{"id":65,"date":"2011-06-01T09:10:17","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T13:10:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truebeauty\/?p=65"},"modified":"2011-06-01T09:10:17","modified_gmt":"2011-06-01T13:10:17","slug":"chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate \u2013 \u201cSuper Fruit\u201d For Your Skin?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Super Fruits&#8221; have become tremendously popular over the last few years due to their purported health benefits.\u00a0 Super fruits are generally considered to be fruits that are rich in antioxidant compounds, thus providing additional nutritional value beyond their normal macronutrient (protein, carbs, etc) content.\u00a0 Popular super fruits include fruits like blueberries, pomegranates, acai berries, and cranberries among many others.\u00a0 Based on new research from the Hershey Company, cacao seeds should be considered a super fruit and foods containing natural cocoa powder or dark chocolate should be considered &#8220;super foods&#8221; [1].<\/p>\n<p>In this new research study (<a href=\"http:\/\/journal.chemistrycentral.com\/content\/5\/1\/5\" target=\"_blank\"><em><strong>download for free<\/strong><\/em><\/a>), scientists from the Hershey Company analyzed and compared the antioxidant capacity, total polyphenol content, and total flavanol content of cocoa powder (an extract of the cacao seed), dark chocolate, a hot cocoa mix, and various fruit powders\/products.\u00a0 The results of their analysis showed that:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cocoa powder had a substantially higher antioxidant activity than blueberry, pomegranate, and cranberry powders.<\/li>\n<li>Cocoa powder also had a substantially higher total flavanol content than acai, blueberry, cranberry, and pomegranate powders.<\/li>\n<li>On a &#8216;per serving&#8217; basis, dark chocolate had a higher antioxidant capacity than a cocoa beverage as well as acai, blueberry, and cranberry powders.<\/li>\n<li>The total flavanol content on a per serving basis was greater in dark chocolate and a cocoa beverage than any of the fruit powders.<\/li>\n<li>The hot cocoa mix had the lowest antioxidant capacity, total polyphenol content, and total flavanol content of all products tested.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The high amounts of flavanols and other polyphenols as well as the antioxidant capacity of cocoa powder and dark chocolate are thought to be the main reasons for the beauty benefits of cocoa.\u00a0 One recent study reported that women drinking a flavanol-rich (326 mg flavanols) cocoa drink daily for 12 weeks showed firmer and more hydrated skin [2].\u00a0 The women in this study also showed a reduction in skin roughness and increased protection from the effects of the sun.<\/p>\n<p>These studies clearly add to the good press that chocolate has been getting lately.\u00a0 However, it remains important as consumers that we choose wisely and limit our portions when we choose chocolate products.\u00a0 Many chocolate products are high in fat and calories, so should be consumed sparingly.<\/p>\n<p>Also, it is critical to select foods that use these minimally processed ingredients, as these are the ones that retain their antioxidant capacity.\u00a0 More heavily processed products like the hot cocoa mix tested in this newest study, have little antioxidant capacity because the polyphenols are destroyed by the processing (typically alkalinization or Dutch processing).<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800000\"><em><strong>Remember that our true beauty starts inside!<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Please \u201c<strong>LIKE<\/strong>\u201d the Facebook\u00ae button, email questions to <a href=\"mailto:Doc@DrTabor.com\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Doc@DrTabor.com<\/strong><\/a>, and post a Comment.<\/p>\n<p>Healthy Regards,<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truebeauty\/files\/2011\/04\/AaronSignatureSma.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/238\/2011\/04\/AaronSignatureSma-300x141.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"154\" height=\"72\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Tabor, MD<br \/>\nDiet, Anti-Aging, and Nutritional Cosmetic Expert<\/p>\n<p>Author of Dr. Tabor\u2019s Diet and FIGHT NOW: Eat &amp; Live Proactively Against Breast Cancer.<br \/>\nLearn more about Dr. Tabor\u2019s diet and anti-aging research at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.drtabor.com\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>www.DrTabor.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>References:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>[1]\u00a0 Crozier SJ, et al.\u00a0 Cacao seeds are a \u201cSuper Fruit\u201d: a comparative analysis of various fruit powders and products.\u00a0 Chemistry Central Journey 2011; 5:5; doi: 10.1186\/1752-153x-5-5.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>[2]\u00a0 Heinrich U, et al.\u00a0 Long-term ingestion of high flavanol cocoa provides photoprotection against UV-induced erythema and improves skin condition in women.\u00a0 Journal of Nutrition 2006; 136:1565-1569.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Super Fruits&#8221; have become tremendously popular over the last few years due to their purported health benefits.\u00a0 Super fruits are generally considered to be fruits that are rich in antioxidant compounds, thus providing additional nutritional value beyond their normal macronutrient (protein, carbs, etc) content.\u00a0 Popular super fruits include fruits like blueberries, pomegranates, acai berries, and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":394,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[44,9,47,46,48,49,50,31,30,51],"class_list":["post-65","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anti-aging","category-beauty-tips","tag-antioxidant","tag-beauty","tag-chocolate","tag-cocoa","tag-dark-chocolate","tag-flavanols","tag-polyphenols","tag-skin-hydration","tag-skin-roughness","tag-super-fruit"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chocolate \u2013 \u201cSuper Fruit\u201d For Your Skin? - True Beauty Starts Inside<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chocolate \u2013 \u201cSuper Fruit\u201d For Your Skin? - True Beauty Starts Inside\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&#8220;Super Fruits&#8221; have become tremendously popular over the last few years due to their purported health benefits.\u00a0 Super fruits are generally considered to be fruits that are rich in antioxidant compounds, thus providing additional nutritional value beyond their normal macronutrient (protein, carbs, etc) content.\u00a0 Popular super fruits include fruits like blueberries, pomegranates, acai berries, and&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"True Beauty Starts Inside\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-01T13:10:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truebeauty\/files\/2011\/04\/AaronSignatureSma-300x141.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Aaron Tabor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chocolate \u2013 \u201cSuper Fruit\u201d For Your Skin? - True Beauty Starts Inside","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chocolate \u2013 \u201cSuper Fruit\u201d For Your Skin? - True Beauty Starts Inside","og_description":"&#8220;Super Fruits&#8221; have become tremendously popular over the last few years due to their purported health benefits.\u00a0 Super fruits are generally considered to be fruits that are rich in antioxidant compounds, thus providing additional nutritional value beyond their normal macronutrient (protein, carbs, etc) content.\u00a0 Popular super fruits include fruits like blueberries, pomegranates, acai berries, and&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html","og_site_name":"True Beauty Starts Inside","article_published_time":"2011-06-01T13:10:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truebeauty\/files\/2011\/04\/AaronSignatureSma-300x141.png"}],"author":"Dr. Aaron Tabor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html","name":"Chocolate \u2013 \u201cSuper Fruit\u201d For Your Skin? - True Beauty Starts Inside","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truebeauty\/files\/2011\/04\/AaronSignatureSma-300x141.png","datePublished":"2011-06-01T13:10:17+00:00","dateModified":"2011-06-01T13:10:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/#\/schema\/person\/eafcd989936ed236347db70013b35d65"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truebeauty\/files\/2011\/04\/AaronSignatureSma-300x141.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/truebeauty\/files\/2011\/04\/AaronSignatureSma-300x141.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/2011\/06\/chocoloate-super-fruit-for-your-skin.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chocolate \u2013 \u201cSuper Fruit\u201d For Your Skin?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/","name":"True Beauty Starts Inside","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Dr. Aaron Tabor","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/#\/schema\/person\/eafcd989936ed236347db70013b35d65","name":"Dr. Aaron Tabor","description":"About Aaron Tabor, MD Dr. Tabor graduated from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and then devoted his career to helping people start living a life they love through clinically tested beauty, weight loss, and anti-aging product solutions. He is the author of Dr. Tabor's Slim &amp; Beautiful Diet and FIGHT NOW: Eat &amp; Live Proactively Against Breast Cancer. Dr. Tabor\u2019s diet clients have appeared on numerous national magazine covers, and he is frequently quoted as a beauty, diet and anti-aging expert. The National Institutes of Health has funded Dr. Tabor\u2019s medical research. His work with leading hospitals and experts include nutritional cosmetics for younger-looking skin, hair, and nails; anti-wrinkle and wound-healing gene therapy drugs; weight loss and low-glycemic index benefits; anti-breast cancer diet; heart disease risk reduction; pain relief; and, menopause relief. Dr. Tabor created the Slim &amp; Beautiful Diet\u00ae to help his mom Suzanne cope with the health challenges of midlife, including an expanding waistline. The dramatic turnaround he witnessed in his mom\u2019s health made him passionate about helping others with natural anti-aging solutions. Over 1 million women have already trusted Dr. Tabor for better nutrition and health education, and thousands of doctors have recommended his products. He educates other physicians about diet and lifestyle research as the Diet &amp; Alternative Medicine Section Editor for The Journal of Medicine. He has authored numerous books, papers, and patents in the fields of medicine and nutrition. His recent book Nutritional Cosmetics: Beauty from Within is the first medical textbook on \u201cinside-out makeover\u201d science\u2014foods and supplements to make you look younger from the inside out. Dr. Tabor is also the Founder of Gene Facelift, a Johns Hopkins' biotech spin-off, developing anti-wrinkle drugs. Gene Facelift\u2019s drug technology is designed to boost damaged skin DNA in order to heal wrinkles and reverse the aging process. Dr. Tabor appears regularly on the QVC home shopping channel with his Slim &amp; Beautiful Diet\u00ae line. You can try Dr. Tabor\u2019s Slim &amp; Beautiful Diet\u00ae, including his new Beauty Shakes and Gorgeous Roses\u2122 Beauty Vitamin for younger-looking skin, hair, and nails at www.QVC.com. Learn more about Dr. Tabor\u2019s research at www.DrTabor.com and join his Facebook\u00ae page at www.Facebook.com\/DrTaborDiet His academic memberships include: The Johns Hopkins Medical and Surgical Association American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine American Medical Association American Heart Association American Diabetes Association Men Against Breast Cancer National Consortium of Breast Centers North American Menopause Society Advisory Committee for Biotechnology in the Piedmont Triad","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/author\/atabor"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/394"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65\/revisions\/69"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/truebeauty\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}