Chocolate Instead of Antibiotics

Chocolate has been found to present various health benefits, related to sex life, mood, blood, heart and brain. And this is not all. "The health benefits of epicatechin, a compound found in cocoa, are so striking that it may rival penicillin and anesthesia in terms of importance to public health," signaled Marina Murphy in Chemistry & Industry.

"Epicatechin is so important that it should be considered a vitamin", said Norman Hollenberg, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Hollenberg has been investigating for many years the benefits of cocoa on the Kuna people, living off Panama shores. The risk of 4 of the 5 most common death-causing conditions (stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes) is dropped to less than 10% in these populations, whose members drink up to 40 cups of cocoa weekly. "If these observations predict the future, then we can say without blushing that they are among the most important observations in the history of medicine. We all agree that penicillin and anesthesia are enormously important. But epicatechin could potentially get rid of 4 of the 5 most common diseases in the western world, how important does that make epicatechin?... I would say very important", said Hollenberg.

"Hollenberg's results, although observational, are so impressive that they may even warrant a rethink of how vitamins are defined. Epicatechin does not currently meet the criteria", said nutrition expert Daniel Fabricant.

Vitamins are chemicals regarded as essential to the normal functioning, metabolism, regulation and growth of cells, the shortage of which triggers various conditions, sometimes severe; but at the moment, epicatechin is not classified as a vitamin. By now, only 13 essential vitamins are known. "The link between high epicatechin consumption and a decreased risk of killer disease is so striking, it should be investigated further. It may be that these diseases are the result of epicatechin deficiency," said Fabricant, vice president scientific affairs at the Natural Products Association.

Flavanols like epicatechin are usually removed for commercial cocoas (employed for making chocolate) because they inflict a bitter taste. Nutritional companies could develop epicatechin supplements or capsules.

Natural cocoa presents high levels of epicatechin, but the compound is also found in teas, wine and some fruits and vegetables.