Cocoa: Nature's new supplement

Who knew cocoa could be so healthy? Researchers have discovered consuming the plant's bean — especially in supplement form — can have many positive effects on health.

Harvard School of Medicine professor Norman Hollenberg has researched positive effects of cocoa consumption for more than 20 years. He discovered that the members of the Kuna tribe, who live on islands off the coast of Panama, died far less frequently from problems ubiquitous in the USA.

“The Kuna don’t develop heart attacks or cancer anywhere near the frequency that we do,” Hollenberg says.

A staple of the Kuna diet is a cocoa beverage rich in flavonoids. Though many plants and tea contain flavonoids, cocoa trumps them all in flavonoid content.

Hollenberg recommends taking 450 to 900 milligrams of cocoa a day— the average amount found in most supplements.