Mars (as in the chocolate maker), is footing research to show that cocoa — which most of its chocolate candies contain — can be used to treat diabetes, strokes, and vascular disease.
Excuse me, from what planet is this Mars confectionary company?
Sure, I’ll easily concede that considerable scientific research shows that flavanols — the plant chemicals found in cocoa — do contain health benefits, as the Mars-funded Chocolate Information Center aptly points out.
But, come on, chocolate is also loaded with sugar, fat and dairy, which probably far outweigh any positive effects you could get!
Even so, as News.Scotsman.com reported, experts from around the world gathered at a meeting in Switzerland this week organized by Mars to discuss more than 80 peer-reviewed studies about the possible health benefits of flavanols.
Yes, the news appears to be pretty exciting about the medicinal properties of the cocoa bean, which are evidently full of antioxidants, anti-depressants and sexual stimulants.
But let’s take this research with a grain of salt. First off, it appears that many (if not all?) scientists coming to these cocoa-is-cool conclusions just happen to be funded by Mars. (That includes Harvard Medical School professor of medicine Norm Hollenberg, who said, "The mounting scientific evidence on cocoa flavanols is extraordinary.") So, the question to ask is: Should we really believe his findings?
Mars evidently had even discovered thow to replicate flavonols and has patented the method. The company is reportedly even in "serious discussions" with pharmaceutical companies about licensing these "synthesized flavanols" towards "a potential new class of medications."
But the wildest part of this flavanol story is that Mars launched a new commercial candy bar, the CocoaVia Chocolate Crunch Bar, which — while it does contain only 80 calories and specially preserved flavanols — also includes 9 grams of sugar and 15 g of carbs. Just check out the ingredients label:
Granola (soy crisp [rice flour, soy protein isolate, barley malt], crisp rice, oats, brown sugar, barley malt), milk chocolate (sugar, cocoa butter, chocolate, skim milk, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, artificial flavor), high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, cocoa powder*, soy sterol esters, vitamins and minerals (calcium carbonate, ascorbic acid, vitamin E acetate, cyanocobalamin, folic acid, pyridoxine HCL), less than 2% – chocolate, fructose, sugar, salt, brown sugar, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavors, TBHQ to maintain freshness, peanuts, almonds, wheat.
And this bar is being touted as healthy?!
Why can’t a company come up with a non-sugar-filled cocoa bar? Actually, I have inside word that this will happen soon.
6 thoughts on “Mars Backs Health Research”
Chocolate for diabetics? This is absolutely ridiculous. I think they are just ensuring that we all stay addicted to chocolate, even through the medicines we take. Sad.
I thought the benefits of cocoa were only in dark chocolate form. I thought, for the most part, that Mars chocolate bars were milk chocolate. (I do know they recently released a dark Mars bars.)
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out.
There is no limit to how low companies will stoop to make money. I’d like to see a study where they feed two groups identical diets with the exception that one group gets a chocolate bar daily. Who would have the most diabetes? Hmmm. . . I wonder. Instead of testing the effects of cocoa (when was the last time anybody ate that plain?) they should test the effects of this new “healthy” chocolate bar. That’s not going to happen, though, because they know what the results of that study would be.
Hats off to Connie for this blog. Anita is correct that dark chocolate is better, without sugar, partly because it has a higher cocoa content.
The phytochemicals in cocoa beans are sensitive to processing and therefore a careful balance between fermenting and roasting is necessary. The “dutch” chocolate process uses alkali which is also detrimental to the flavonals.
There are many factors to be considered when looking for “healthy” chocolate. Basically, it should have a 70% or higher cocoa content, and be as close to its original state as possible.
I have tried a bar from Scharffen Berger that has a 99% cocoa content and is unsweetened. I think it actually tastes good… albeit in small doses; but it does satisfy my chocolate craving. On the box there’s a disclaimer that it may contain trace elemts of sugar, which threw me for a second. Then I realized that the bars are produced in the same machinery as others products with sugar added and therefore the need for the disclaimer. However, there’s no added sugar.
Another interesting thing about chocolate is the fat content. It contains basically three types of fats, each comprising roughly a third of the total amount. One is the unsaturated fat, oleic acid, which is found in olive oil. Two are saturated fatty acids, stearic acid and palmitic acid. Studies have shown that while stearic acid is a saturated fat, it doesn’t seem to raise cholesterol levels. So, while chocolate is high in fat, it isn’t all bad fat.
I’m hoping that Mars Inc. will work toward perfecting the best processing techniques and come up with some new products to support this research, which is, after all, supported by Mars Inc. for the most part. (There are some other studies out there)
At any rate, even unsweetened , high cocoa content, chocolate is better in limited amounts. For more information, check out http://www.chocolateinfo.com (supported by Mars and currently being updated) OR http://www.med.umich.edu/umim/clinical/pyramid/chocolate.htm
Also, you might check out the latest info from the American Diabetes Association. I was surprised by some of the things I read there. Thanks for your time.
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dating olympic rings student loans Angie says:
All the studies that lead to these great findings about heart healthy foods seem to leave out the most important part of the the composition. Most of the island peoples that are so healthy have way less stress. If people quit feeling so stressed, I don’t think whether or not we have a chocolate bar would matter so much.
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