Chocolate Sauce

A Japanese study, the results of which were published at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions in 2007, suggests that dark chocolate can improve blood flow to the heart. This is important because increased blood flow could reduce the risk of chest pain and maybe even heart attack. The article also reports that other studies [...]

Here’s a study from The Journal of the American Medical Association that shows that cocoa, or more specifically, the polyphenols in cocoa, has a positive effect on blood pressure. It points out several important facts:

It doesn’t need to be a huge quantity of dark chocolate to have an effect
The dark chocolate must be taken regularly
It [...]

In the past, I’ve made a few posts regarding dark chocolate and hypertension. Here’s a link to a brief article that reminds us that indeed, research indicates that dark chocolate can improve blood pressure and may improve cholesterol levels and insulin sensitivity.
http://www.ephit.com/coventry_contest/chocolate.htm
The article also points out that processing removes much of the benefits of the [...]

One of the things I mention in my disclaimer is to do your own research. One reason for that is ultimately, each of us is responsible for our own health. Your health care provider can’t know everything and can’t keep up with all the research that is constantly presented. You should, of course, tell him/her [...]

My personal feeling has been that eating a food, as close to nature as possible, is better than taking a pill of concentrated essence of whatever. The article below lends credence to that view.
CTV.ca | Antioxidant pills don’t prevent heart disease
The study, done at Brigham & Women’s hospital, followed 8,171 women with three or more [...]

Nutrition & Metabolism | Full text | Chocolate and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review
I came across the study above a while ago, but am just getting around to mentioning it in this blog. This study is not primary research, but rather a review of all MEDLINE publications from 1966 through January 2005 looking [...]

Sounds kinda gross. And wow, would the sand ever stick to you at the beach! Not really:-) This article says the preliminary results of a German study show that eating chocolate rich in cocoa solids and flavonoids (in other words, dark chocolate) can fight skin cancer. Subjects were given cocoa to drink. Half the group [...]

Norman Hollenberg, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School says that epicatechin, one of the flavonoids in cacao, has such powerful health benefits, it “may rival penicillin and anaesthesia in terms of importance to public health.” He thinks it is so important it should be considered a vitamin.
He has spent years studying the Kuna [...]

I subscribe to a newsletter from Harvard Medical School. The most recent issue reminds us that inflammation, while an important part of our body’s healing system, can be dangerous, if there is too much of it. Inflammation is involved in atherosclerosis, heart disease, strokes and even some types of dementia. Below is a link to [...]

Recently I found an article on RealAge that lists the 10 top veggies for phytochemical and antioxidant content. You can find the article at the link below.
Top 10 Veggies List – RealAge Tip of the Day
From a list of the most widely consumed vegetables, the order was:

Broccoli
Spinach
Yellow onions
Red peppers
Carrots
Cabbage
Potatoes
Lettuce
Celery
Cucumbers

If you look at that list, you’ll [...]