Chocolate Not Just Good for the Soul; but Good for Your Heart
I stumbled upon some research that showed that the thing that I am addicted to may actually be good for my heart. My drug of choice is chocolate. In 2002 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s the research regarding chocolate and the heart was introduced. It is the flavonoids that are found in chocolate that may have a beneficial affect on cardiovascular health. Flavonoids are compounds found in plants that contain potent properties of antioxidants. Currently there are more than 4,000 flavonoids known and the flavonoids found in cocoa are called flavonols; the Mars Corporation has developed a way to produce chocolate bars in which these rich flavanols are preserved, so they are not just found in cocoa or dark chocolate..
Two different studies regarding the affects of chocolate on cardiovascular health were performed. The first study in this research was performed by Dr. Norman K. Hollenberg and his team. Hollenberg noticed the blood pressure of native people of the Kuna Island in Panama. Hollenberg observed that the people of Kuna never suffered from high blood pressure; he also noted that these people drank at least five cups of cocoa (chocolate) a day. Hollenberg discovered that cocoa with more amounts of flavonols was correlated to a higher activity of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is known to promote a healthy flow of blood in the body and through the heart, and to also lower blood pressure.
A second study in this research project was performed based upon the affects that cocoa may have in clotting and blood flow. It was noted by Dr. Carl Keen that cocoa (in certain amounts) shows the same affects on the heart as aspirin does (not many other comparisons are known between cocoa and aspirin). Cocoa, as it seems, make it harder for platelets to bond together; making clotting in arteries less likely to occur, encouraging healthier blood flow.
A team of Italian researchers also found the same results of eating or consuming cocoa on blood pressure. However, this team also noted that the consumption of cocoa may improve the health of people suffering from diabetes, because stroke and cardio vascular problems are a larger risk for people with this disease. They noticed that the flavonols in cocoa also made the metabolism of sugar of people with diabetes better; the breakdown of sugar was more rapid.
It must be said, by all the researches of these studies that the consumption of cocoa must still be in moderation. As much as cocoa has good affects on the heart and the body, it is still filled with fat. The amount of flavonols in cocoa is equivalent to the amount in red wine and green tea. So for chocolate lovers realize that you may be improving your health without even being aware.
-kamullig
posted by PWH @ 8:24 PM
12 comments
12 Comments:
It makes me feel good that at least somebody has something positive to say about eating chocolate!
However, I do have a question regarding one of the studies. If cocoa makes it harder for platelets to bond together, wouldn't the healing of wounds or cuts be adversely affected? If the cocoa affects the heart as does aspirin, is it similar to aspirin in any other ways? I would like to be able to eat chocolate to cure headaches. I enjoyed the blog, but one grammatical remark: instead of "affects" I think the noun you mean is "effects."
Posted by J543
Well this is great! Now when people tell me that I eat too much chocolate I have a great defense! I'm helping out my cardiovascular system! But, I do have some questions regarding what was written. Out of the 4,000 flavanoids how many flavonols are in cocoa? And in what are the other flavonoids in? Also, compared to aspirin, how strong are the effects of the flavonols? Does aspirin have stronger effects with less amounts? Or is it relatively the same? Lastly, I'm a bit confused about how the intake of cocoa can help diabetics. Since the way to get cocoa in your body is mostly through chocolate, the diabetic person will have to be injecting insulin, to balance out the sugars. So, is it over a long period of time that the cocoa will help? Because it almost doesn't seem worth it. Maybe you could clarify that, because it was a bit confusing. All in all, I thought it was a great blog with good information. Nice work!
Posted by jacobc7
I heard that chocolate was supposed to be good for people in some way, but I never knew how so I thought that this was a good topic to write about. It was pretty informative on the effects that chocolate has on the heart and the body, but maybe more information on how too much chocolate is bad for you could be included. I think it would be better if there were both sides of the story because when people read that chocolate is good for you, they'll probably over-indulge in it which is bad. Overall, I thought this blog was good and something that a lot of people would be interested in reading.
Lily Huynh
Nice blog with a interesting topic. Your title was really catchy and interesting. I thought chocolate was really bad for our body. And I always felt guilty when i bought chocolates. Now I guess I won't feel as guilty as before, because I know that chocolate is healthy source for our body in some ways. I believe every food has some positive and negative affects on our body. I have some questions about relationship between the chocolate and aspirin. I know that aspirins are pain relievers does chocolates have some affects of pain relief? And I thought chocolate contains high sweet level and how does that help diabetes?
kimji4
Well that just made my day! I knew that on a very small level that some chocolate was good for you, but I didn't realize it helped your heart and the effects of blood flow. I really liked that you mentioned the study about the native people of Kuna Island that ate/drank a lot of chocolate and that they don't suffer from high blood pressure. But how much is too much? Maybe you can add a study or a quote of a nutritionist stating what is a safe amount of chocolate to still get the healthy effects. Eating Easter candy will be that much easier now!
Since I have low blood pressure, I don't believe this studies. I am eating chocolate often but not too many. However, this information makes me feel better because when I am eating chocolates, I felt a little bit guilty. I felt like I was getting fat but now I can say I am protecting my heart. I hope this is true that chocolates really help cardiovascular system and my low blood pressure. I think the cardiovascular medicines could be chocolate taste.
This is a very interesting article. I knew that eating a little piece of dark chocolate everyday was healthy but I didn't know why. This is great topic to inform that chocolate is in fact healthy but only when a limited amount is consumed. There are actually some questions to consider though when I was reading this article. How much does the cocoa affect the heart in comparison to aspirin? Is it as affective or maybe even more? Also, the part of "Hollenberg noticed the blood pressure of native people of the Kuna Island in Panama," could be taken out and the next sentence rephrased to this-"Hollenberg observed that the native people of Kuna Island in Panama never suffered from high blood pressure; he also noted that these people drank at least five cups of cocoa (chocolate) a day,"
Overall I enjoyed reading this article and I thought it was something that people should know.
posted by leesh6
I enjoyed this article as I am a fellow chocoholic and this new research is good news indeed. I have heard a lot about chocolate being good for your heart recently so this article sparked my interest; I had no idea that cocoa had to do with affecting platelets, very interesting. I do however have a few criticizms; as another post said, I agree that you need to clarify more between actual cocoa and chocolate because they are two quite different things from my understanding. Yes, chocolate does have high cocoa contents as it is the main ingredient so it will be good for you; but cocoa is the unprocessed form of the plant/bean where as chocolate is cocoa, cocoa butter, sugar, and a whole bunch of other stuff that may not be so good for you. Additionally, I think that the hot cocoa the studies refer to may be a different drink than the "Swiss Miss" type stuff that us Americans think of when hot cocoa is mentioned, maybe you want to clarify that a bit as well. Also, I've heard that dark chocolate is the best kind of chocolate for you since it has a higher cocoa content where as white chocolate will not help your health in the way your article expresses because it is made from cocoa butter only (no actual cocoa) which is mainly oil/fat and flavor from the bean but has none of the "good stuff" that cocoa has in it to positively effect your health, maybe you would want to mention tat as well?.
That's so awesome! how can it be possible that something that i thought was bad for me is actually good, of course in moderation. One question i have though is whether these studies were done with cocoa without sugar or how much sugar content was in the cocoa they used. Rather, how much sugar was used with the cocoa. It seems to me like this would have the adverse affect on people with diabetes.
HEH
Wow. I never knew that chocolate was good for your heart, especially that there are studies that proves this statement. All I have been hearing about chocolate is that it's not that good for you. But how about those who don't eat chocolate, should they start eating it just for there health? I think that you should explain both sides, those who love chocolate and those who don't. Besides that, I like your essay, it's interesting, and how you explained the effects of chocolate and cocoa.
"My drug of choice" good choice of wording, very catchy. Anyways, I still can not believe that chocolate can do the things that it does. And to place chocolate in the text of scienctific or medical jargon is weird. If I were to compare certain candies or junk foods and their health or lack of healthiness I would say that chocolate did seem the most healthy because it was derived from things such as cocoa. And WHOA there are people who drink five cups of cocoa A DAY? I always felt guilty ordering hot chocolate at Dunkin Donuts because I felt it was clogging my arteries or something, but next time I will order my hot chocolates from a small to a large.
Wow! That is really good to know considering I am addicted to chocolate as well. I would have never thought that it would be good for your cardiovascular health. The newscasters are always telling the American Public to completely give up fatting foods such as candy and chocolate but, now that studies have shown that chocolate is good for you people can still eat it. I found the article extremely interesting! I am a little confused about the studies regarding diabetes? How can chocolate help diabetes? Additionally, what is your take on the new chocolate on the market called "Cocoa Via" that lowers cholesterol?
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