Xocai dark chocolate, sold only through distributors, is advertised as "the healthy chocolate" with antioxidant-rich açai berries and blueberries.Even so, chocolate has taken a couple of health hits of late. One study linked regular eating of any chocolate to slightly weaker bones because it contains oxalate, making calcium harder to absorb. Another said consumers are misled because some manufacturers often remove heart-healthy flavonols due to their bitter taste and darken the cocoa anyway.
So can dark chocolate be called a health food?
Health benefits
Still, studies consistently say cocoa powder tends to affect the body in a way similar to baby aspirin, said Deborah Murray, assistant professor of food, nutrition and hospitality at Ohio University, Athens. Dark chocolate typically is 60 to 80 percent rich in cocoa powder; milk chocolate, about 10 percent.
