Re: Cocoa and health
- From: Rumpelstiltskin <PleaseDoNotReplyByEmail@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 18:15:33 GMT
On 28 Feb 2006 17:15:00 GMT, Earl <neptune@xxxxxx> wrote:
Eating chocolate may halve risk of dying
21:00 27 February 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Gaia Vince
Regular consumption of cocoa may halve risk of dying and lower
blood pressure, suggests a Dutch study in elderly men. But it is
not necessarily good news for chocoholics, experts caution.
At five year intervals over a 15-year period, 470 men aged over
65 were questioned about their dietary intake of cocoa and
received physical examinations. The men were placed in three
groups according to their level of cocoa consumption and data
about their health was collected. During the study, 314 men
died, 152 due to cardiovascular disease.
?The men in the group that consumed the least cocoa were twice
as likely to die from a heart attack than those in the group
that consumed the most cocoa ? at least 4g per day ? and the
risk remained lower even when other factors such as smoking,
physical exercise and weight were taken into account,? says lead
researcher Brian Buijsse, at the Dutch National Institute for
Public Health and the Environment.
?And men in the study who consumed the most cocoa were less
likely to die of any cause,? he adds.
Insulin sensitivity
The high-cocoa men also had significantly lower blood pressure
than the other groups ? but Buijsse says that the link between
low blood pressure and reduced risk of cardiovascular disease
cannot be made from his results. Instead, he says that cocoa-
containing antioxidant chemicals, called flavanols, may be the
cause.
?Flavan-3-ols have a positive effect on endothelial function
[the function of cells lining the blood vessels] improving the
elasticity of the blood vessels so that they respond better to
changes in blood stream. They also improve insulin sensitivity,?
Buijsse says.
?But chocolate contains many calories, so we are not
recommending that people go out and eat lots of chocolate,? he
adds.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) also urges caution, saying
that while there is some evidence that when eaten in small
quantities, dark chocolate might have some beneficial effects on
blood vessels and lowering blood pressure, no study has
investigated the long-term clinical effects.
"Healthy" chocolate
?This small study reinforces the fact that more still needs to
be done to determine how eating cocoa affects coronary heart
disease in the long term,? says Cathy Ross, BHF?s medical
spokeswoman.
The study is published just days after confectionary giant Mars
announced in the US it is to market a ?healthy? chocolate bar
with boosted flavanols and added vitamins, which was greeted
with scepticism by nutritionists.
I'm not worried about that, since I greet nutritionists with
skepticism.
?The key thing to remember about such studies is that chocolate
is more often part of the problem, not the solution,? Ross told
New Scientist.
?Cocoa is rarely tolerable in large amounts in its raw state and
therefore to consume the suggested therapeutic amount you would
have to have 100g of dark chocolate per day. This would mean an
average intake of 500 calories per 100g with an average of 30%
fat content,? she points out.
Journal reference: Archives of Internal Medicine (vol 166, p
411)
Think I'll have a cup of cocoa now. I have low-carb cocoa
which may be better than most. It's 25 calories per two
tablespoons, and is-fat free, though I never think about
calories or fat - just carbohydrates. The carbohydrates are
5 grams, 4 of which are sugar, regrettably, but maybe it's
impossible to get all the sugar out of cocoa, I don't know.
I don't know what these bloody Flavan-3-ols are supposed
to be - maybe it would be more intelligible if it were spelled
in hieroglyphics rather than in Roman characters, but
probably not. I read on the web that, whatever they are,
there's not much of them in commercial cocoa because the
beans are roasted. Actually I read that Flavan-3-ol is
beneficial to circulation in plants, which sounds promising
for humans, especially older humans who resemble plants
more than do younger humans.
Nevertheless, I'll gladly accept any excuse, or no excuse,
to drink cocoa.
The box does say "Contains natural antioxidants!" and
adds "80 mg per serving" (where the "serving" is two
tablespoons). I wonder if I can go back in time and shoot
the guy who popularized the term "serving". I always have
to do extra math to figure out how much I'm going to get
of ingredients if I eat a reasonable amount of something
rather than an unrealistic "serving". I have no idea how
much antioxidant I'm supposed to have, though, anyway.
It's actually too late now: I have to go out and drink
a gallon or so of coffee, though I usually manage no
more than about 24 ounces per day, but it is very strong
coffee. Coffee must be good for one's brain, since
Voltaire drank 70 cups of coffee a day, though Sartre
settled for amphetamines. I'll have cocoa this evening.
.
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