Chocolate: a sweet cure? | The Living Rainforest

The cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao) produces over 150 different chemicals in its leaves, fruit, seeds and bark. Medicinal use of the cocoa plant dates back thousands of years to the Olmec, Mayan and Aztec civilisations.

Cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao) leaves

Anxiety, fever, fatigue and coughs were all treated with preparations made from parts of the cocoa plant. Many plant remedies tasted (and still do!) very bitter so chocolate paste was used to help the medicine go down.

Its medicinal use in Europe can be traced to over 500 years ago when it was first brought over from the Americas, and was used to treat, amongst other things, anaemia, emaciation, kidney stones and cuts and burns.

Today, cocoa trees are grown in tropical countries all over the world and recent research has confirmed that chocolate can be very beneficial to health and wellbeing. Chocolate is rich in plant chemicals such as polyphenols, the same chemical found in red wine. Their anti-oxidant effects have been shown to help protect against heart disease, as well as improving our immune system and affording protection against cancer.

The darker the chocolate the more anti-oxidants it contains. The saturated fats found in cocoa beans, unlike saturated animal fats, can also help lower bad blood cholesterol and actually raise 'good' cholestorol levels: all good news for chocolate lovers!