Can Chocolate Help with Oxidative Stress? 

Can eating chocolate or drinking wine, coffee or tea play a role in keeping us young? According to a team of researchers led by Prof. Dr. Ivana Ivanovi-Burmazovi from the Chair of Bioinorganic Chemistry at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), together with researchers from the USA, compounds within these foodstuffs can activate with zinc to protect against oxidative stress.

This specific compound within wine, chocolate, tea and coffee is a hydroquinone group found in polyphenols. Zinc activates the hydroquinone groups, producing natural protection against superoxide, a byproduct of human cell respiration that damages the body's own biomolecules. Although a natural process that is a basic part of our metabolism, oxidation can be accelerated and create a greater risk for inflammation and disease. Oxidative stress is also a known contributing factor to ageing and a low life expectancy...