A Healthy Sweetener Alternative - Cocoa Powder; Maryland Personal Trainer

As a personal trainer, I'm often asked for healthy ways to sweeten foods. While I am no chef, one of my favorite things to add to my post workout smoothie is a bit of cocoa powder.

Cocoa powder has been studied a lot over the last decade. Recent research has shown that consumption of cocoa powder can reduce blood pressure, improve insulin sensitivity, and improve the capacity of blood vessels to dilate (1, 2, 3). Additionally, cocoa powder makes things taste like chocolate (no research needed)!


When buying cocoa powder, there are two options - raw and processed. Thanks to the increasing popularity of organic foods, the health-conscious consumer might leap for the raw cocoa. However, I do not think that this is a good idea for most people. Not everything is for humans to eat raw (like really bitter plants, which cocoa is), so your best bet when picking a cocoa powder is an organic but processed powder. Anecdotal evidence suggests raw cocoa powder results in some digestion problems for quite a few people.

However, processing can reduce the amount of compounds known as flavanols in cocoa powder. These compounds are associated with many of the positive benefits of cocoa. Food companies such as Mars have been working on new processing techniques for cocoa powder which do not remove or damage the flavanols. The Mars product line is not complete currently, but Acticoa claims to have a powder with a high flavanol content. Normally I would be quite skeptical of a "brand new processing technology that improves the healthiness of a food", but the early research has shown one of these high-tech cocoa powders to effectively lower blood pressure (2). However, I am sure these products are very expensive, for now I am okay with normal organic cocoa powder.

Since right after a hard workout is the best time to get some fast digesting carbohydrates and protein, I like to add sweetened cocoa powder to a shake of fruit, oatmeal, and whey protein. Sweetened cocoa powder (as long as it is not sweetened with high fructose corn syrup) is fine right after a workout (within 45 minutes or so) since a post-workout insulin spike is not a bad thing. Cocoa powder also has a very strong taste; usually a tablespoon of cocoa is enough for a 20 oz smoothie. Like all things, cocoa is best in moderation; flavanols may reduce blood pressure, but eating 20 candy bars will certainly raise it. With that said, next time you need a little bit more flavor in a smoothie, reach for some cocoa powder!


In other news, the Harford County Personal Training website should be up very soon!


References

1. Grassi D., et al. (2008). Blood pressure is reduced and insulin sensitivity increased in glucose-intolerant, hypertensive subjects after 15 days of consuming high-polyphenol dark chocolate. Journal of Nutrition, 138(9): 1671-6.

2. Cienfuegos-Jovellanos E, Quiñones Mdel M, Muguerza B, Moulay L, Miguel M, & Aleixandre A. (2009). Antihypertensive effect of a polyphenol-rich cocoa powder industrially processed to preserve the original flavonoids of the cocoa beans. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 57(14): 6156-62.

3. McCarty, M.F., Barroso-Aranda J., & Contreras, F. Potential complementarity of high-flavnol cocoa powder and spirulina for health protection. Medical Hypothesis, epublished ahead of print.