5大巧克力神話

5大巧克力神話

The Latin name for the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, means “food of the gods,” and it does seem that the fruit of the tree and its delicious derivatives are indeed fit for the deities.

可可樹的拉丁名是Theobroma cacao，意思是“眾神的食物”，這種樹的果實及其美味的衍生物似乎確實適合神靈食用。

Chocolate has long been the bad guy in our ongoing health narrative, but that's not the whole story. (Photo: Africa Studio/Shutterstock)

Both the Mayans and Aztecs believed the cacao bean had magical and divine attributes, appropriate for service in even the most sacred rituals of birth, marriage and death. By the 17th century, chocolate in drinking form was a fashionable quaff for the European elite, who believed it to have nutritious, medicinal and aphrodisiac properties. It’s been said that Casanova was especially enamored by its charms.

瑪雅人和阿茲特克人都相信可可豆有魔力和神圣的屬性，甚至在最神圣的出生、婚姻和死亡儀式上都適合用來服務(wù)。到了17世紀，巧克力飲料已經(jīng)成為歐洲精英們的時尚飲品，他們認為巧克力有營養(yǎng)、藥用和壯陽的功效。據(jù)說卡薩諾瓦特別迷戀它的魅力。

And the love affair has yet to wane. The chocolate market is a more than $17 billion industry in the United States alone, and the average American eats at least half a pound of the confectionery every month.

他們的戀情還沒有結(jié)束。僅在美國，巧克力市場的規(guī)模就超過170億美元，平均每個美國人每月至少吃掉半磅巧克力。

But chocolate is a funny thing. In recent years it has become the darling of nutritionists as health benefit after health benefit has been revealed — most notably that it lowers the risk of stroke and heart attacks. And a study in Denmark published in BMJ Heart shows that eating a small amount of chocolate every week or two lowers the risk of atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm. Yet, it’s long been the character actor bad guy in any number of scenarios, including acne, weight gain and high cholesterol.

但是巧克力是一個有趣的東西。近年來，它已經(jīng)成為營養(yǎng)學(xué)家的寵兒，因為它對健康的益處已經(jīng)被揭示——最顯著的是它降低了中風和心臟病發(fā)作的風險。發(fā)表在《英國醫(yī)學(xué)雜志心臟》(BMJ Heart)上的一項丹麥研究表明，每周或兩周吃少量巧克力可以降低心房顫動(一種不規(guī)則的心律)的風險。然而，長期以來，它一直是各種場景中的壞人，包括粉刺、體重增加和高膽固醇。

But is chocolate’s bad reputation warranted? Should we embrace it as a miracle food, or shun it as a deleterious delight? Here's the dope on chocolate's most notorious myths.

但是巧克力的壞名聲有保證嗎?我們應(yīng)該把它當作一種神奇的食物來接受，還是把它當作一種有害的樂趣來回避?以下是巧克力最臭名昭著的秘密。

Chocolate isn't loaded with caffeine, contrary to popular belief. A chocolate candy bar can contain around 30 milligrams of caffeine, while a medium coffee has around 320 milligrams. (Photo: Tobias Arhelger/Shutterstock)

1. Chocolate raises bad cholesterol

巧克力會增加有害膽固醇

If you’ve given up chocolate in the name of lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, you may have been unwittingly sacrificing the sweet treat for nothing. While it’s true that chocolate contains cocoa butter, which is high in saturated fat, much of the fat comes from stearic acid, which doesn’t act like saturated fat. Studies have shown that chocolate does not raise bad cholesterol, and in fact for some people, chocolate can lower cholesterol levels.

如果你以降低低密度脂蛋白膽固醇(有害的)的名義放棄了巧克力，你可能已經(jīng)在不知不覺中白白犧牲了甜食。雖然巧克力確實含有飽和脂肪含量很高的可可脂，但大部分脂肪來自硬脂酸，而硬脂酸的作用與飽和脂肪不同。研究表明，巧克力不會增加有害膽固醇，事實上，對一些人來說，巧克力可以降低膽固醇水平。

2. Chocolate is high in caffeine

巧克力含有大量咖啡因

Contrary to popular belief, chocolate is not loaded with the jitter-inducing compound known as caffeine. A Hershey’s chocolate bar contains 9 milligrams of caffeine and a Hershey’s Special Dark bar contains 20 milligrams, as compared to the 330 milligrams found in a Starbuck’s grande brewed coffee. Darker varieties are higher in caffeine, it’s true, but not as high as many people think.

與人們普遍認為的相反，巧克力并不含有引起神經(jīng)過敏的咖啡因。一塊好時巧克力棒含有9毫克咖啡因，一塊好時特制的黑巧克力棒含有20毫克咖啡因，而一杯星巴克大杯煮咖啡含有330毫克咖啡因。顏色較深的品種咖啡因含量較高，這是事實，但并沒有很多人認為的那么高。

3. The sugar in chocolate causes hyperactivity

巧克力中的糖會引起多動癥

Excessive sugar causes kids to jump off the walls, bounce off the ceiling, and generally mimic a rogue helicopter, right? So we thought. But more than a dozen good-quality studies have failed to find any link between sugar in children's diets and hyperactive behavior. Two theories: It’s the environment that creates the excitability (birthday parties, holidays, etc) and/or that the connection is simply in the minds of the parents expecting hyper behavior following sugar-fueled revelries. Of course, like adults, some kids are more sensitive to caffeine. It can affect their moods and impact sleep.

過量的糖會讓孩子們從墻上跳下來，從天花板上彈下來，而且通常會讓他們模仿一架不聽話的直升機，對吧?這就是我們的想法。但十幾項高質(zhì)量的研究未能發(fā)現(xiàn)兒童飲食中的糖與多動癥行為之間存在任何聯(lián)系。有兩種理論:是環(huán)境創(chuàng)造了興奮性(生日派對、假期等)和/或兩者之間的聯(lián)系，只是在父母的腦海中，他們期待著在狂歡之后的過激行為。當然，和成年人一樣，有些孩子對咖啡因更敏感。它會影響他們的情緒和睡眠。

4. People with diabetes have to give up chocolate

糖尿病患者不得不放棄吃巧克力

Chocolate does not need to be completely avoided by people with diabetes. In fact, many are often surprised to learn that chocolate has a low glycemic index. Some studies suggest that dark chocolate may possibly improve insulin sensitivity in some people with diabetes. Of course, always check with your doctor before ripping open the Ritter wrapper.

糖尿病患者不需要完全避免食用巧克力。事實上，很多人經(jīng)常驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)巧克力的血糖指數(shù)很低。一些研究表明，黑巧克力可能改善一些糖尿病患者的胰島素敏感性。當然，在撕開里特包裝之前一定要和你的醫(yī)生確認一下。

While stuffing yourself with a box of chocolates won't do you any favors in the weight department, eating a small amount of chocolate five times a week has been linked to a lower BMI. (Photo: Sebastian Duda/Shutterstock)

5. Chocolate causes tooth decay and cavities

巧克力會導(dǎo)致蛀牙

A study investigating the development of plaque from chocolate found that chocolate has less of an effect on dental plaque than pure table sugar. Of course, most of us aren’t snacking on straight sugar, but another study backed it up when it showed no association between eating chocolate and getting cavities. In fact, a study from Osaka University in Japan found that parts of the cocoa bean, the main ingredient of chocolate, thwart mouth bacteria and tooth decay.

一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，巧克力對牙菌斑的影響比純蔗糖要小。當然，我們大多數(shù)人都不吃純糖零食，但另一項研究表明吃巧克力和蛀牙之間沒有聯(lián)系，這也證實了這一點。事實上，日本大阪大學(xué)的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，巧克力的主要成分可可豆的某些部分可以阻止口腔細菌和蛀牙。