{"id":1867,"date":"2018-06-08T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-08T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/2015\/07\/the-internal-spf-the-top-5-countdown-of-best-foods-number-1.html"},"modified":"2019-06-03T23:00:34","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T03:00:34","slug":"the-internal-spf-the-top-5-countdown-of-best-foods-number-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1867","title":{"rendered":"The Internal SPF. The Top 5 Countdown of Best Foods. Number 1."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n
Those of you who know me saw this coming from a mile away. Hmmm, wonder what the number one food is going to be?? It turns out that the cocoa in the chocolate that you love to love can also protect your skin from UV damage from the sun.<\/span>
\n<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
I<\/span>n a <\/span>study in London<\/a>, researchers gave two very happy subject groups chocolate to eat for 12 weeks. However, one of them received a high<\/span>–<\/span>flavanol chocolate, such as you might get with a high-cocoa chocolate.\u00a0The second received a low-flavanol chocolate, such as you might get with lighter milk chocolates and \u201cchocolate\u201d confections. After 12 weeks, they tested the skin of these participants with a challenge of UV light to see whether the cocoa flavanols did anything more that make the subjects happy every day.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Over the 12 weeks of chocolate eating, the skin of those who ate the low-flavanol version was no more or less protected from UV radiation.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
No change. However, those who ate the high-flavanol chocolate doubled their protection compared to the baseline.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Doubled.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
In other words, after less than 2 weeks of eating high-flavanol chocolate, subjects\u2019 skin was protected from burning even at twice the UV level. Why would this be? What explanation can make that make sense?<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
One rationale may come from the fact that high-cocoa chocolate can <\/span>increase microcirculation into the skin itself<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
Increased blood flow to the topmost layers of the skin (those within only 1 millimeter of the surface) can provide the healthy oxygenation your skin needs to help protect itself.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/div>\n
Another potential route to skin protection could be the particular polyphenols (catechins and epicatechins) themselves. These specific antioxidants are also found in high concentrations in drinks like green tea, which have a well established effect<\/a> on suppressing the effects of photoaging, UV-induced radiation, immunosuppression, and carcinogenic activity. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

The precise biochemical blah bitty blah is less important for most people than learning that high cocoa chocolate is amazing for your heart, your mind, and now even your skin. In fact, you should treat it like your daily vitamin (vitamin Ch)!<\/span><\/span>
\n
\n<\/span>For more information: Click here to visit Will Clower’s website. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Those of you who know me saw this coming from a mile away. Hmmm, wonder what the number one food is going to be?? It turns out that the cocoa … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494,536],"tags":[43,260,261],"class_list":["post-1867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-health-notes","tag-chocolate","tag-cocoa","tag-skin-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/chocolate.jpg?fit=347%2C463&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-u7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7611,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=7611","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":0},"title":"Chocolate For Skin Health? Yes Sir!","author":"Will Clower","date":"July 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Those of you who know me saw this coming from a mile away. Hmmm, wonder what the number one good-for-your-skin food is going to be?? It turns out that the cocoa in the chocolate that you love to love can also protect your skin from UV damage from the sun.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Chocolate Chunks","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Chocolate-Chunks.jpg?fit=1200%2C839&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Chocolate-Chunks.jpg?fit=1200%2C839&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Chocolate-Chunks.jpg?fit=1200%2C839&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Chocolate-Chunks.jpg?fit=1200%2C839&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Chocolate-Chunks.jpg?fit=1200%2C839&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1878,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1878","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":1},"title":"Chocolate Countdown, Number 3 Reason To Eat Chocolate That You Never Saw Coming","author":"Will Clower","date":"June 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It Protects Your Skin. Who saw that coming?\u00a0\u00a0Follow @willclowerMy dad used to harass my sister about her skin, when she was an annoying adolescent. \u201cYou know, the reason you\u2019re having to pop those zits on our bathroom mirror in the first place is because you eat chocolate. Where do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/chocolate2Bon2Bskin2Bof2Bface.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1891,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=1891","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":2},"title":"AskWill: This Valentines Day learn the difference between chocolate and “chocolate”","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Will,\u00a0With Valentine\u2019s Day coming up I\u2019m a bit confused. Normally I\u2019d just get chocolates for my wife, knowing that they\u2019re a decadent, not-so-good-for-you treat.\u00a0But lately I\u2019ve heard that there\u2019s good chocolate and bad chocolate. \u00a0Now I feel like I could actually making wrong choice!Dear Confused, As the bearer of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/valentines-day-chocolates2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5736,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=5736","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":3},"title":"Chocolate Week Makes Your Skin Younger","author":"Will Clower","date":"January 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"No, no, no, you don't smear it on the outside -- people do the strangest things sometimes -- you eat it!! Research data show that consistent consumption of high cocoa chocolate protects your skin against UV damage from the sun. It's like an internal SPF! Even better, the polyphenols found\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Activity"","block_context":{"text":"Activity","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=528"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Chocolate-on-the-Face-300x171.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8010,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=8010","url_meta":{"origin":1867,"position":4},"title":"Chocolate For Your Heart Health","author":"Will Clower","date":"February 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you\u2019ve ever wondered if\u00a0your love affair with chocolate is a one-sided relationship,\u00a0don\u2019t worry.\u00a0The latest\u00a0nutritional\u00a0research has some\u00a0very\u00a0good news. 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