By Nella Letizia

Three primary ingredients, a universe of pleasure. How cocoa butter, sugar and milk have been combined from antiquity to present to tantalize humans is the eternal stuff of history, literature, science and other fields of pondering. Enjoying a caramel while you’re pondering makes the effort even sweeter.

Professor, scientist and extension specialist Barry Swanson prefers to ponder over a piece of bittersweet chocolate. Or a chocolate-covered cherry at Christmastime. There’s so much to love about confections, particularly chocolate.

It’s a legal mood alterer.

It warms a body up; the face even flushes a little when one eats it.

Chocolate melts at body temperature so the oral pleasure lasts awhile, and if the chocolate is made from a quality cocoa butter, it actually creates a cooling sensation in the mouth.

It slows people down from hectic lifestyles.

Chocolate just is.

"It’s a craving," says Swanson, who has worked for WSU Food Science and Human Nutrition the last 28 years and studied confections the last 10. "I enjoy the flavor and the melting. And watching the enjoyment my wife (Darcel, a WSU dietician) derives from it. It relaxes and is stimulating at the same time."

Recent research also sheds light on another benefit: Chocolate contains a group of phytochemicals called polyphenols that have come under study for their antioxidant function and possible health benefits. According to Carl Keen, director of the nutrition department at the University of California at Davis, in vitro experiments on chocolate flavonoids—a subclass of polyphenols—have shown they serve as antioxidants and inhibit low-density lipoprotein cholesterol oxidation much like similar flavonoids in red wine and tea. Other research has shown that chocolate contains more antioxidants than red wine and tea.

"Most people are trying to figure out why chocolate can be so healthy," Swanson says.

The food scientist further explains that in addition to its antioxidant content, the fatty part of chocolate—cocoa butter—doesn’t contribute to heart disease. Cocoa butter is composed of three fatty acids, oleic, stearic and palmitic acids. Oleic acid was recently shown to have positive effects on cardiovascular disease risk; stearic and palmitic acids, though saturated fats, don’t seem to affect blood cholesterol. The term "chocolate paradox" has been coined to describe the seeming incongruity of how high-fat-and-sugar-containing chocolate can be good for you, much like the red wine "French" paradox.

"Red wine and chocolate together, double your pleasure," he quips. "A chocolate a day…"

The richest chocolate will have the most cocoa butter, Swanson explains. The best cocoa butter comes from tropical countries; Ghana is considered to produce the best cocoa butter. But how it’s put together in combination with sugar and other ingredients…well, that’s another story altogether. Flavor is in the taste bud of the taster. Switzerland and Belgium produce some of the finest chocolates in the world, but domestic companies also produce top-quality chocolate. Swanson consulted for Nestle at one point; one of its top-of-the-line chocolates is called Peters.

Some manufacturers experiment with fats other than cocoa butter in chocolate, but this changes the melting point, which takes away from the melt-in-your-mouth pleasure when it melts in your hands first, or doesn’t melt at all. Then there’s low-calorie fat. Swanson hasn’t got anything against using it per se; after all, some of his research has been on fat replacers. But not in chocolate.

"If you’re looking for something pleasurable, low-fat chocolate is not acceptable," he warns.

Aside from its beneficial food properties, chocolate has touched cultures worldwide in different ways, Swanson says. It is the fruit of the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao; Theobroma means "food of the gods," a fitting name. Ancient cultures drank lots of hot chocolate for varying reasons, including fertility and long life.

While Western culture has contributed the most to chocolate being associated with Valentine’s Day, chocolate is more celebrated in Europe, particularly in France, Swanson says. The novel Chocolat, written by Joanne Harris in 1999, illustrates the profound impact of a chocolate shop on everyday life. Chocolate, especially gourmet chocolate, is given more as a special gift. Swanson sees this appreciation as a function of Europeans’ slower and more pleasure-oriented lifestyle.

"In Europe, people take more time with everything," he says. "They celebrate wine, meals and chocolate. Our culture tends to celebrate in spurts."

However cultures celebrate, chocolate’s flavors and aromas stay in our memories, which adds to its enjoyment, Swanson says. For him, chocolate conjures up memories of hot fudge sundaes, chocolate malts and his mother’s and Darcel’s baking. Especially chocolate chip cookies. His parents also used to receive a box of chocolate-covered cherries every Christmas. Now Swanson receives the treasured boxes from his daughters every year, so he can have his favorite ritual of one cherry and a cup of tea before bedtime.

"You feel extra special when you get a box of chocolates, man or woman," he says. "When you get a box of fine chocolates, it’s always a new experience. I think it’s an elegant gift."

Consider these facts from the American Dietetic Association the next time guilt sets in…

• Chocolate contributes less than two percent of the fat in the American diet. The main sources of fat are meat, full-fat dairy products and fried foods.
• Chocolate contains very little caffeine.
• Chocolate is no more or less responsible for tooth decay than other carbohydrate-containing foods, such as bread, raisins, crackers and fruit. In fact, chocolate actually clears the mouth relatively quickly, reducing the time it spends in contact with the teeth.
• A recent study looked at why people crave chocolate and concluded that they don’t become addicted to it. Instead, people seem to desire chocolate because they enjoy the sensation of eating it.