Chocolate is good for the heart and mood, but for migraine sufferers best avoided

What if the real food of the gods was cocoa? The name of the evergreen plant from which it derives Theobroma cacao ('food of the gods' in Greek) is already a nice hint. But in favour of the main food of Easter - chocolate fills tables on feast days - there are also benefits: starting with its stimulating effect. But in reality there are many more, although migraine sufferers would do better to do without. Answering five questions on one of the must-have Easter delicacies is Lara Testai, coordinator of the Pharmacognosy, Phytotherapy and Nutraceuticals Working Group of the Italian Society of Pharmacology and lecturer at the University of Pisa.

Does chocolate really contain active substances? More than chocolate 'cocoa, i.e. the seed of the Theobroma cacao tree, contains numerous bioactive substances. From the nutraceutical point of view, the presence of flavonoids, in particular catechins and epicatechins, with cardiovascular protective effects, is relevant'. "From a mechanistic point of view,' points out Testai, who was interviewed by LaPresse, 'these flavonoids protect endothelial function and increase its ability to produce nitric oxide. But we are sure that other mechanisms are also involved, including inhibition of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which is the same target of ACE inhibitor drugs, used as the gold standard in the treatment of hypertension'. Does cocoa really work for mood and energy? "Yes, significant amounts of tryptophan, the amino acid precursor of the neurotransmitter serotonin and therefore responsible for the effect on mood, are also present in cocoa. In addition, theobromine and caffeine, two methylxanthines responsible for the stimulating effects, are present,' the pharmacologist clarifies.

Is dark really better for your health? "Chocolate is a processed product and the percentage" on the packaging "is indicative of the percentage of cocoa present. So the higher it is, the more cocoa is present and therefore the higher the nutraceutical value. Unfortunately, white chocolate, so popular for its palatability, does not contain cocoa but cocoa butter, so it has no nutraceutical value. Even milk chocolate contains a minimum percentage of cocoa,' assures the specialist, 'so it is fair to say that among the types of chocolate it is best to consume dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa. When, how much and how to consume chocolate? "Efsa, the European Food Safety Authority, has recognised cocoa's ability to induce vascular protection, and the latest guidelines of the International Society of Hypertension emphasise the cardiovascular protective capacity of 200 mg/day of cocoa flavonoids," Testai reports. 'It is more complicated to estimate exactly how much of the food (chocolate or cocoa) to take, for several reasons: the flavonoid content can vary in the seed and even more so in chocolate. In addition, we cannot exclude that the processing of cocoa, necessary to obtain chocolate, reduces the actual flavonoid title, which by the way in food is never stated on the label'.

Are there people who should avoid chocolate? It will be difficult to do without chocolate on these festive days, but in fact some categories should avoid it. Those who are 'being treated with anti-depressants of the non-selective monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAO) category' and people who suffer from migraine. In the first case,' explains the pharmacologist, 'because chocolate also contains a substance similar to biogenic amines (such as noradrenaline and serotonin) whose name is tyramine'. 'In the case of pharmacological treatment with MAO inhibitors, its catabolism can be blocked, resulting in side effects, some of them significant. Moreover, chocolate is a trigger food and can trigger migraine attacks in the sensitive population,' concludes the expert.