Happy National Chocolate Milkshake Day!

Today is National Chocolate Milkshake Day. Go out and get yourself a cold one or you can make one at home. Here's a recipe from Emeril Lagasse and Food Network.

Image linked from Food Network.com

Dark Chocolate Is Healthy Chocolate

Dark Chocolate Is Healthy Chocolate

Dark Chocolate Has Health Benefits Not Seen in Other Varieties

By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Health News

Link to article

Aug. 27, 2003 -- Got high blood pressure? Try a truffle. Worried about heart disease? Buy a bon-bon.

It's the best medical news in ages. Studies in two prestigious scientific journals say dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate or milk chocolate -- is good for you.

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.

But that's no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure -- if you've reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things.

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."

Translation: Say "Dark, please," when ordering at the chocolate counter. Don't even think of washing it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word "moderate" as you nibble.

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.

In the second study, Serafini's team signed up seven healthy women and five healthy men aged 25-35. On different days they each ate 100 grams of dark chocolate by itself, 100 grams of dark chocolate with a small glass of whole milk, or 200 grams of milk chocolate.

An hour later, those who ate dark chocolate alone had the most total antioxidants in their blood. And they had higher levels of epicatechin, a particularly healthy compound found in chocolate. The milk chocolate eaters had the lowest epicatechin levels of all.

Chocolate for Blood Pressure: Darker Is Better

What is it about dark chocolate? The answer is plant phenols -- cocoa phenols, to be exact. These compounds are known to lower blood pressure.

Chocolates made in Europe are generally richer in cocoa phenols than those made in the U.S. So if you're going to try this at home, remember: Darker is better.

Just remember to balance the calories. A 100-gram serving of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar has 531 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you ate that much raw apple you'd only take in 52 calories. But then, you'd miss out on the delicious blood pressure benefit.

A hint: Don't replace healthy foods with chocolate. Most people's diets have plenty of sweets. Switch those for some chocolate if you're going to try the truffle treatment.

Fountain of Youth? Red Wine Gives Up Secrets

By Will Dunham From Reuters.com - Thu Jul 3, 2008 12:51pm EDT
 
A compound in red wine may ward off a variety of medical conditions related to aging, providing heart benefits, stronger bones and preventing eye cataracts, researchers said on Thursday.

The study, involving mice fed a diet supplemented with resveratrol starting in their equivalent of middle age, is the latest to raise hope that the compound or drugs based on it may improve the health of people.

Most of mice given resveratrol did not live longer than other mice but were far more healthy in several important measures, according to the study published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

"The good news is we can increase health. I think that's more important than increasing life span," David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School, who led the study along with Rafael de Cabo of the U.S. government's National Institute on Aging, said in a telephone interview.
The mice in the study that were fed a high-calorie diet supplemented with resveratrol outlived those getting a high-calorie diet without the compound, the researchers said.
"Resveratrol wiped out the negative effect of the high fat," de Cabo said in a telephone interview.

Resveratrol, found in abundance in grapes and in red wine, has drawn a lot of interest from scientists and some companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, which this year paid $720 million to buy Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc, a company developing drugs that mimic the effects of resveratrol.

Sirtris scientists were involved in the study. Sinclair helped found Sirtris and is co-chairman of its scientific advisory board.

HEALTH BENEFITS
In the study, some mice were fed a standard diet, some a high-calorie diet and some got food only every other day.

The researchers then began giving some of the mice resveratrol in either low or high doses when they were 12 months old, roughly the same as 35 years old in a person. The mice given resveratrol experienced broad health benefits compared to mice not given the compound, they said.

The mice given resveratrol tended to have less age-related or obesity-related cardiovascular functional decline. Their total cholesterol was reduced, their aortas functioned better and resveratrol seemed to moderate inflammation in the heart, the researchers said.

These mice also had better bone health than those not given the compound as determined by thickness, volume, mineral content and density, as well as reduced cataract formation in the eyes and better balance and motor coordination, the researchers said.

The genes of the mice given resveratrol were active in a way similar to mice on a very low-calorie diet previously shown to slow the aging process and extend life span in some animals.

The study was a follow-up to one published in 2006 showing resveratrol improved health and longevity of overweight mice.

De Cabo said while the new findings are promising, it would be premature for people to start taking resveratrol supplements to improve health, saying a potent compound like this might interact in uncertain ways with other drugs.

(Editing by Maggie Fox and Eric Beech)

Chocolate: A Heart-Smart Treat?

It wasn't too long ago that chocolate was considered about as healthy as a stick of butter. Not anymore.

Chocolate has acquired quite a reputation as a not-so-sinful sweet indulgence. And though it may seem too good to be true, research does show that one type of chocolate is rich not only in flavor but also in the same protective antioxidants found in apples, grapes, green tea, and red wine.
So is chocolate the new superfood? Not quite. But a growing body of evidence suggests chocolate may have more to offer than guilty pleasure.

A Treat from Trees

Most of us don't think of chocolate as a plant-based food, but it is. Chocolate is made from the seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree. These seeds, also known as cocoa beans, are exceptionally rich in flavonoids, which are natural antioxidants thought to help protect against cardiovascular disease.
Once harvested, cocoa beans are left to ferment before being dried, roasted, and processed into the chocolate products we know and love.
But not all chocolate is created equal. Processing destroys many of the natural flavonoids present in cocoa beans, and chocolate products that have been alkalized have been almost entirely depleted of their natural goodness.
It's really only dark chocolate, high in cocoa content, that seems to be of benefit. Not white chocolate. Not milk chocolate. Only rich, dark chocolate.

Health Benefits

So what is it, exactly, that chocolate has to offer? Multiple studies suggest that eating small amounts of dark chocolate may protect cardiovascular health in the following ways:
Improved endothelial function: Several small-scale studies have shown that dark chocolate may help keep arteries elastic and blood free-flowing by improving the function of the endothelial cells that line blood vessels. One study of male smokers revealed that only 2 hours after eating a small piece of dark chocolate, participants experienced a significant improvement in endothelial function that lasted up to 8 hours.
Reduced blood pressure: In a recent study involving men and women with high blood pressure, those who ate 3 1/2 ounces of dark chocolate every day for 15 days experienced a drop in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Results were similar in another study of people who were between the ages of 55 and 64 and had hypertension. The study participants who supplemented their diets with a daily dose of dark chocolate for 2 weeks experienced a significant reduction in blood pressure. But after only 2 days without chocolate, their blood pressure readings returned to previous levels.
Improved cholesterol profile: Evidence suggests that eating a small amount of dark chocolate every day may increase "good" HDL cholesterol while decreasing "bad" LDL cholesterol.
Chocolate contains three primary fatty acids, one of which, oleic acid, is also found in olive oil. Research indicates that oleic acid, a heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, may slightly reduce total cholesterol.
The other two fats in chocolate, stearic acid and palmitic acid, are both saturated fats. In general, saturated fats, including palmitic acid, increase total cholesterol, which contributes to heart disease. Research shows, however, that unlike most saturated fats, stearic acid has no effect on cholesterol -- it doesn't reduce it, but it doesn't increase it, either.
Find out what chocolate does for your skin.

Chocolate's Dark Side

Before you ditch your bowl of fruit for a huge plate of brownies, let's do a quick reality check. A small portion of dark chocolate several times a week can be included as part of a healthy diet. But if you don't already eat chocolate, there's no legitimate health reason to start favoring it now. Chocolate not only is loaded with calories but also has far fewer health-boosting vitamins and minerals than fruit and vegetables do. It also contains caffeine, something that should be minimized in some people's diets. And for some, chocolate may worsen premenstrual symptoms or trigger migraine headaches.
Lead Levels in Chocolate
Cocoa and chocolate products have some of the highest levels of lead found in any food item. In contrast, fresh cocoa beans have some of the lowest levels of lead. To find out where all these heavy metals are coming from, read this research paper published in Environmental Health Perspectives.

The Final Verdict?

Research on the potential health benefits of chocolate reveals promising short-term results, but results from larger long-term trials are needed before we can truly determine the impact of chocolate consumption on cardiovascular health. So for now, your best bet for a healthy heart is to eat a balanced diet with lots of veggies and fruit, exercise regularly, and keep stress levels under control. And every now and then, treat yourself to a guilt-free piece of rich, dark chocolate.

Published July, 2009 on RealAge. See the original article here.

National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day

Today is National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day! Go out and get yourself a slice a pie.