Benefits of Chocolate!

Good news for chocoholics! Eating treat once a week 'boosts memory and concentration'

• Those who ate chocolate once a week or more performed better on tests
• Improved memory, concentration, reasoning and information processing
• Experts: This may be due to flavanols abundant in chocolate and cocoa 
• Flavanols have previously been shown to lower the risk of dementia, fight weight gain and reduce chances of heart disease and type 2 diabetes

By MADLEN DAVIES FOR MAILONLINE

For many of us, sinking our teeth into a bar of chocolate is one of life's greatest joys. 

Now, a study has found it may improve memory, concentration and problem-solving skills.

Researchers discovered those who ate any type of chocolate at least once a week performed better on a range of brain tests than than those who didn't indulge.

This may be due to a compound called flavanols in the sweet treat, which are abundant in dark chocolate but less so in milk or white chocolate, they said.

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Eating chocolate once a week may improve memory, concentration and problem-solving, a study has found

Flavanols are a type of antioxidant, a compound which may prevent or delay some types of cell damage, and are also found in citrus fruit, tea and wine.

They have already been shown to reduce the risk of dementia, as well as fighting weight gain and lowering the chances of conditions such as heart disease and cancer.

The study, by the University of South Australia, used data from the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (MSLS), which tracked 1,000 people over 30 years and measured a whole range of health indicators.

They examined whether eating chocolate habitually was associated with better brain function.

They analysed its effects on memory, concentration, reasoning and information processing.

This included testing their ability to remember and recall a list of words or remember where an object was placed, retain information, process it and then recall it.

They found those who ate chocolate at least once a week performed better on those who ate chocolate less than once a week. 

Lead author Dr Georgie Crichton, of the University of South Australia, said: 'Chocolate and cocoa flavanols have been associated with improvements in a range of health complaints dating from ancient times.

'They have established cardiovascular benefits, but less is known about the effects of chocolate on cognition and behaviour.

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Chocolate is thought to boost memory and thinking skills due to compounds called flavanols, which have previously been shown to ward off dementia, heart disease and type 2 diabetes 

Previous research has mostly examined the effects of chocolate consumption on brain performance immediately after eating a chocolate bar or drinking a cocoa drink.

But his research looked at habitual intake of the treat.  

The association between chocolate consumption and better brain function remained significant even when the researchers adjusted for factors such as age, sex, education, cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, total energy and alcohol intake, he added.

However, he emphasised that chocolate should be consumed as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle. 

He said: 'Of course chocolate intake should be considered within an overall healthy eating pattern, with consideration given to total energy intake and an individual’s energy needs.'

A previous study found a daily dose of chocolate could help keep dementia and Alzheimer's at bay.

Researchers found that consuming cocoa every day helped improve mild cognitive impairment – a condition involving memory loss which can progress to dementia or  Alzheimer's – in elderly patients.

Chocolates for Health

Chocolates for your heart

by Kavita Devgan

Surprise, surprise! Some chocolates can actually help boost your heart’s health.

Our heart always knew it. Chocolates are good for the heart. And not just romantically speaking! Research into flavonoids, which are found in chocolate, has made it crystal clear that these antioxidants (flavon-oids) can be very beneficial for your heart. In fact, researchers have found that the flavonoids in dark chocolate (which include procyanid-ins, epicatechins, and catechins) are actually more effective antioxi-dants than those in other good sources like tea. Want to know how they work? Well, flavonoids improve the functioning of the endothe-lium, a layer of cells in arteries (including those in the heart) that pre-vents plaque build up and protects against high blood pressure. They basically prevent blood platelets from sticking together and causing clots, so keep our arteries healthy. Another study has reported that a substance in cocoa helps the body process nitric oxide (NO), a com-pound critical for healthy blood flow and blood pressure. In addition chocolates also contain phenolics, which again are considered to be heart healthy. So yes, you can go ahead and chomp the stash hidden in your drawers and also gift your loved ones this heart healthy gift: dark, creamy chocolate this Christmas minus any guilt.

Be careful though
It is true that chocolate tends to be high in fat and sugar. But depend-ing on the kind of fat in the chocolate, it might not be too hard on your arteries. Good quality chocolates are made with cocoa butter, (heart healthy fat that has been shown to lower both total and LDL choles-terol). Remember, not all chocolate is made with cocoa butter, so be sure to read labels. Also practice portion control. Try to stick to about 100 calories of dark chocolate daily, adjusting your calorie intake and exercise appropriately. And remember you won’t help your heart by gaining weight so although chocolate is good for you, but eat too much, and you might as well apply it directly to your hips. Alternately use cocoa powder (chocolate with much of the fat removed) to make hot chocolate, which by the way is a better idea as when warm the absorption and availability of these antioxidants multiplies exponen-tially (heat helps trigger release of more antioxidants.)

So, which is the healthiest chocolate?
Remember darker the better. It's a fact that plain dark chocolate products containing 70% or more cocoa solids are the healthiest way to satisfy a craving for chocolate, without consuming too much sugar and saturated fat.

The Best Cure for a Cough is... CHOCOLATE!

Never mind honey and lemon, the best cure for a cough is CHOCOLATE: Leading professor busts common cough myths... 

• Professor Alyn Morice, from Hull University, is international cough expert
• Claims strong new research shows cocoa is best at soothing the throat 
• Also argues there aren't different types cough - so medicines aimed at these are simply a marketing ploy

By PROFESSOR ALYN MORICE

We've all heard that honey and lemon can help soothe a cough.

Now, however, a leading expert in cough and respiratory medicine believes chocolate is even better. 

Here, Professor Alyn Morice, head of cardiovascular and respiratory studies at the University of Hull, and a founding member of the International Society for the Study of Cough, claims there is research to prove it...

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Cough medicine containing chocolate is stickier and more viscose than standard medicines, so it forms a coating which protects nerve endings in the throat which trigger the urge to cough, an expert has claimed

Chocolate can calm coughs.

I know that might sound like something out of Mary Poppins, but as an independent clinician who has spent years researching the mechanism of cough, I can assure you the evidence is actually as solid a bar of Fruit and Nut. 

We have just seen the results of the largest real-world study of an over-the-counter cough remedy ever undertaken in Europe.

This proves that a new medicine which contains cocoa is better than a standard linctus.

The head-to-head comparison found that patients taking the chocolate-based medicine had a significant improvement in symptoms within two days. 

ROCOCO, as it was called, was a well designed study, a randomised controlled trial involving 163 patients, and the results will be published in a journal within the next 12 months.

However this wasn't the first study to show that chocolate can calm coughs.

Previously, researchers at Imperial College in London found that theobromine, an alkaloid in cocoa, is better at suppressing the urge to cough than codeine — an established ingredient in cough medicines. 

This new trial medicine, which has since been licensed under the brand name Unicough, was shown to reduce both cough frequency and sleep disruption within two days.

And twice as many patients taking it were able to stop treatment early because their cough had cleared.  

The idea that chocolate could cure a cough might sound a bit mad, but the ROCOCO researchers believe the benefits are primarily down to the demulcent properties of cocoa.

A new large trial has found that patients taking a chocolate-based medicine had a significant improvement in symptoms within two days - faster than other remedies, claims Professor Alyn Morice

This simply means it is stickier and more viscose than standard cough medicines, so it forms a coating which protects nerve endings in the throat which trigger the urge to cough.

This demulcent effect explains why honey and lemon and other sugary syrups can help, but I think there is something more going on with chocolate. 

I’m sure it has a pharmacological activity, some sort of inhibitory effect on the nerve endings themselves.

However drinking hot chocolate won’t have the same effect as the cocoa isn’t in contact with the throat long enough to form a protective coating.

Slowly sucking on a piece of chocolate may provide some relief, but I think it is the way the chocolate compounds work with other ingredients in the linctus which make it so effective. 

Apart from the cocoa itself, the demulcent effect ensures the other cough-calming ingredients — diphenhydramine, levomenthol and ammonium chloride — are in contact with sensitised nerve endings for as long as possible.

Professor Morice believes chocolate has a pharmacological activity, 'some sort of inhibitory effect on the nerve endings themselves'. While hot chocolate wouldn't have the same effect as the cough medicine, because the cocoa isn’t in contact with the throat long enough to form a protective coating, he says slowly sucking on a piece of chocolate may provide some relief

There is only one type of cough

But more importantly, both these studies show that it’s high time we abandoned the ridiculous idea that there are different types of cough, which need different types of medicines. 

It’s a myth.

Variety is wonderful when we open a box of chocolates, but it’s simply confusing when consumers are confronted an array of different cough mixtures for supposedly different coughs.

From a marketing point of view it makes a lot of sense to talk about wet coughs and dry coughs, chesty ones or tickly ones - because it’s a great way to encourage people to buy more products. 

But from a scientific standpoint, it is incredibly out-dated.

The idea that coughs should be categorised in this way became entrenched in the 19th century when tuberculosis was rampant. 

TB patients produced large quantities of phlegm and bloody liquid.

But it can be traced back even further, to the ancient Greeks, who thought that all illness was the result of an imbalance between four so-called humours — yellow bile, black bile, blood and phlegm.

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He adds it's also time we abandoned' the ridiculous idea that there are different types of cough, which need different types of medicines'

Today we know that almost all common cough is caused by an upper respiratory tract infection which often accompanies a cold or flu, and with this type of infection there is no real difference between a dry cough and one which produces a small amount of phlegm.

It’s not mucus which triggers the urge to cough, it’s the fact that the infection has hijacked the body’s defence mechanism and made nerves in the upper respiratory tract hypersensitive. This works in the best interests of the virus because it triggers the urge to cough and ensures we spread it around.

There is good evidence that some of the ingredients used in cough medicines have an effect. For instance, diphenhydramine and ammonium chloride have both been proven to relieve symptoms, but it has nothing to do with mucus or chestiness, it’s because they help calm this urge to cough.

We don’t understand all the receptors involved in a mechanism like cough — but I am absolutely convinced that in years to come we will find there is a chocolate receptor involved in this urge to cough.

We used to think that menthol was simply an aromatic, but we now know it has a pharmacological effect on certain receptors. I have no doubt the same is true of chocolate.