Lecturer highlights health benefits of cocoa consumption

VARIOUS researches conducted on the health benefits of cocoa have revealed that the consumption of pure cocoa with no additives by pregnant women increases the intelligent quotient (IQ) of infants.
The researches also established that cocoa, which has a high percentage of magnesium content, if consumed in moderation, reduces the risk of diabetes and some heart diseases.
A senior lecturer and Head of the Anatomy Department of the University of Ghana Medical School at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Professor Frederick K. Addai, who made this known at a cocoa and chocolate Forum in Accra yesterday, enumerated some of the health benefits of cocoa, the country’s major foreign exchange earner.
The forum was part of a three-day seminar organised by Centuries International as part of celebrations to mark this year’s National Chocolate Day which falls today and the Chocolate Festival due in September this year.
“Cocoa gives you brain power and prevents you from getting stroke. It reduces blood pressure in an average of six weeks. The nutrients in natural cocoa powder prevents malaria parasites from transmitting the disease to humans. It is also good for asthmatic patients,” Prof Addai stated, and pointed out specifically that the spread of malaria, which was collapsing the national economy, could be reduced by encouraging the consumption of pure cocoa or chocolate in moderation.
After 15 years of consumption of cocoa and research into the health benefits of the crop, Prof Addai said he was convinced that regular consumption of chocolate was rather good for the teeth and promoted the production of insulin which helped in digestion.
“The smaller the amount of cocoa in chocolate, the less helpful’ the more it is in chocolate, the better,” he stated, and observed that to derive the health benefits from cocoa or chocolate, one needed to take it every day in moderation because over consumption could also negate the benefits.
He said Japan, the highest consumer of cocoa products, for example, had done a lot of research into the medicinal benefits of cocoa and had known for a long time that cocoa slowed down the ageing process by preventing the red blood cells from clotting.
Prof Addai further disclosed that the consumption of cocoa also improved the sexual performance of both males and females and reduced the pre and post-menstrual tension in women, as well as post-menopausal syndrome.
A director at the Ministry of Tourism, Mr Emmanuel V. Hagan, also discussed some strategies in using cocoa and chocolate that travelling and tour guide operators could resort to in attracting tourists into the country.
“We are sitting on a gold mine,” he stated, and noted that tourists should not be attracted into the country to have a look at only slave castles but also cocoa farms and some of the processes the cocoa beans went through before they were exported.
The Executive Vice-Chairman of the Planning Committee of Centuries International, Mr Stephen Dzilah, gave a brief history of Tetteh Quarshie who brought cocoa to Ghana and the nutritional benefits and values of cocoa to the Ghanaian economy.
He said as part of an expansion project by Centuries International, which produces various products from cocoa, about 100 people would be sent abroad to undergo some training and later be brought back to occupy key positions in some factories the company intended setting up across the country.