Eating Chocolate Can Save Your Skin

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May 5, 2012

Eating Chocolate Can Save Your Skin Everyone knows excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun can have adverse effect on the human epidermis. For years, scientists, dermatologists, and mothers-in-law have offered varying solutions for this problem with varying results. An interesting contribution to this discussion comes from three cosmeticians. The authors sought empirical evidence to assert, “ingestion of HF (high flavanol) chocolate is photoprotective and thus can contribute to nutritional protection against skin damage from sunlight” (Williams, Tamburic & Lally, 2009, 170). They organized a study with 30 volunteers in good health, who were tested at the beginning and end of a twelve-day span. Half of the randomly selected subjects ate a daily dose of conventionally-manufactured, low flavanol (LF) chocolate as a snack between breakfast and lunch, while the remaining half consumed a daily amount of specially-manufactured, HF chocolate (Williams et al., 2009). Many factors like the creation of free radicals and inflammatory mediators contribute to sunburns and could be effectively counteracted by the ability of cocoa bean flavanols to reduce or even eliminate the skin’s inflammation (Williams et al., 2009). After the 12-day testing period the participants given the cocoa-bean product with high flavanol levels experienced such a significant measurable increase in the protective ability of their skin that the authors could indeed claim, “regular consumption of a chocolate rich in flavanols confers substantial photoprotection and can thus be effective at protecting human skin from harmful UV effects” (Williams et al., 2009, 171). This gives scientific proof that the right kind of chocolate should not be considered detrimental to one’s health.
Reference

Williams, S., Tamburic, S., & Lally, C. (2009). Eating chocolate can significantly protect the skin from UV light. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 8(3), 169-173. doi:10.1111/j.1473-2165.2009.00448.x

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