Wednesday, 6 May 2015

10 Reasons Science Says you Should Eat More Chocolate (Like We Needed More Reasons)


1. Chocolate is Great for Your Brain:
The National Institute on Aging and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute conducted a study at the Harvard Medical School and recorded in the August 7th online version of the journal Neurology. In the study, which was titled “Neurovascular coupling, cerebral white matter integrity, and response to cocoa in older people,” the researchers selected 60 participants with an average age of 73 who were not suffering from dementia. The subjects drank two cups of hot cocoa daily without any other form of chocolate for 30 days.
Of those 60 participants, 18 had previously been tested for impaired brain blood flow with some level of brain damage. After consuming cocoa beverages, those 18 showed significant improvements with brain blood flow and working memory tests. The research report concluded: “There is a strong correlation between neurovascular coupling and cognitive function, and both can be improved by regular cocoa consumption in individuals with baseline impairments.”
2. Chocolate Keeps You Young:
3. Chocolate is Excellent for The Heart:
This was a massive epidemiological study conducted cooperatively by several Boston medical institutions using the 4,970 participants aged 25-93 years who participated in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Family Heart Study. [3]
This group discovered that “chocolate consumption is inversely associated with prevalent coronary heart disease (CHD).” In other words, those who ate chocolate had less coronary issues, and the more that was consumed, the lower the risk for CHD. Published in the 2010 journal, Clinical Nutrition.
4. Chocolate Improves Your Mood:
5. Chocolate is an Anti-Inflammatory:
A study titled “Regular consumption of dark chocolate is associated with low serum concentrations of C reactive protein in a healthy Italian population” was published by the journal, Nutrition, in 2008.
Serum C-reactive protein (CRP) is an inflammation marker produced by a stressed liver. It can relate to autoimmune diseases or infections. It’s associated with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
This study discovered among a few thousand Italians without chronic disease. Included were those who ate no chocolate, those who ate milk chocolate and those who ate only dark chocolate.
Those who consumed dark chocolate moderately had the lowest CRP serum levels. The study concluded with “… regular consumption of small doses of dark chocolate may reduce inflammation.”
6. Chocolate Reduces Your Cholesterol
7. Chocolate Lower Your Blood Pressure
8. Chocolate Reduces Stress Levels
9. Chocolate Protects Your Skin
10. Chocolate is a Natural Painkiller

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