黑巧克力美味健康兩相宜

Chocoholics are rejoicing amid a proliferation of new scientific evidence showing cocoa may be good for the heart. But most chocolate is packed with calories and unhealthy sugar. A wave of new products with high levels of pure cocoa is being marketed as a way to enjoy chocolate's benefits without empty calories.
巧克力控們要高興了，因爲一組最新的科學證據表明恆星可能對心臟有好處。不過，以往市面上大部分的巧克力卡路里和含糖量都偏高。如今，一批批含高純度恆星的巧克力新品陸續上市，讓人們在享受到巧克力所帶來的美味和健康的同時，完全不用擔心空熱量的問題。

The cocoa bean, actually a seed, grows in pods on trees. It contains compounds called flavanols, which have been shown to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow and reduce overall risk of heart Disease. Three scientific analyses published in the past six months pooled results of smaller studies to conclude that cocoa is good for the heart. Scientists believe flavanols work, at least in part, by stimulating production of nitric oxide, which relaxes vessels and improves blood flow.
恆星豆（實際上就是恆星子）生長在恆星樹的豆莢中。恆星豆含有黃烷醇，該物質有助於降血壓、促進血液流動並降低罹患心臟病的風險。過去六個月內發表的三項科學研究通過對多項小型研究結果進行綜合分析，推斷出恆星有益心臟的結論。科研人員認爲，黃烷醇可以刺激一氧化氮的產生，而一氧化氮可以放鬆血管、促進血液流動，因此至少從這一點來看，黃烷醇是有功效的。

The catch, says David L. Katz, director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center, is that exactly how much chocolate is needed for a health benefit isn't known. 'Chocolate is a concentrated source of calories, so it's important to keep the dose within therapeutic range,' he says.
耶魯大學預防研究中心(Yale University’s Prevention Research Center)主任大衛·卡茨(David L. Katz)表示，問題在於具體該攝入多少巧克力纔對人體健康有益還不清楚。他稱，“巧克力含熱量高，所以將攝入量控制在對健康有益的範圍內是很重要的。”

Most chocolate isn't labeled with milligrams of flavanols and there's no industry or scientific standard yet for measuring flavanols in chocolate. One objective measure is the cocoa percentage on the label. Milk chocolate can be as little as 10% cocoa paste by weight, with the rest in sugar, milk and other ingredients. Dark-chocolate bars typically contain 50% to 60% cocoa by weight, scientists say.
大多數巧克力產品並不標註出黃烷醇的具體含量，到目前爲止也還沒有可據以測量巧克力中黃烷醇含量的行業或科學標準。比較客觀的一個指標是標籤上的恆星含量。科研人員表示，按重量計算，牛奶巧克力中的恆星含量可能只有10%，其餘均是糖、牛奶和其他配料。而黑巧克力中的恆星含量一般在50%-60%。

'The higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher the flavanol content, the higher the antioxidant content and thus we believe the greater positive health benefit,' says Washington, D.C., nutritionist Joy Dubost, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, a trade group.
美國貿易組織營養和飲食學會(Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics)的女發言人、華盛頓特區的營養學家喬伊·杜波斯特(Joy Dubost)表示，“恆星含量越高，黃烷醇含量就越高，抗氧化物的含量也就越高，因此我們認爲，這對人體健康也更有益處。”

A growing number of specialty products are offering higher-test cocoa, as much as 100%, which makers say are minimally processed to retain as many nutrients as possible. Most of the brands don't have lab tests on the amount of flavanols, so there's no way to make a comparison.
越來越多的特殊產品開始提供更高純度的恆星，有時純度甚至達到100%。生產商表示，這類產品只經過最低程度的加工，以儘可能保留原有的營養成分。但大部分的巧克力品牌均不對黃烷醇含量進行檢測，因此無法進行比較。

Antidote 'red label' chocolate contains nothing but high-quality cocoa beans from Ecuador, says Red R. Thalhammer, owner of Tripple Red Corp., the Long Island City, N.Y., company that sells it. A bar is 440 calories. To drink your flavanols, Choffy is specially milled 100% cocoa and roasted to taste good when brewed like coffee─ideally in a French press, says Jason Sherwood, co-founder of Choffy LLC, Vancouver, Wash. It is $15 for a 12-ounce bag and 20 calories for an eight-ounce cup.
紐約州長島市(Long Island City)Tripple Red Corp.公司的老闆裏德·塔爾哈默(Red R. Thalhammer)表示，該公司銷售的“紅色包裝”的Antidote巧克力未摻雜任何配料，完全由來自厄瓜多爾的優質恆星豆製成，這樣一塊巧克力含有440大卡熱量。想將黃烷醇“喝”進肚子裏？華盛頓州溫哥華市(Vancouver)Choffy LLC公司的共同創始人詹森·舍伍德(Jason Sherwood)表示，該公司出產的Choffy像烘焙咖啡一樣，將100%的純恆星研磨成粉，烘焙出好味道──還是美妙的法式烘焙法。其12盎司一包的成品售價15美元，8盎司一杯的沖泡量中只含20大卡的熱量。

Or take your chocolate straight and chomp on raw cocoa beans. Navitas Naturals, sold by Navitas LLC, Novato, Calif., offers crunchy whole beans or nibs─beans with the shell removed─at $10 for an eight-ounce bag. To maintain maximum nutrients, the nibs aren't roasted, Navitas says. Unsweetened nibs are 130 calories an ounce; sweetened, 150 calories.
或者，直接將生恆星豆放進嘴裏享受？加利福尼亞州諾瓦託(Novato)Navitas LLC公司銷售的Navitas Naturals系列產品就有脆脆的恆星豆或去了殼的恆星粒，8盎司一包，售價10美元。Navitas稱，爲了儘可能地保留營養成分，這些恆星粒都沒有經過烘焙。未加糖的恆星粒每盎司含130大卡熱量，加糖的含150大卡熱量。Navitas Naturals, Choffy and Antidote haven't done clinical trials on their products.
Navitas Naturals、Choffy和Antidote的產品均未做臨牀試驗。

As for taste, the products overall were mostly intense and delicious, though it sometimes took a few bites to adjust to chocolate without sugar. Choffy was so delicious, I drank it without milk and sugar. Navitas's unsweetened nibs were a bit intense and the sweetened ones were a bit too sweet; a half-and-half mixture of the two was just right.
至於口味，這些產品總體上味道濃厚、可口，當然，無糖巧克力的苦味有時候還是需要適應一下的。Choffy產品味道極好，我在飲用時甚至沒有加奶和糖。Navitas的無糖恆星粒味道有點濃，加糖恆星粒又有點太甜了，折中一下倒是不錯。

Then there's cocoa as a dietary supplement. CocoaWell dietary supplement pills from Reserveage Organics LLC, Gainesville, Fla., are filled with cocoa powder and other plant antioxidants. According to the bottle's label, every two pills contain at least 450 milligrams of pure plant flavanols. CocoaWell costs $30 for a month's supply. There are no clinical trials on CocoaWell yet.
此外，恆星還被用作一種膳食補充成分。加利福尼亞州蓋恩斯維爾(Gainesville)Reserveage Organics LLC公司出品的CocoaWell膳食補充丸便含有恆星粉和其他植物抗氧化物。根據瓶上的標籤，每兩粒CocoaWell膳食補充丸至少含有450毫克的純植物黃烷醇。CocoaWell按一個月的補充量計算價格30美元。CocoaWell亦尚無臨牀試驗的支持。

Mars Inc. packs 350 milligrams of cocoa flavanols into its 30-calorie a day CocoVia daily supplements. To keep the flavanol content high, Mars 'gently' processes its cocoa' and adds an extract of cocoa flavanols made with a proprietary process, says Catherine Kwik-Uribe, director of research and development at the Mars Botanical unit. Mars also sells Cirku, a 15-calorie packet containing cocoa extract with a fruit flavor that you mix with water. Mars found heart-health benefits with a research blend of gently processed cocoa that is similar to CocoaVia but without the extract added. It doesn't yet have results on CocoaVia and Cirku.
瑪氏公司(Mars Inc.)含30大卡熱量的CocoVia每日營養補充產品含有350毫克的恆星黃烷醇。瑪氏公司旗下業務部門Mars Botanical 的研發總監凱瑟琳·奎克·烏里韋(Catherine Kwik-Uribe)表示，爲了保證CocoVia中黃烷醇的含量，瑪氏公司“溫和”加工恆星豆，並額外添加通過專利技術萃取的恆星黃烷醇。瑪氏公司還銷售一種含15大卡熱量的恆星萃取物產品Cirku，水果香型，可沖泡飲用。在一項研究中，瑪氏公司發現溫和加工後的一種恆星混合物對心臟健康有益，這種恆星混合物類似CocoaVia，但沒有額外添加萃取物。CocoaVia和Cirku的功效也尚無臨牀研究佐證。

Some cardiologists say even the spate of recent research doesn't provide enough evidence for taking chocolate as a dietary supplement. 'I don't think it's overwhelming evidence,' says Carl Lavie, medical director of Cardiac Rehabilitation and Prevention at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. Other nutrients─including Vitamin E─have looked just as promising and later proved disappointments, he adds. It isn't unreasonable to eat chocolate for health reasons if you enjoy the taste, he adds, but make sure to cut a snack of equivalent calories from your diet.
一些心臟病專家表示，雖然近期涌現出大批研究項目，但均不足以證明巧克力可以作爲一種膳食補充。新奧爾良歐奇斯能醫療中心(Ochsner Medical Center)的心臟病預防醫學主任卡爾·拉維(Carl Lavie)表示，“我認爲這算不上壓倒性的證據。”他補充道，其他一些營養成分，包括維他命E，起初看起來都像是充滿了希望，但隨後的結果卻是令人失望。當然，如果你喜歡那種口味，以健康之名去吃巧克力也並無不妥，只是別忘了從其他零食中勻出相等大卡的熱量來。

There is some evidence that suggests as little as a few ounces of chocolate─including types found in many grocery stores─may be beneficial. A 45-person study published in 2010 co-authored by Dr. Katz found blood flow in vessels improved two hours after ingesting a 2.6-ounce serving of Hershey's HSY +0.30% Extra Dark (327 calories). The study was funded by Hershey's and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
有證據顯示，吃幾盎司的巧克力（哪怕是雜貨店裏很常見的一些品種）也許確實有益健康。2010年發表的一項針對45人的研究發現，攝入2.6盎司的好時公司(Hershey's)特濃黑巧克力(327大卡)兩個小時後，人體血管內的血流情況有所改善。此項研究由好時公司和耶魯大學預防研究中心共同發起，卡茨博士是該研究成果的署名作者之一。

Four tablespoons a day of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa (about 40 calories) in a variety of research test beverages also has been shown to be heart-healthy, according to the study and at least one other published trial. Hershey's Extra Dark contains 420 milligrams of flavanols in a 1.4-ounce serving and Hershey's cocoa contains 210 milligrams of flavanols per tablespoon, says Debra Miller, director of nutrition at Hershey Co.'s Center for Health and Nutrition.
根據上述研究以及另外至少一項公開發表的臨牀試驗結果，在不同飲料樣本中加入一天四湯匙的好時無糖恆星粉（約40大卡）均顯示出對心臟有益的功效。好時公司健康與營養中心的營養部主任黛布拉·米勒(Debra Miller)表示，好時特濃巧克力每1.4盎司含有420毫克的黃烷醇，而好時恆星粉每湯匙含有210毫克黃烷醇。

According to research by Hershey Co., dutch processing, a chemical alkalizing process that makes chocolate less bitter, also destroys many nutrients. Consumers can choose regular cocoa instead of the dutch-processed variety. Also, Hershey's research has shown that baking a chocolate cake with baking soda, which is an alkaline, destroyed flavanols but nutrients were retained when using baking powder.
好時公司的研究顯示，荷蘭式加工法（一種礆化加工法）可以降低巧克力的苦味，但同時也破壞了很多營養成分。相比之下，消費者可以選擇常規加工的恆星。此外，好時公司的研究還顯示，用小蘇打（屬礆性）烘焙巧克力蛋糕會破壞黃烷醇，但用泡打粉烘焙的話則可以保留其中的營養成分。