Friday, September 21, 2007

HEALTH NEWS: DARK CHOCOLATE IS GOOD FOR YOU

Just listening to the podcast from TheNakedScientists.com and they did a story on how doctors have found that the things that make a glass of wine a day good for your health are also found in dark chocolate. They say a glass of wine and 30 grams of dark chocolate per day actually helps you be more healthy. Of course, they left out the part where you should also exercise regularly to work off the pounds you are likely to put on by consuming 30 grams of dark chocolate and a glass of wine a day. So, be sure and do that, too.

Incidentally, one of the scientists they interviewed also mentioned that a cup of coffee per day lowers your chances of becoming diabetic. I'm guessing he meant that statistics show that a cup of coffee a day lowers your chances of becoming diabetic. I've never heard of any tangible link between coffee consumption and diabetes prevention.

As far as how chocolate (and wine) make(s) you healthier, studies have shown that eating it regularly lowers your risk for heart disease. Some how the stuff that makes up the chocolate (which is very similar to the stuff that makes up wine) effect blood vessels in a way that improves heart health. To be even more specific, I found a transcript of the interview at TheNakedScientists.com (read it entirely here: http://urltea.com/1jxk) and here's the important cutting:
We've done our own research in this area and shown that the potent effects, modifying the function of endothelial cells, which are the cells that line blood vessels, and these effects could definitely be associated with reduced risk of heart disease. Exactly the same molecules we're looking at when we're looking at red wine and there's so much similarity between the effects we're observing and the molecules that we're studying that there's a parallel between consumers of highly tannic red wine and those who like to eat dark chocolate, in terms of the effects observed.


Those were the words of one Roger Corder from the Royal London Medical School. So, there you have it!

I'm going to head down to Trader Joe's and pick me up a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck and a slab of the dark brown stuff!

Oh, damn... I just remembered that I don't drink and don't touch refined sugar...NO FAIR!

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