Here are some interesting facts on Chocolate! Indulge and Enjoy and how ever you celebrate Cupid's potent arrow, Happy Valentine's Day to you!
Researchers have some news for chocolate lovers: it may be good for you. Scientists reported preliminary evidence recently that cocoa and other chocolates may keep high blood pressure down, your blood flowing and your heart healthy.
The research, the latest which correlates eating flavonoid-rich foods with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease(1), was presented in February at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston.
One study found that a substance in cocoa helps the body process nitric oxide (NO), a compound critical for healthy blood flow and blood pressure. Another study showed that flavonols in cocoa prevent fat-like substances in the bloodstream from oxidizing and clogging the arteries, and make blood platelets less likely to stick together and cause clots. Flavonoids are plant compounds with potent antioxidant properties; so far, scientists have found more than 4,000 kinds. Cocoa beans contain large quantities of flavonoids, and so do red wine, tea, cranberries, peanuts, strawberries, apples and many other fruits and vegetables.(2) The flavonoids in chocolate are called flavonols. Antioxidants in Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate -- but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk -- is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy's National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues. Their report appears in the Aug. 28 issue of Nature. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.
"Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate."
Translation: Say "Dark, please," when ordering at the chocolate counter. Don't even think of washing it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word "moderate" as you nibble.
The Studies
Taubert's team signed up six men and seven women aged 55-64. All had just been diagnosed with mild high blood pressure -- on average, systolic blood pressure (the top number) of 153 and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of 84.
Every day for two weeks, they ate a 100-gram candy bar and were asked to balance its 480 calories by not eating other foods similar in nutrients and calories. Half the patients got dark chocolate and half got white chocolate.
Those who ate dark chocolate had a significant drop in blood pressure (by an average of 5 points for systolic and an average of 2 points for diastolic blood pressure). Those who ate white chocolate did not.
In the second study, Serafini's team signed up seven healthy women and five healthy men aged 25-35. On different days they each ate 100 grams of dark chocolate by itself, 100 grams of dark chocolate with a small glass of whole milk, or 200 grams of milk chocolate.An hour later, those who ate dark chocolate alone had the most total antioxidants in their blood. And they had higher levels of epicatechin, a particularly healthy compound found in chocolate. The milk chocolate eaters had the lowest epicatechin levels of all.
Chocolate and Your Teeth
Eating chocolate after every meal is comparatively better than brushing your teeth," he said at a forum organized by Centuries International, a non-governmental organization that aims at creating awareness about the usefulness and health benefits of chocolate. The forum, which would formally end on Saturday, celebrated globally as St. Valentine's Day, and in Ghana as National Chocolate Day, is a prelude to a chocolate festival to be held in the country in September.
Prof. Addai said he discovered that chocolate actually protected the teeth when he conducted an experiment with the Golden Tree chocolate produced in Ghana where three volunteers were made to eat chocolate. After some minutes when their saliva was taken for test it was realized that the alkaline level was high while the acidity level was low which meant that there was something in the chocolate that actually protected the teeth. Prof. Addai, said cocoa in its raw form was healthier than the processed form where sugar and milk had been added since sugar had very serious health effects that reduced the nutritional benefits of cocoa. "When you want to take chocolate take it in moderation, since sugar has damaging effects on health."
Prof. Addai, who said he was convinced about the health benefits of cocoa in its raw form and could give a lot of testimony about how it had helped a lot of people regain their health, said cocoa was the largest natural source of magnesium and was very helpful to diabetic patients, explaining that people with diabetes had low magnesium. Heart disease, stroke, malaria, cough and common cold, asthma, high blood pressure, arthritis and eye problems resulting from cataracts were some diseases that taking raw cocoa powder could help cure or reduce.
"This is not hearsay or guess work. It is a scientific fact," Prof. Addai pointed out and added that cocoa also improved stamina. Mr Stephen Dzilah, President of the Ghana Chefs Association, who is also an executive member of Centuries International, said the organization together with chefs in Ghana would soon introduce various recipes made with cocoa. "We will have chocolate coated peanuts, plantain chips, chocolate wedding cakes," he said, and noted that the Chefs Association was liaising with hotels in the country to help introduce more cocoa-based foods in their restaurants.
Karen Langston Karen Langston 1-877-215-6824 karen@iamworthit2.com
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