How Sweet It Is: Cocoa Has Higher Antioxidant Amounts Than Red Wine, Green or Black Tea

It’s always a delight to discover that anything related to chocolate is as good for you as it is delicious. In a recent study published in the American Chemical Society's Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, it was reported that phenolic and flavonoid contents and total antioxidant capacities in cocoa far exceed that of black or green tea, and red wine.

Cocoa has nearly two times the antioxidants of red wine, two to three times that of green tea, and four to five times that of black tea. The study used teabags of 2g of tea, two tablespoons of pure cocoa powder, both mixed with a cup of hot water, and the wine chosen was 140 ml of a California Merlot. And, hot cocoa, the study revealed, releases more antioxidants than cold cocoa.

That translates to antioxidant levels as follows: cocoa has 611 mg of gallic acid equivalents (GAE) and 564 mg of epicatechin equivalents (ECE) of flavonoids per serving in comparison to black tea (124 mg of GAE and 34 mg of ECE) or green tea (165 mg of GAE and 47 mg of ECE, while wine has greater quantities than tea, (340 mg of GAE and 163 mg of ECE.)

Frequently studied separately and previously known to have good antioxidant levels, tea, wine, and cocoa were part of the most complete comparison done to date, and benefited from cutting-edge analytical techniques.

Medical research indicates that antioxidants, also found in high quantities in fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, and coffee, are important for good health, but the exact RDA (recommended daily allowance) is not yet known. Antioxidants help prevent cardiovascular disease, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease and help to decrease the effects of aging by stabilizing free radicals known to rob electrons from healthy cells’ membranes.