Chocolate boosts blood vessel function

Chocoholics have been given further reason to rejoice when a small clinical study showed that dark chocolate improves the function of blood vessels.

"In this sample of healthy adults, dark chocolate ingestion over a short period of time was shown to significantly improve (blood vessel) function," said Dr Valentine Yanchou Njike of Yale Prevention Research Center, a co-investigator of the study.

The results, presented at the annual American College of Cardiology scientific meeting in New Orleans, add to mounting evidence of the health benefits of dark chocolate.

For the complete article on this, goto: http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/1035796

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Chocolate is Good

Chocolate is Good

I found another excuse to eat EVEN more chocolate,
This website, which tells that:

Cocoa is known to be rich in flavanols like epicatechin, which is believed to be the active ingredient for the health benefits associated with drinking the popular beverage.


Norman Hollenberg, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School was cited as telling Chemistry & Industry that epicatechin is so important that it should be considered a vitamin, Marina Murphy reports in the magazine of the Society of Chemical Industry.

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Flavonoid-rich cocoa found healthy for the brain

By studying differences in people living on and off the group of islands called Kuna, researchers found that people who regularly drank cocoa rich in flavonoids had less chance of having dementia, diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School (Boston, Massachusetts, United States) found that native people living on the island group Kuna, off the Caribbean coast of Panama in Central America, did not have high blood pressure when young and old. However, if these natives left their homeland for the Central American mainland, their blood pressure went up.

After about fifteen years of research to find a cause for this difference, the researchers found that Kuna natives drink several cups of cocoa each day. However, if they move away from Kuna, then that habit did not continue or did not continue in exactly the same way.

The researchers eventually found the crucial link. They discovered that cocoa drank by Kuna natives is very high in the compounds called flavonids, while the cocoa drank on the mainland is not rich in flavonids.

For the complete article on this, goto: http://www.itwire.com/content/view/10306/1066/

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Dark Chocolate Has Health Benefits Not Seen in Other Varieties

Dark Chocolate Has Health Benefits Not Seen in Other Varieties

By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure

Dark chocolate -- not white chocolate -- lowers high blood pressure, say Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Their report appears in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

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."

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.

For the complete article on this, goto: http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20030827/dark-chocolate-is-healthy-chocolate

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Healthy Chocolate?

It's great news that research found a food that lowers blood pressure

and is healthy for the heart and maybe more. The problem is that the chocolate most Americans consume is not the same kind. The more popular kinds of chocolate have little or no positive effect on your health. Only certain chocolate may be healthy

.

Dark chocolate is the chocolate that was found to have positive effects on blood pressure. Participants given dark, milk, or white chocolate every day were evaluated in different studies. It turns out that dark chocolate contains important antioxidants called flavonods. These natural compounds from the cocoa bean are known to increase nitric oxide, reduce platelet aggregation, and inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Cocoa can decrease blood pressure, reduce cholesterol

, and increase your insulin sensitivity. Milk and white chocolate are low in these antioxidants and do not have the same effect.

For the complete article on this, goto: http://www.articlealley.com/article_133162_23.html

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Chocolate - Between An Aphrodisiac or Better Sex

Chocolate - Between An Aphrodisiac or Better Sex

The saying may go, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach", but what about women? It is a long standing tradition to present a woman with a box of chocolate as a romantic gesture. Is it simply because women love chocolate or does the root of this tradition go deeper?

What is An Aphrodisiac?

An aphrodisiac is reputed to "put you in the mood for love" and the name comes from the Greek goddess of love Aphrodite. It is possible that the aphrodisiacal qualities come from our own mindset and expectations. First of all, we get a certain amount of pleasure from consuming chocolate. For one, the melting point of chocolate is slightly below human body temperature so it melts in your mouth. That in itself is a stimulating experience but what about the substances found in chocolate? And what are the roots of chocolate as an aphrodisiac in history? Those are a lot of useful information but as you would expect, there are conflicting arguments on whether or not it is an aphrodisiac.

Chocolate is An Aphrodisiac in History

One report said that the Aztecs considered all chocolate an aphrodisiac. Because of this, all foods made with chocolate were strictly forbidden to women. However, another report stated that the Aztecs and Mayans were the first to recognize the potency of this food, celebrating the harvest with festivals of wild orgies. Both could be true (and may be) but it seems to me that if they were having wild orgies, they would want the women to eat it. From the time the first coca beans were harvested by the Mayans, there has been the belief that chocolate has a euphoric impact on the body’s senses. The conquistadores saw the Emperor Montezuma of the Aztecs consuming a large quantity of cocoa in the form of a beverage called chocolatl before entering his harem. May be, the Aztecs apparently considered it an aphrodisiac.The invading Spaniards spread the Emperor’s belief that cocoa was an aphrodisiac and brought it to Europe. This belief was also shared by one of history’s most famous lovers, Giacomo Casanova.

There are people throughout history who also believed in the stimulating qualities of chocolate. In 1624 Johan Franciscus Rauch, a professor in Vienna, condemned chocolate as an inflamer of passions and urged monks not to drink it as he wanted to ban it in the monasteries. It is said that Madame du Barry, courtesan and mistress of Louis XV, always served her lovers a cup of chocolat before they were let in to her bedroom, and that the great lover and alchemist Casanova, who drank his cioccolata at Cafe Florian in Venice, considered chocolate more stimulating than champagne and called it the "elixir of love". Montezuma supposedly drank a cup of chocolate before entering his harem.

Since then, the use of chocolate as part of the mating ritual has been firmly established. More recently it has been shown that not only does chocolate increase the sexual appetite but also produces a sense of elation similar to an orgasm.

Phenylethylamine

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, a naturally occurring amino-acid which some consider to have aphrodisiacal effects and is even said to be able to "cure" hangovers. Phenylethylamine is a substance which is released naturally in the human body when you're in love. P phenyl-ethylamine, which is known to stimulate the release of dopamine into the pleasure centers commonly associated with an orgasm.

Dopamine and Serotonin

Other stimulants present in chocolate are dopamine and serotonin, which alleviate pain and encourage a good mood. Serotonin, a chemical naturally produced by the brain, which is known to reduce anxiety and produces feelings of pleasure in a similar way to sunlight. Serotonin is most commonly associated with the effects of marijuana or getting ‘stoned’ (you would have to eat 25lbs of dark chocolate at once to achieve the same effect).

Addition

In addition to this scientific evidence, a great deal of behavioral research has been done to study the sexual behavior of women who eat a lot of chocolate and those who don’t. The conclusion of this is that women who consume large quantities of chocolate have more satisfying sex lives. However the reverse correlation could also be assumed where women with satisfying sex lives tend to eat more chocolate.

Despite the fact that the relationship between sex and chocolate can’t be proven with 100% certainty, the scientific evidence combined with behavioral studies provides a compelling argument for cocoa’s impact on our sexual drive - it is convincing enough for chocolate to have become a part of the daily diet!

For the complete article on this, goto: http://hippoinspiro.blogspot.com/2007/02/chocolate-between-aphrodisiac-or-better.html

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Heart Healthy Chocolate

Most people get a rush of good feelings when they eat a little chocolate. There are studies which show dark chocolate is a heart healthy food. Now as News On 6’s Rick Wells reports, a new study indicates chocolate can improve blood flow to the brain and perhaps improve learning and memory.

Several ladies are enjoying a little chocolate. “We are solving the world's problems while eating chocolate." Sounds like they might be making some progress. We have heard in recent years about research, which suggests that chocolate, particularly dark chocolate is heart healthy.

New research suggests the same compounds, called flavanols, which help chocolate help the heart, also make it good brain food. "Now we are learning that flavanol rich cocoa may improve learning and memory by improving or maintaining healthy brain function," Harold Schmitz Ph.D., chief science officer at Mars, Inc. Well, that's good news for chocolate lovers. “This is my blend which I've created," says Steven Howard. He owns KoKoa. Howard is a chocolate chef, a choclatier.

Howard's looked at this new study and says the higher the percentage of cocoa in the chocolate the better. "The darker the chocolate, at least 70 percent and above, the healthier it is." The study says those flavanols in the cocoa help produce a gas, which relaxes blood vessel, walls and increases blood flow and oxygen in the brain.

For the complete artele on this, goto: http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=120959

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New benefits found in chocolate

New benefits found in chocolate

SAN FRANCISCO - As if people needed another excuse to like chocolate, new studies suggest a specially formulated type of cocoa may boost brain function and delay decline as people age, researchers said on Sunday.

A farmer holds cocoa beans.

Scientists, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco, presented results from early studies testing the effects on the brain of flavanols, an ingredient found in cocoa.
The research, the studies suggest that flavanols increase blood flow to the brain and may hold promise for treating some vascular impairments.

The latest research also suggests benefits for the brain.

Ian Macdonald of Britain's University of Nottingham Medical School, conducted a small brain imaging study on young, healthy women to see whether flavanol-rich cocoa helped boost cognitive function during challenging mental tasks.

He believes more research might show that increased blood flow could benefit older adults and those who have cognitive impairments, such as fatigue or even mini-strokes.

For the complete article on this, goto: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-02/19/content_811776.htm

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News For Dark Chocolate Lovers

Scientist at Harvard University School of Public Health recently examined 136 studies on cocoa, the foundation for chocolate. They discovered it does seem to boost heart health. “Studies have shown heart benefits from increased blood flow, less platelet stickiness and clotting, and improved cholesterol,” says Mary B. Engler, PhD, director of the Cardiovascular and Genomics Graduate Program at University of California. These benefits are the result of cocoa’s antioxidant chemicals known as flavonoids, which seem to prevent both cell damage and inflammation.

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Acai + chocolate = antioxidant powerhouse

An Antioxidant Powerhouse By Vanessa Herb

"Go ahead...indulge yourself! Medical science has cooked up sweet reasons to eat chocolate (as long as it is dark chocolate)!"

Sound familiar? This is a popular headline today. If you have tuned into television or read magazines, you've seen it too. A simple Google search of dark chocolate and antioxidants reveals mountains of new evidence on the health benefits of eating dark chocolate. While health benefits have been attributed to chocolate throughout its 3500 year history dating back to Olmec Indians in 1500 B.C., the full extent of its contribution to human health is only now being brought to light through modern technology and research.


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