Posted on 01/31/2011 6:07:44 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
I hate to sound like the cover of some woman’s magazine, but today we’re going to talk about “The Sweet Science Behind Dark Chocolate” and “What Eating Dark Chocolate Can Do For You.”
Scientists are my new best friends. At first, I thought those headlines were just stuck at the top to make me want to read the e-mail that followed. Maybe whoever was contacting the media was just trying to lure in candy-loving journalists with a chocolate-coated bait-and-switch press release that eventually got around to talking about health insurance reform.
But, no, chocolate apparently is a “super food.”
“Studies show that people who eat generous amounts of superbly heart-healthy and flavonoid-rich cocoa rarely develop high blood pressure and have a very low death rate from heart disease,” read the e-mail.
I haven’t the slightest idea what a flavonoid is, but I just ran downstairs to the snack room to chow down on a candy bar and guzzle a cup of machine-made hot chocolate.
You’ve got to love a health motto that starts with “A Kit Kat a day...”
Daily ritual
A daily intake of chocolate is exactly what Janet Bond Brill, the registered dietitian who was being quoted in this e-mail, was espousing.
She’s got a book out, “Prevent A Second Heart Attack: 8 Foods, 8 Weeks to Reverse Heart Disease.” And cocoa is one of these foods. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate being handed this medically sound reason to practically slather my insides with melted chocolate.
“Consuming just one or two squares (up to one ounce) of dark chocolate (at last 70 percent cocoa) every day can help boost your blood-antioxidant level, lower your blood pressure, fight inflammation (and) make your dysfunction endothelium more functional,” read the release.
Now, in my younger and less health-conscious days, it would have bothered me that I didn’t know anything about “dysfunction endothelium.” I might have even argued, “My endothelium is fully functional, thank you. In fact, I have to hold it back.”
But, after reading this e-mail, I figure, hey, the dietitian lady doesn’t seem concerned, so just eat the Hershey’s bar and let the chocolate sort it all out.
The chocolate diet
Maybe I’m overreacting, but I may eat nothing but chocolate. If one or two pieces of chocolate heal your heart, might 30 or 35 or even 40 pieces make a guy practically immortal?
I knew there was a catch.
“Purchase one of the new high-flavonoid chocolate bars (not milk chocolate or Dutch processed) at least 70 percent cocoa and limit yourself to one or two small pieces a day,” Brill said.
No Snickers?
If you want cocoa itself, “think real cocoa,” she insisted. “Add a couple of tablespoons of dark cocoa powder to your banana and soy milk smoothie — a luscious addition to a heart-healthy drink.”
Soy? Some things just have a sound that makes you not want to live forever...
I read somewhere that the cocoa bean growers are switching to other crops so that in a few years chocolate will be rare and only for the super rich.
Anyone else read that?
Drop the soy and use real milk! That stuff is dangerous!
I consider chocolate to be one of the essential food groups.
I have a headache problem with chocolate. It’s the theobromine in the chocolate that causes the veins in the head to narrow. To get the theobromine out of my system, I left off chocolate completely for about 6 yrs. After that, it was cleaned out of my system; then I gradually could have a LITTLE BIT of chocolate. The trick is to keep it at just a small amount on a weekly or bi-weekly basis; and if the nagging headaches start up that’s my cue to back off for a couple of weeks. I like it, and have found a way to manage it. It takes being cautious which is not hard; the headaches initially were horrible; and the several years off did me a lot of good. 6 yrs. may have been overkill; but I wanted to be sure.
I’ve heard that, too. Hopefully it’s just a rumor - but I’m stockpiling just in case! :)
In a Magic Bullet, (they're about 50 bucks now and worth the price) add about 1/4 C crushed ice (if your fridge has a crushed ice dispenser)
about 1/3 to 1/2 C chocolate almond milk
3-4 heaping Tbsp vanilla yogurt (low fat but not no-fat)
1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 scoop chocolate Designer Whey brand whey powder. Blend til smooth. Put it in a red cup and drink it on your way to work. Quick, easy, tasty and relatively low in calories. This keeps me going all morning.
Sometimes I add cold black coffee and less almond milk if I have any left over from the day before for a richer taste. Coffee and cocoa powder are loaded with antioxidants.
Bummer! BUT - try white chocolates. Of course, there’s nothing especially good in there other than butter fat which will keep your fur shiny, but you can still get your fix!
All hope is not lost. :)
Lindt makes some really super white chocolate bars.
“I consider chocolate to be one of the essential food groups.”
There are OTHER food groups? ;)
I have the same chocolate allergy that you have. The migraines were so bad that I was sure my skull was cracking. I discovered it many years ago, but I am not the least bit upset about it now. I took a taste of chocolate a couple of years ago and it tasted like mud! Nothing that I ever wanted to try again, I’m way over it!
Salt and Caffeine.
I heard it also, but I’m afraid it may end up true. Glad to know I’m not alone in thinking of stockpiling the sweet aromatic tweet. lol
ping
Diane...I can’t tell you the effect that picture has on me, I am so conflicted!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.