Exploring the Minerals in Cocoa: How Do They Help and What Are They For?
The fruit of the cocoa tree contains precious beans that people have consumed for over 4,000 years for their nutritional value. These melon-shaped fruits contain a white pulp with up to 40 seeds embedded. When the pulp is fresh, it’s consumed as a dessert since it’s packed in carbohydrates. Interestingly, the seeds from approximately 20 pods will yield one kilogram of processed cocoa powder. Regarding its nutritional content, cocoa has carbohydrates, fats, protein, and fiber. Cocoa might not have a very high vitamin content. Still, it does have a range of them, including riboflavin, niacin, folate, thiamine, and vitamin B6. Where cocoa excels is in its concentration of minerals. It’s very high in the following:
- Manganese
- Copper
- Magnesium
- Iron
- Phosphorus
- Zinc
- Potassium
- Selenium
- Calcium
It offers the highest mineral profile in unsweetened cocoa powder since added ingredients like milk and sugar in chocolate and beverage mixes reduce the mineral profile.
Cocoa Mineral Content
Here’s how much mineral content is available in 100 grams of cocoa powder and its percentage of daily value:
- 3.84 mg of manganese at 167 % of daily value
- 3.79 mg of copper at 421 % of daily value
- 499.00 mg of magnesium at 119 % of daily value
- 13.86 mg of iron at 77 % of daily value
- 734 mg of phosphorus at 59% of daily value
- 6.81 mg of zinc at 62 % of daily value
- 1524.00 mg of potassium at 32% of daily value
- 14.30 mg of selenium at 26 %of daily value
- 128.00 mg of calcium at 10% of daily value
Why Are These Minerals Important?
We must optimize our mineral intake from our diet to avoid taking supplements. However, getting the amount we need from our regular diet is often difficult. Cocoa can give us a substantial amount of some vital minerals. Here’s how:
Magnesium
It’s often difficult to get enough magnesium from our diet. Magnesium is vital in over 300 different chemical reactions that occur daily, essential in how our cells make energy from our food. Therefore, if there’s a lack of magnesium, we feel fatigued and have low energy.
Magnesium is crucial for our movement because it assists our muscle function. It also assists in transmitting nerve signals to the body and brain. Our bones also need magnesium because it helps to balance essential minerals like calcium.
Furthermore, magnesium is also known as ‘nature’s tranquilizer.’ It plays a huge role in assisting our bodies cope with stress by controlling the release of stress hormones like adrenalin. When we are under a lot of stress, the body uses copious amounts of magnesium. Therefore, it’s an essential mineral to take at these times. It also allows our muscles to relax.
Research indicates that consuming enough magnesium can protect us from several chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular ailments.
To get 499 mg of magnesium from 100g of cocoa, we must eat it in pure or roasted form. To put it more accurately, a 35-gram bar containing 90% cocoa provides 40% of our daily magnesium intake. Therefore, eating chocolate can help with stress as long as it’s high in cocoa and does not contain too much sugar.
Iron
Our red blood cells need hemoglobin to transport oxygen to the rest of our bodies. Iron is the mineral that assists in the manufacture of hemoglobin. Iron has other essential roles, including converting energy into food, assisting with our immunity, helping our cognitive function, and preventing fatigue.
One of the best sources of iron is red meat, making it difficult for vegans and vegetarians to get enough of this vital mineral. Some plant-based sources of iron include nuts, seeds, green vegetables, and dried fruits. However, the best plant-based source of iron is cocoa.
A 35-gram chocolate bar with 90% cocoa contains 4.4 mg of iron, 30% of our required daily intake.
Manganese
Manganese is an essential mineral in several enzymes and plays several important roles. These involve assisting with wound healing, carbohydrate metabolism, bone and collagen formation, amino acid synthesis, detoxification, gluconeogenesis, lipid processing, and free radical defense. Research is still ongoing, but there’s some evidence that manganese protects against osteoporosis, diabetes, and seizure disorders.
Copper
Copper is an essential mineral for all living organisms. It forms part of numerous enzymes and proteins, leading to its diverse roles in developing, growing, and maintaining several organs like the brain and heart and our bones and connective tissue. Copper’s other essential functions include helping metabolize glucose and cholesterol, regulating gene expression, scavenging free radicals, and producing red blood cells.
Potassium
Our bodies need far more potassium than calcium and magnesium daily to maintain the correct fluid balance. It also uses potassium to stabilize blood pressure. Like magnesium, potassium also assists with muscle function and helps nerve signals effectively move around. Our overall good health relies on a good potassium and sodium balance.
For those who limit processed foods from their diet, it’s easier to balance their sodium intake with enough potassium. However, it’s tough for those who prefer convenience and processed food to create the right balance, as these foods have a very high sodium content.
The ideal way to improve the sodium and potassium ratio is to eat more whole foods while watching our salt intake. The ratio can also improve by including chocolate in our diets. When eating a 35-gram 90% chocolate bar, we can get 32% of our daily recommended potassium intake.
Zinc
Zinc is crucial in several functions, including our immune system, healing, bone health, fertility, and balancing hormones. Getting zinc from other foods, including meat, pumpkin seeds, oysters, and seafood, is not difficult. However, chocolate is a fun way to include zinc in your diet. That one 35-gram chocolate bar provides 20% of the daily value.
Final Take
Cocoa includes several vital minerals that are crucial in ensuring good body function and protecting us from inflammation and chronic disease. Other nutrient-dense foods provide several health benefits. However, eating enough of these is often challenging to optimize our mineral intake. Additionally, none are as fun to eat as chocolate!
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