If you are like most of us, you need no convincing to enjoy a piece or two or three of chocolate. Saying this, just in case there is any guilt associated with this pleasure you need to read on. Research has shown over and over the health benefits of dark chocolate are due to its antioxidant properties including polyphenols, flavanols and catechins. These help your body fight free radicals and support heart and brain health. However, few people know that chocolate is also a source of vitamin D!
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin which you mostly get from exposure to the sun. It is important to get enough vitamin D to:
- Allow the calcium to enter your bones to keep them strong to prevent osteoporosis.
- It is a vitamin which helps support a happy mind.
- Is essential for a healthy immune system and low levels may increase your risk of diseases like cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
Everyone from age 1-50 years needs 5.0 µg /day. Foods generally associated with vitamin D are fatty fish, mushrooms exposed to UV light, egg yolks and fortified foods like margarine. Now chocolate can be added to this list of options to help your reach your daily target.
So how did chocolate become a source of vitamin D? Taking a step back to the processing and storage of cocoa beans, they are often exposed to contamination from fungus. This fungus penetrates the cocoa bean with ergosterol, the product a step before vitamin D2. When the cocoa beans are taken from storage and sun dried this leads to the process to be completed to form vitamin D2.
How much vitamin D2 can your chocolate boast? This all depends on the type. A study over different locations producing cocoa beans found:
- The highest levels of vitamin D were found in cocoa butter and powder.
- Dark chocolate came in second containing between 1.90 to 5.48 µg/100 g.
- White chocolate (still in the game) gave the lowest amount of vitamin D ranging from 0.19 to 1.91 µg/100 g.
If you are thinking your chocolate nut spread is now health food this is sadly not the case. Although nut spreads still give a measly 0.15 µg/100 g.
Take home message: The good news is a piece or two of dark chocolate (aim for at least 80% cocoa solids) once or twice a week can help you get you reach your vitamin D needs. This is another reminder that food is not inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it is all about balance and moderation.
References:
- Kuhn J, Schroter A, Hartmann BM, Stangl GI. Cocoa and chocolate are sources of vitamin D2. Food chemistry. 2018;269:318-20.
- Nutrient Reference Values for Australia and New Zealand. National Health and Medical Research Council. Vitamin D. https://www.nrv.gov.au/nutrients/vitamin-d. 2019.
