The food police may find this hard to take, but chocolate has gotten a bad rap. People say it causes acne, that you should eat carob instead, that it's junk food. But these accusations are not only undeserved and inaccurate, they falsely incriminate a delicious food that turns out to have profoundly important healing powers.
不管食物警察爱不爱听，巧克力真是冤枉的。什么吃巧克力长粉刺，要吃味道像巧克力的角豆，巧克力是垃圾食品等等等等，这些指责既不公平也不准确，对健康好处多多的美味巧克力被不明不白地冤枉了。

There is in fact a growing body of credible scientific evidence that chocolate contains a host of heart-healthy and mood-enhancing phytochemicals, with benefits to both body and mind.
越来越多的科学证据表明，巧克力含有多种有益心脏、改善情绪的植物化学物质。

For one, chocolate is a plentiful source of antioxidants. These are substances that reduce the ongoing cellular and arterial damage caused by oxidative reactions.
举例来说，巧克力有丰富的抗氧化剂，能减少氧化作用对细胞和动脉的持续破坏。

You may have heard of a type of antioxidants called polyphenols. These are protective chemicals found in plant foods such as red wine and green tea. Chocolate, it turns out, is particularly rich in polyphenols. According to researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, the same antioxidant properties found in red wine that protect against heart disease are also found in comparable quantities in chocolate.
不知你是否听说过一种叫多酚（polyphenols）的抗氧化剂，这是红酒和绿茶之类的植物食物中含有的有益人体的化学成分。巧克力中的多酚含量特别高。据达拉斯的德克萨斯大学西南医学中心研究发现，红酒中有预防心脏病功效的抗氧化成份在巧克力中的含量也不相上下。

How does chocolate help to prevent heart disease? The oxidation of LDL cholesterol is considered a major factor in the promotion of coronary disease. When this waxy substance oxidizes, it tends to stick to artery walls, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. But chocolate to the rescue! The polyphenols in chocolate inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol.
巧克力怎么预防心脏病呢？低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL 胆固醇）的氧化是冠状动脉疾病的元凶，因为这种蜡状物质氧化时容易粘在动脉管壁上，增加心脏病和中风的危险。巧克力中的多酚刚好能抑制LDL胆固醇的氧化。

And there's more. One of the causes of atherosclerosis is blood platelets clumping together, a process called aggregation. The polyphenols in chocolate inhibit this clumping, reducing the risks of atherosclerosis.
造成动脉硬化的原因之一是血小板凝结，而巧克力中的多酚能抑制这种凝结，降低动脉硬化风险。

High blood pressure is a well known risk factor for heart disease. It is also one of the most common causes of kidney failure, and a significant contributor to many kinds of dementia and cognitive impairment. Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate daily can reduce blood pressure in people with mild hypertension.
高血压不仅会引起心脏病，还会引起肾衰竭，导致多种痴呆症和认知障碍。研究表明，轻度高血压患者只要每天食用一小块黑巧克力就能降低血压。

Why are people with risk factors for heart disease sometimes told to take a baby aspirin every day? The reason is that aspirin thins the blood and reduces the likelihood of clots forming (clots play a key role in many heart attacks and strokes). Research performed at the department of nutrition at the University of California, Davis, found that chocolate thins the blood and performs the same anti-clotting activity as aspirin. "Our work supports the concept that the chronic consumption of cocoa may be associated with improved cardiovascular health," said UC Davis researcher Carl Keen.
为什么医生有时让有心脏病危险的人每天吃婴儿用阿司匹林？原因是阿司匹林能稀释血液，降低血液结块的可能（血液结块常引起心脏病和中风）。加州大学Davis分校营养学系研究发现，巧克力能稀释血液，起到同阿司匹林一样的防治血液结块作用。“我们的研究证实，长期食用巧克力可能会促进心血管健康，”研究员Carl Keen 说。

How much chocolate would you have to eat to obtain these benefits? Less than you might think. According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, adding only half an ounce of dark chocolate to an average American diet is enough to increase total antioxidant capacity 4 percent, and lessen oxidation of LDL cholesterol.
到底吃多少巧克力才能获益呢？比你想象中的少。美国临床营养学杂志（American Journal of Clinical Nutrition）发表的一个研究说，对一个饮食正常的美国人来说，每天补充半盎司（约28克）黑巧克力就能将总体抗氧化能力提高4%，并减少LDL胆固醇的氧化。

Why, then, has chocolate gotten such a bum reputation? It's the ingredients we add to it. Nearly all of the calories in a typical chocolate bar are sugar and fat.
既然巧克力有如此多好处，为什么一直名声狼藉？问题出在其他添加成分上。普通巧克力中几乎所有热量都来自糖和脂肪。

As far as fats go, it's the added fats that are the difficulty, not the natural fat (called cocoa butter) found in chocolate. Cocoa butter is high in saturated fat, so many people assume that it's not good for your cardiovascular system. But most of the saturated fat content in cocoa butter is stearic acid, which numerous studies have shown does not raise blood cholesterol levels. In the human body, it acts much like the monounsaturated fat in olive oil.
巧克力本身的天然脂肪（可可脂）没有坏处，人为添加的脂肪才是罪魁祸首。不少人因为可可脂的饱和脂含量高而错怪它对心血管不好，其实可可脂中的大部分饱和脂是硬脂酸，很多研究发现它并不会提高血液中胆固醇含量，它对人体的作用近似橄榄油中的单元不饱和脂肪。

Milk chocolate, on the other hand, contains added butterfat which can raise blood cholesterol levels. And it has less antioxidants and other beneficial phytochemicals than dark chocolate.
但是，牛奶巧克力中添加的乳脂会提高血液中胆固醇含量。牛奶巧克力的抗氧化成份和其他有益的植物营养素也比黑巧克力低。

Does chocolate contribute to acne? Milk chocolate has been shown to do so, but I've never heard of any evidence incriminating dark chocolate.
吃巧克力会长粉刺吗？牛奶巧克力会，但从没有研究证明黑巧克力引起粉刺。

Dark chocolate is also healthier because it has less added sugar. I'm sure you don't need another lecture on the dangers of excess sugar consumption. But if you want to become obese and dramatically raise your odds of developing diabetes, heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's disease, foods high in sugar (including high fructose corn syrup) are just the ticket.
黑巧克力比较健康是因为它的添加糖分较少。我敢肯定你不想再听一遍过量摄取糖份的危害了。如果想变肥胖，增加糖尿病、心脏病、癌症和老年痴呆症的可能，多吃高糖食物（包括含高果糖的玉米糖浆）就一准没跑。

Are chocolate's benefits limited to the health of the body? Hardly. Chocolate has long been renown for its remarkable effects on human mood. We are now beginning to understand why.
巧克力的好处是否仅限于身体？非也。巧克力对情绪的调节作用也久负盛名。现在我们开始了解个中奥妙了。

Chocolate is the richest known source of a little-known substance called theobromine, a close chemical relative of caffeine. Theobromine, like caffeine, and also like the asthma drug theophylline, belong to the chemical group known as xanthine alkaloids. Chocolate products contain small amounts of caffeine, but not nearly enough to explain the attractions, fascinations, addictions, and effects of chocolate. The mood enhancement produced by chocolate may be primarily due to theobromine.
巧克力富含一种鲜为人知的化学物质 - 可可碱，它是咖啡因的近亲。可可碱与咖啡因、茶碱（哮喘药）一样，属于黄嘌呤生物碱家族。虽然巧克力中有极少量咖啡因，但这么小的含量不足以说明人们为什么对巧克力如此痴迷，而可可碱的情绪调节功能才是巧克力的魅力之源。

Chocolate also contains other substances with mood elevating effects. One is phenethylamine, which triggers the release of pleasurable endorphins and potentates the action of dopamine, a neurochemical associated with sexual arousal and pleasure. Phenethylamine is released in the brain when people become infatuated or fall in love.
巧克力还有其他情绪调节物质。一种是苯乙胺，它能刺激大脑释放愉悦情绪的内啡肽，并指挥多巴胺发挥作用，多巴胺是一种神经传导物质，负责大脑中情欲和其他愉悦的感觉。热恋中的男女大脑中会分泌苯乙胺。

Another substance found in chocolate is anandamide (from the Sanskrit word "ananda," which means peaceful bliss). A fatty substance that is naturally produced in the brain, anandamide has been isolated from chocolate by pharmacologists at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego. It binds to the same receptor sites in the brain as cannabinoids -- the psychoactive constituents in marijuana -- and produces feelings of elation and exhilaration. (If this becomes more widely known, will they make chocolate illegal?)
巧克力还有一种物质叫花生四烯酸乙醇胺（anandamide）（从梵语词ananda来，意思是平和幸福）。这种大脑自然分泌的脂肪物质已经被圣地亚哥的神经学研究所的药理学家从巧克力中分离出来了。它的工作原理近似大麻，跟大麻素（大麻的神经麻木成分）附着在同样的大脑神经末梢上，产生飘飘欲仙的愉悦感受。（如果知道的人多了，巧克力会不会被归为违禁品？）

If that weren't enough, chocolate also boosts brain levels of serotonin. Women typically have lower serotonin levels during PMS and menstruation, which may be one reason women typically experience stronger cravings for chocolate at these times in their cycles. People suffering from depression so characteristically have lower serotonin levels that an entire class of anti-depressive medications called serotonin uptake inhibitors (including Prozac, Paxil, and Zooloft) have been developed that raise brain levels of serotonin.
怎么？还嫌不够？再加一条：巧克力能提高大脑中血清素含量。经前综合症和月经周期中的女性血清素含量通常偏低，这可能就是女性在这些时候特别想吃巧克力的原因。抑郁症患者的血清素含量也偏低，所以一大类抑郁症药物专门提高大脑中血清素含量，叫做血清素再吸收阻抗剂（包括Prozac, Paxil和Zooloft）。

Since I am known as an advocate of healthy eating, I'm often asked about my food indulgences. One of my favorite desserts is a piece of dark organic chocolate, along with a glass of a fine red wine.
因为我一向主张健康饮食，所以常被问到对什么食物没有免疫力。我最爱的饭后甜点之一是一块有机黑巧克力加一杯上等红酒。

I do have a policy, though, to eat only organic and/or fair trade chocolate. This is because of what I have learned about child slavery in the cocoa trade.
不过我有一个条件，只吃有机和公平贸易巧克力，因为我不想支持使用非法童工的可可贸易。

May your life be full of healthy pleasures.
祝你的生活充满健康愉快。