Study: Chocolates can make us look younger

By studying chocolates on a molecular level, scientists are coming up with exceptional results and specific chocolate products that people can eat to look younger.

Scientists in Germany have vowed to take the world into the new era of chocolates, successfully developing a formula to create, what they have called “super-chocolates.” Micro-biologists are keen to use every possible element in making chocolate healthier and taste better.

These researchers have altered lecithin – a key ingredient in chocolates – at the molecular level. They have used lecithin to stop cocoa and dairy from separating from fat by keeping fat stable.

It has never been clear how the ingredient worked and confectioners have had to rely on trial and error to come up with good recipes. Confectioners can now use the results from the research to make a “superior type of chocolate” which the research aims for.

The lead author, Mr Heiko Briesen, commented,

“There are many hypotheses on how lecithin works during the manufacturing of chocolates – but we’ve been able to shed light on the mechanism of the process. Molecular dynamics only allows us to model scales of nanoseconds or nanometers – and this process happens in minutes or hours in reality.”

This new research has revealed how molecular dynamics could be of use in realizing the process of “chocolate conching”. This specific process during the making of chocolate develops the feel, texture and aroma of the chocolate product.

The research was conducted by researchers from the Technical University of Munich and was published in the Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics.

Another research that is not only restricted to study – the product has been released in the market – claims to make people look younger.

Scientists from the Cambridge Chocolate Technology believe that they have taken the first step by introducing the world’s first beauty chocolate – Esthechoc.

The chocolate promises to enrich the skin specialist with antioxidants. It has 38 calories and contains 70% cocoa combined with two antioxidants – cocoa flavanols and astaxanthin carotenoid.

Eating antioxidant rich foods like kale or blueberries is often recommended by specialists to fight wrinkles, but imagine a doctor recommending chocolate for wrinkles – researchers call it the new era of chocolates.

Dr Ivan Petyaev, lead author of the research for the creation of the product, believes that based on various hypotheses, many new products are still to come in the near future.