Tim Spector says sweet treat better than 'superfoods' for inflammation and blood pressure

Nutritional expert Tim Spector has dropped a bombshell for sweet-toothed health fanatics, claiming that chocolate packs more of a beneficial punch than 'superfoods' like blueberries and pomegranates. The King's College London professor and founder of the Zoe health app, in a fresh clip on the Zoe Instagram account, has hailed chocolate as a potential health hero.

He shared: "I forget exactly what chocolate's made of, but it all comes from a plant that is fermented. This breaks down the plant in lots of chemicals. Those polyphenols, these defence chemicals. These are like rocket fuel for your gut microbes and that interaction between the fibre that's still left and the chocolate and there is fibre in there.

"Plus, these polyphenols make microbes happy. They interact with it to produce other chemicals, which we believe are generally good for your body, for your immune system for your digestion, your mental health, et cetera, et cetera".

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Spector highlighted the importance of polyphenols, substances known to help reduce inflammation and potentially stave off conditions like dementia, arthritis, and diabetes. He also pointed out that high-quality chocolate is rich in fibre a crucial component considering 90% of people don't hit the recommended 30g of fibre per day.

According to Prof Spector, upping your fibre intake by just 5g daily could slash blood pressure significantly more than cutting back on salt. He continued: "So Chocolate: a health food? Did you know that the total polyphenol content of cocoa powder exceeds that of so called "superfoods" acai berries, blueberries and pomegranate?

"Cocoa is a rich source of polyphenols such as flavanols which act as rocket fuel for your gut microbes, enhancing the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and reducing the number of pathogenic or bad bacteria.

"As well as the well documented polyphenols, there is actually a reasonable amount of fibre in chocolate. around 712g/100g in dark and 3g/100g in milk. These are significant levels when you consider one portion (approx. 3 squares) of 70% dark chocolate has ~4g fibre, double the fibre than of a slice of wholegrain bread."

He also pointed out that some chocolate bars will contain emulsifiers and advised people to check the label and choose the highest percentage you can enjoy to minimise the sugar content and maximise the polyphenol and fibre content.