Cheers ! :)
Posted on 07/20/2005 10:47:44 AM PDT by kingattax
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dark chocolate can not only soothe your soul but can lower blood pressure too, researchers reported Monday.
The study, published by the American Heart Association, joins a growing body of research that show compounds found in chocolate called flavonoids can help the blood vessels work more smoothly, perhaps reducing the risk of heart disease.
"Previous studies suggest flavonoid-rich foods, including fruits, vegetables, tea, red wine and chocolate, might offer cardiovascular benefits, but this is one of the first clinical trials to look specifically at dark chocolate's effect on lowering blood pressure among people with hypertension," said Jeffrey Blumberg of Tufts University in Boston, who led the study.
"This study is not about eating more chocolate," Blumberg added. "It suggests that cocoa flavonoids appear to have benefits on vascular function and glucose sensitivity."
Scientists are far from being able to make specific recommendations for patients based on their research on chocolate, and nutritionists have urged people to be cautious because chocolate is high in fat, sugar and calories.
Blumberg and colleagues at the University of L'Aquila in Italy studied 10 men and 10 women with high blood pressure.
For 15 days, half ate a daily 3.5 ounce (100 gram) bar of specially formulated, flavonoid-rich dark chocolate, while the other half ate the same amount of white chocolate.
Then each group "crossed over" and ate the other chocolate.
"White chocolate, which has no flavonoids, was the perfect control food because it contains all the other ingredients and calories found in dark chocolate," Blumberg said.
"It's important to note that the dark chocolate we used had a high level of flavonoids, giving it a slightly bittersweet taste. Most Americans eat milk chocolate, which has a low amount of these compounds."
Writing in the journal Hypertension, Blumberg's team said when the volunteers ate the special dark chocolate, they had a 12 mm Hg decrease in systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) and a 9 mm Hg decrease in diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) on average.
Blood pressure did not change when the volunteers ate white chocolate.
"This is not only a statistically significant effect, but it's also a clinically meaningful decline," Blumberg said. "This is the kind of reduction in blood pressure often found with other healthful dietary interventions."
Eating dark chocolate also seemed to improve how the body used insulin, and reduced low density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol by about 10 percent on average.
"The findings do not suggest that people with high blood pressure should eat lots of dark chocolate in lieu of other important blood pressure-reduction methods, such as medication and exercise," Blumberg said. "Rather, we are identifying specific flavonoids that can have a benefit on blood pressure and insulin sensitivity."
As far as I'm concerned, chocolate should be included in the food pyramid.
It's true. I've been eating "Dark Side" M&Ms every day for a month, and can hold onto the remote for much longer periods of time without needing to rest.
I've been looking for "Dark Side" M & Ms for two months. Where are they? Wal-Mart & Kroger used to have them, but they've since vanished.
In my area (outside Chicago), I bought some as recently as last week at Walgreens. You may have to step over a picketing pharmacist or two, but what the hey.
Cheers ! :)
LOL.....and everybody knows that if you store several pounds of chocolate on top of the refrigerator, the calories automatically dissolve b/c of the coldness they absorb through seepage.
Limited Editions Are Latest Candy Craze / July 19, 2005
The Hershey Company -- one of the nation's best known candy company's -- may not have Willy Wonka's golden tickets, but it does have a secret weapon: a Cherry Cordial Creme Kiss. While the candies don't hit the shelves until October, they will only be available until the following January.
It's a limited edition -- the latest craze in the candy industry. "We have found limited editions to really drive and accelerate growth, and the reason why is that it is offering consumers new options and alternatives," said Jay Cooper, vice president of chocolate marketing for the Hershey Company.
Limited editions comprised a major part of Hershey's record first-quarter profits. The company now has up to 10 limited editions available at a time.
On the shelves for just a couple of months, limited editions are tiny variations on existing brands. "If you are a Hershey kisses user, how can you not pick up a new variety of Hershey kisses and at least try one?" said Cooper.
Sweet Tooth May Exceed Limited Supply-----
Steve Almond, author of the book "Candy Freak," says limited edition candies are a kind of syrupy-sweet, psychological warfare. "Candy consumers are like rats in the sense that if they are introduced something they like a lot, and then it is removed, they get kind of frantic about getting it," he said.
Almond still has two boxes of limited edition dark chocolate Kit-Kats from 2002. He says he's angry Hershey's stopped making them, but there is little he can do.
"Let's put this in perspective," Almond said, "nobody is going to march on Hershey's." But there is a solution for disgruntled candy lovers who want to get their hands on coveted limited editions long after stores have sold out of them.
Candy collector Chris Schultz, a pack rat with a sweet tooth, sells hoarded limited editions on the eBay Internet auction site. "Every time I had an auction, sold out, sold out," he said. "Just kept selling, selling, selling."
Schultz's highest priced treat yielded a 1,000 percent profit. "A lemon cheesecake Kit Kat, which was from Japan, sold for $27.50," he said.
ABC News' John Berman filed this report for "World News Tonight."
But if you leave it in sight, you may have to share it.
YOU MEAN ITS NOT!!!!!!!
The striking pharmacists already earn over $100 a year and I feel their pain.
Have you tried the dark Milky Ways? They remind me of Forever Yours bars, not to age myself or anything. . .
Go ahead and share if you want to.....I'm certainly not going to.
Nice 'tude. :)
Hey, it's My Chocolate, and somebody else gets it over my dead body.
Mmmm... I love those. They'd better make them a staple of the M&M's production line. It would keep my business.
I found some at Toys R Us, but they're 3 bucks for a 14 oz bag. A little bit more expensive, but hey, you take what you can get.
FYI, they sell dark chocolate Kit Kats in New Brunswick, Canada. They are awesome. I spent a week visiting my parents in St. Andrews, and brought back half a dozen of them.
Yes, they're all gone now, but my mother promises to send more. :-D
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