5大巧克力神话

5大巧克力神话

The Latin name for the cacao tree, Theobroma cacao, means “food of the gods,” and it does seem that the fruit of the tree and its delicious derivatives are indeed fit for the deities.

可可树的拉丁名是Theobroma cacao，意思是“众神的食物”，这种树的果实及其美味的衍生物似乎确实适合神灵食用。

Chocolate has long been the bad guy in our ongoing health narrative, but that's not the whole story. (Photo: Africa Studio/Shutterstock)

Both the Mayans and Aztecs believed the cacao bean had magical and divine attributes, appropriate for service in even the most sacred rituals of birth, marriage and death. By the 17th century, chocolate in drinking form was a fashionable quaff for the European elite, who believed it to have nutritious, medicinal and aphrodisiac properties. It’s been said that Casanova was especially enamored by its charms.

玛雅人和阿兹特克人都相信可可豆有魔力和神圣的属性，甚至在最神圣的出生、婚姻和死亡仪式上都适合用来服务。到了17世纪，巧克力饮料已经成为欧洲精英们的时尚饮品，他们认为巧克力有营养、药用和壮阳的功效。据说卡萨诺瓦特别迷恋它的魅力。

And the love affair has yet to wane. The chocolate market is a more than $17 billion industry in the United States alone, and the average American eats at least half a pound of the confectionery every month.

他们的恋情还没有结束。仅在美国，巧克力市场的规模就超过170亿美元，平均每个美国人每月至少吃掉半磅巧克力。

But chocolate is a funny thing. In recent years it has become the darling of nutritionists as health benefit after health benefit has been revealed — most notably that it lowers the risk of stroke and heart attacks. And a study in Denmark published in BMJ Heart shows that eating a small amount of chocolate every week or two lowers the risk of atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm. Yet, it’s long been the character actor bad guy in any number of scenarios, including acne, weight gain and high cholesterol.

但是巧克力是一个有趣的东西。近年来，它已经成为营养学家的宠儿，因为它对健康的益处已经被揭示——最显著的是它降低了中风和心脏病发作的风险。发表在《英国医学杂志心脏》(BMJ Heart)上的一项丹麦研究表明，每周或两周吃少量巧克力可以降低心房颤动(一种不规则的心律)的风险。然而，长期以来，它一直是各种场景中的坏人，包括粉刺、体重增加和高胆固醇。

But is chocolate’s bad reputation warranted? Should we embrace it as a miracle food, or shun it as a deleterious delight? Here's the dope on chocolate's most notorious myths.

但是巧克力的坏名声有保证吗?我们应该把它当作一种神奇的食物来接受，还是把它当作一种有害的乐趣来回避?以下是巧克力最臭名昭著的秘密。

Chocolate isn't loaded with caffeine, contrary to popular belief. A chocolate candy bar can contain around 30 milligrams of caffeine, while a medium coffee has around 320 milligrams. (Photo: Tobias Arhelger/Shutterstock)

1. Chocolate raises bad cholesterol

巧克力会增加有害胆固醇

If you’ve given up chocolate in the name of lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol, you may have been unwittingly sacrificing the sweet treat for nothing. While it’s true that chocolate contains cocoa butter, which is high in saturated fat, much of the fat comes from stearic acid, which doesn’t act like saturated fat. Studies have shown that chocolate does not raise bad cholesterol, and in fact for some people, chocolate can lower cholesterol levels.

如果你以降低低密度脂蛋白胆固醇(有害的)的名义放弃了巧克力，你可能已经在不知不觉中白白牺牲了甜食。虽然巧克力确实含有饱和脂肪含量很高的可可脂，但大部分脂肪来自硬脂酸，而硬脂酸的作用与饱和脂肪不同。研究表明，巧克力不会增加有害胆固醇，事实上，对一些人来说，巧克力可以降低胆固醇水平。

2. Chocolate is high in caffeine

巧克力含有大量咖啡因

Contrary to popular belief, chocolate is not loaded with the jitter-inducing compound known as caffeine. A Hershey’s chocolate bar contains 9 milligrams of caffeine and a Hershey’s Special Dark bar contains 20 milligrams, as compared to the 330 milligrams found in a Starbuck’s grande brewed coffee. Darker varieties are higher in caffeine, it’s true, but not as high as many people think.

与人们普遍认为的相反，巧克力并不含有引起神经过敏的咖啡因。一块好时巧克力棒含有9毫克咖啡因，一块好时特制的黑巧克力棒含有20毫克咖啡因，而一杯星巴克大杯煮咖啡含有330毫克咖啡因。颜色较深的品种咖啡因含量较高，这是事实，但并没有很多人认为的那么高。

3. The sugar in chocolate causes hyperactivity

巧克力中的糖会引起多动症

Excessive sugar causes kids to jump off the walls, bounce off the ceiling, and generally mimic a rogue helicopter, right? So we thought. But more than a dozen good-quality studies have failed to find any link between sugar in children's diets and hyperactive behavior. Two theories: It’s the environment that creates the excitability (birthday parties, holidays, etc) and/or that the connection is simply in the minds of the parents expecting hyper behavior following sugar-fueled revelries. Of course, like adults, some kids are more sensitive to caffeine. It can affect their moods and impact sleep.

过量的糖会让孩子们从墙上跳下来，从天花板上弹下来，而且通常会让他们模仿一架不听话的直升机，对吧?这就是我们的想法。但十几项高质量的研究未能发现儿童饮食中的糖与多动症行为之间存在任何联系。有两种理论:是环境创造了兴奋性(生日派对、假期等)和/或两者之间的联系，只是在父母的脑海中，他们期待着在狂欢之后的过激行为。当然，和成年人一样，有些孩子对咖啡因更敏感。它会影响他们的情绪和睡眠。

4. People with diabetes have to give up chocolate

糖尿病患者不得不放弃吃巧克力

Chocolate does not need to be completely avoided by people with diabetes. In fact, many are often surprised to learn that chocolate has a low glycemic index. Some studies suggest that dark chocolate may possibly improve insulin sensitivity in some people with diabetes. Of course, always check with your doctor before ripping open the Ritter wrapper.

糖尿病患者不需要完全避免食用巧克力。事实上，很多人经常惊讶地发现巧克力的血糖指数很低。一些研究表明，黑巧克力可能改善一些糖尿病患者的胰岛素敏感性。当然，在撕开里特包装之前一定要和你的医生确认一下。

While stuffing yourself with a box of chocolates won't do you any favors in the weight department, eating a small amount of chocolate five times a week has been linked to a lower BMI. (Photo: Sebastian Duda/Shutterstock)

5. Chocolate causes tooth decay and cavities

巧克力会导致蛀牙

A study investigating the development of plaque from chocolate found that chocolate has less of an effect on dental plaque than pure table sugar. Of course, most of us aren’t snacking on straight sugar, but another study backed it up when it showed no association between eating chocolate and getting cavities. In fact, a study from Osaka University in Japan found that parts of the cocoa bean, the main ingredient of chocolate, thwart mouth bacteria and tooth decay.

一项研究发现，巧克力对牙菌斑的影响比纯蔗糖要小。当然，我们大多数人都不吃纯糖零食，但另一项研究表明吃巧克力和蛀牙之间没有联系，这也证实了这一点。事实上，日本大阪大学的一项研究发现，巧克力的主要成分可可豆的某些部分可以阻止口腔细菌和蛀牙。