Healthy chocolate for wellbeing and fitness

Health and fitness are still prominent among the long-term trends in the food sector, so Herza Schokolade offers a range of functional chocolate pieces containing different amounts of cocoa and special health-promoting ingredients.

They are available in a variety of shapes and sizes and ideal for functional power bars and power drinks as well as breakfast cereals, muesli bars, ice cream and desserts.

Chocolate – or rather the cocoa paste in it – contains so-called flavonoids, members of the polyphenol class of substances.

Polyphenols are found widely in the plants as antioxidants, bitter principles and colorants.

In particular, cocoa contains epicatechins and catechins, which are thought to have a number of positive effects on health.

For example they have an antioxidant effect by protecting the cells of the body against free radicals.

Polyphenols boost the effect of antioxidants such as the vitamins C and E.

The daily consumption of as little as 4 g of cocoa or 10 g of dark chocolate significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disorders such as atherosclerosis.

In principle it is true to say that the higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher is the polyphenol content of the chocolate.

On average this is 460 mg/kg – more than in green tea and about three times as much as in red wine.

In cooperation with its sister companies SternVitamin and SternLife, Herza has also developed chocolate pieces to promote physical and mental fitness.

“The theobromine naturally present in the cocoa is already an aid to concentration”, Bodil Reimers explains.

“By adding lecithin granulate it is possible to improve memory too. And the addition of caffeine or guarana boosts performance in the office or in sports.”

“Special sugar replacers that raise the blood glucose level only slowly and over quite a long period serve this purpose too.”

In the form of drops in muesli bars or as powder or small slivers in power drinks, the fortified chocolate pieces are a valuable source of energy.