I think, like I said in the beginning, it is an acquired taste. But now that we're seeing that, this is helping with your gut brain connection, the microbiome, it's also helping with stress relief. And that's the polyphenols.

[07:38] Dr. Rodney: And so it has a tendency to stimulate epinephrine and it'll help relieve adrenaline stress. There's this axis between the adrenals and the hypothalamus. It helps to relax that status so your body gets into less of a stress fight or flight mode. And that's a good thing. We want to encourage that.

[07:58] Karen: Yes.

[08:00] And improved brain function. So that goes back to the flavonoids in the cocoa because they help protect the neurons and enhance cognitive function due to increased blood flow to the brain.

[08:15] So the intense flavor may also be helpful because some of the things that happen with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's is that you're no longer tasting and smelling the food.

[08:31] Let's talk about this next one. How does it help you have a stronger immune system?

[08:38] Dr. Rodney: I think of anytime you can help cellular function, you're helping the body at its most basic level, most likely the mitochondria. So anytime you can help to repair what's being broken down, you're increasing that cell life and autophagy, the ability of that cell to die gracefully.

[08:56] Karen: Basically, we have a link to a podcast on that.

[08:58] Dr. Rodney: So antioxidants. In other words, another way to say that that cell either dies gracefully or lives up for its intended purpose. Increasing mitochondria ATP production. Anytime you can do that, that's a good thing. So any cell then that's related. In your body, it's like taking aspirin. You're not just affecting the place that's hurting, you're affecting the whole body.

[09:23] You're not just helping that the local area, you're helping the whole system. So chocolate's the same way. Go figure, right? So you're going to help the immune system.

[09:32] Karen: I love this so much.

[09:33] Dr. Rodney: We've already helped the cardiovascular system, but let's help the immune system too. Why not? I love that.

[09:40] Karen: And we have been talking also about how movement and being able to continue to move as we get older is so important. Did you know that dark chocolate actually can raise the nitric oxide level in the blood?

[09:57] Dr. Rodney: You're probably thinking, well, nitrous oxide is not the best thing for us, right? But neither is CO2. It's a stimulant in your body to do the right thing at the right time. It's almost like holding your breath, like doing breath holds. All of a sudden the body starts to make more of itself to do what it takes to handle the greater levels of stress. You're giving your body greater variability.

[10:22] Karen: And what helps that so much is it relaxes the blood vessels and improves blood flow, which we already talked about the heart. But it also can lower blood pressure and you need less oxygen when you're exercising. And it basically helps you to continue to want to move longer because motion is lotion. It's really wonderful.

[10:44] Now here's another one. It has important minerals: Iron, magnesium, zinc,] copper, phosphorus.

[10:55] And that's how it's sourced. You have to be very careful because that's one of the negatives you've got to watch out for in how yours is sourced and that it is sourced well. But all of these are going to help you because we are living in a time when we're not getting the minerals that we need for everything. For our bones, for our teeth and magnesium for our sleep.

[11:23] Dr. Rodney: You know, some fruits, some vegetables and things like that can look really good, but they can be nutrient poor.

[11:30] They can look good on the outside. It's almost like clouds without rain for some of these vegetables and fruits. But when it comes to dark chocolate, what we're saying is, depending on how it's sourced, dark means better and the darker, the better. Yes, that's what it translates to, I like it.

[11:48] Karen: Now, one of the things that's really nice, too, is if you are limiting dairy, this is why you want to stay away from the milk chocolate. Dark chocolate doesn't have dairy in it.

[12:00] You had already mentioned that it's high in fiber.

[12:05] And that's what I love.

[12:07] Because now we're not talking about.

[12:11] We buy these candy bars that have these.

[12:15] Are those 1oz squares? We'll have to measure it.

[12:18] Dr. Rodney: That's a good question. I. I need to look into that.

[12:20] Karen: But the fun part about this is that we just eat one of those and that is giving us four grams of fiber.

[12:30] So that is really an amazing thing that something this good is helping us.

[12:37] You're going to love this one.

[12:39] You talked about it in your reel yesterday. Because it actually has antioxidants that improve the blood flow to your skin and protect your skin from sun damage.

[12:55] Dr. Rodney: Okay. So case in point, and it's purely a story. We've been eating this chocolate Longer than six months.

[13:02] Karen: Yeah, at least a year.

[13:04] Dr. Rodney: At least a year. Obviously, there's other things in our diet that's different. We don't do seed oils at all.

[13:09] Karen: None.

[13:10] Dr. Rodney: We're looking for food that the animal wasn't fed seed.

[13:15] Karen: But you used to burn anytime you were out.

[13:18] Dr. Rodney: Oh, my goodness. If I went outside for half an hour early in the spring, after being essentially cooped up inside, I lost a lot of tan, and so I had to get it all back. Oftentimes what would happen is the very first exposure to sun and its brightness at its peak, I would burn. Wow.

[13:38] Karen: That cool.

[13:39] Dr. Rodney: Didn't happen. Didn't happen. This year. I was out for well over an hour in the direct sun at the peak of the day. Yep.

[13:46] Karen: So all of these good things. Yeah, There are some downsides.

[13:50] Dr. Rodney: I was thinking about that. I wondered too, if there is like a point of diminishing return. In other words, you.

[13:56] Karen: I've not heard that. I think you can eat too much. It's very high in fat, very, very high in calories. And so you've got to limit what you eat. And that's might not be hard because the bitter taste is an acquired taste.

[14:11] Dr. Rodney: Right. Sometimes we want more than one in a single sitting, but that's pretty rare.

[14:16] Karen: Well, and recently we were having trouble sleeping. And our favorite flavor is hazelnut coffee. So it not only has the chocolate, but it has some coffee.

[14:27] Dr. Rodney: And it's almost like a coffee bean. Right.

[14:30] Dr. Rodney: There's like crunch to a coffee. It's like that.

[14:32] Karen: It was a Little bit more difficult to go to sleep. For our dinner meal, dessert, we decided then that we would use a different one. It made a difference. And so it does have caffeine, but far less than a cup of coffee. But if you are struggling with sleep, you might not want to eat it late in the day.

[14:54] If people have heartburn or acid reflux, it can make it worse.

[15:01] If you're wanting to keep your weight down, it could be a way for it to go up.

[15:07] So what's the recommended dark chocolate serving size?

[15:14] One after lunch and one after dinner.

[15:17] And basically, it is so satisfying.

[15:22] Dr. Rodney: It is.

[15:22] Karen: It's a good topper.

[15:25] I am what's called a "savie baby." It's from my childhood. I learned to just take one little bitty bitty bite and put it back. And then. So that's how I treat this. Doc just shoves the whole thing in his mouth.

[15:40] Dr. Rodney: It's a flavor rush. It's a rush of flavors.

[15:43] Karen: Yes. So either way, whatever works for you. But for me, what works is a little bitty bite. I drink some water, or if I really want to accentuate it, I just let it melt in my mouth.

[15:54] Dr. Rodney: Kind of the difference between a drinking a cup of coffee, a tumbler full, or maybe like a espresso.

[16:02] Karen: Exactly.

[16:03] But what that does is it really hits that satiety center. It just ends up putting the bow on a beautiful day of eating. We've eaten well, and it's the great end to a meal.

[16:19] Yeah, you're satisfied. And that's really goes back to. The main thing is to practice moderation with this.

[16:28] Dr. Rodney: Kind of already alluded to this next one here as an acquired taste. Because you think about a lot of people don't want something that's bitter. They don't want to eat bitters.

[16:39] Karen: And bitters are so good for us. Maybe that's one of the things I hadn't thought about. So you want to work up to it. One way that this happens is, is as you begin to eliminate sugar from your way of eating and processed food, your taste buds seem to wake up. And so that's one of the things. Just try a little bit and just keep trying, because the benefits are incredible.

[17:08] Dr. Rodney: Yeah. Yeah.

[17:10] Karen: So this is what we want you to come away with after this podcast is that when you make the decision to change how you eat because you want to live a long time, you want to be healthier, and you're saying, oh, but I'm craving all these different things. We just had a family gathering for Mother's Day, and they were all eating their desserts and I pulled out one of these and handed his square to him for the day, for the supper or the dinner. No need to eat any of the things that used to call to me.

[17:48] Dr. Rodney: I don't chew gum anymore, but it reminded me of my grandma. It was the how special it was to receive a half a piece of gum.

[17:58] And it was almost like she was breaking out the hundred dollar bill.

[18:01] Karen: She was a "savie baby."

[18:03] Dr. Rodney: She was the youngest as far as I remember. And, so it was like that. So if you have memories like that, this may help foster that and begin to think of things like this as another tidbit to help you take your Stance for Health.

[18:19] That's what we want to continue to do. That's the purpose of these things. So if you like what we're doing here and you want someone just remind you, just, hey, share it with somebody. This is the greatest thing since dark chocolate.

[18:35] Karen: Yes.

[18:35] Dr. Rodney: I've really enjoyed this episode with you.

[18:38] Karen: It's so fun and that's what we want to make it because we want to help you take your stance, take.

[18:45] Dr. Rodney: Your Stance for Hhealth. I'll talk to you next time.

[18:51] Dr. Rodney: Thank you for joining us at Stance for Health podcast, where getting healthy and staying that way are not as complicated as you might think.

[18:59] Subscribe now and discover steps and small changes that can increase your energy and open the door to vibrant health and longevity. If this podcast has been helpful, please write a review. We'll see you next time.