The Best News I've Heard In Years

[MrsSpringsteen]

Now if only they could come up with a way to make regular, fat and sugar laded chocolate calorie reduced/ calorie free. Does anyone know if sugar free chocolate has these ingredients?

Now I can just say that I am enhancing my brain and not just being a pig.


(AP)Chocolate lovers rejoice. A new study hints that eating milk chocolate may boost brain function.

"Chocolate contains many substances that act as stimulants, such as theobromine, phenethylamine, and caffeine," Dr. Bryan Raudenbush from Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia noted in comments to Reuters Health.

"These substances by themselves have previously been found to increase alertness and attention and what we have found is that by consuming chocolate you can get the stimulating effects, which then lead to increased mental performance."

To study the effects of various chocolate types on brain power, Raudenbush and colleagues had a group of volunteers consume, on four separate occasions, 85 grams of milk chocolate; 85 grams of dark chocolate; 85 grams of carob; and nothing (the control condition).

After a 15-minute digestive period, participants completed a variety of computer-based neuropsychological tests designed to assess cognitive performance including memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem solving.

"Composite scores for verbal and visual memory were significantly higher for milk chocolate than the other conditions," Raudenbush told Reuters Health. And consumption of milk and dark chocolate was associated with improved impulse control and reaction time.

Previous research has shown that some nutrients in food aid in glucose release and increased blood flow, which may augment cognitive performance. The current findings, said Raudenbush, "provide support for nutrient release via chocolate consumption to enhance cognitive performance."

 

[Irvine511]

i've started eating very, very dark chocolate -- should be at least 70% pure, so you don't get nearly the amount of sugar you would in milk chocolate, but you do get all those antioxidents.

 

[Liesje]

I read that very dark chocolate is one of the five healthiest foods.

 

[Pearl]

I read the book "French Women Don't Get Fat" and the author says dark chocolate is a must to eat everyday, especially women

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I read the book "French Women Don't Get Fat" and the author says dark chocolate is a must to eat everyday, especially women

 

[joyfulgirl]

I read the book "French Women Don't Get Fat" and the author says dark chocolate is a must to eat everyday, especially women

A colleague eats one small piece of dark chocolate everyday. Unlike other women in the office whose weight fluctuates quite naturally with their cycle, hers never ever changes, she just has one of those perfect slim figures. I wonder if this is her secret.

 

[U2democrat]

Dark chocolate is my favorite...I have a piece or two quite frequently and I'm also nice and trim

 

[nbcrusader]

 

[Irvine511]

i still have chocolate left over from Switzerland ...

 

[indra]

A colleague eats one small piece of dark chocolate everyday. Unlike other women in the office whose weight fluctuates quite naturally with their cycle, hers never ever changes, she just has one of those perfect slim figures. I wonder if this is her secret.

I suspect the "one small piece" part has a lot to do with that perfect figure. I hate people with self control.

 

[dandy]

i still have chocolate left over from Switzerland ...

care to share?

dark chocolate is the best thing eva.

 

[U2democrat]

i still have chocolate left over from Switzerland ...

Last summer in Paris I walked into a really expensive chocolate shop...my goodness the smell of the place, I was literally doing this The cheapest chocolate was a small box for 6 Euros...that was GOOD stuff. I can't imagine how the more expensive chocolate must have tasted.

 

[Irvine511]

care to share?

come visit DC, my little Canadian quiche, and i'll save you a whole bar of Lindt chocolate.

 

[U2democrat]

Lindt..........

I can't find my favorite Lindt in the states...not in Lindt stores, World Market, anywhere. It's milk chocolate with a coconut filling, I've only had it from Switzerland.

 

[one4u2]

I read that very dark chocolate is one of the five healthiest foods.

 

[adrball]

For you chocolate fanatics this is a must....but you'll only try it once I promise.

http://seventypercent.com/chocop/bar_detail.asp?ID=273

 

[Pearl]

A colleague eats one small piece of dark chocolate everyday. Unlike other women in the office whose weight fluctuates quite naturally with their cycle, hers never ever changes, she just has one of those perfect slim figures. I wonder if this is her secret.

The author - Mireille Giuliano - says eating dark chocolate is good to balance your weight, since the antioxidants flush your system, and it is good nutrition for women during that time of the month.
She also recommends eating a small piece a day, so I guess your co-worker must've read the book!

 

[joyfulgirl]

The author - Mireille Giuliano - says eating dark chocolate is good to balance your weight, since the antioxidants flush your system, and it is good nutrition for women during that time of the month.
She also recommends eating a small piece a day, so I guess your co-worker must've read the book!

I'm jumping on this bandwagon immediately. I've also been doing a cleanse this week so it might be a good time to start with the chocolate since I'm already flushing my system. Thanks for the info. I'm going to check out the book, too.

 

[Irvine511]

I'm jumping on this bandwagon immediately. I've also been doing a cleanse this week so it might be a good time to start with the chocolate since I'm already flushing my system. Thanks for the info. I'm going to check out the book, too.

how does one do a cleanse? i'm assuming this is nutritional and doesn't involve ... well, i'll just leave it at that.

 

[INDY500]

Chocolat de Belgique

 

[dazzledbylight]

I read that very dark chocolate is one of the five healthiest foods.

well i always prefered the darker chocolates anyway....also I do like an occasional choc & peanuts candy bar {i alsoo think the peanuts help slow the sugar spike....

then when lindt started having their 'regular'dark chocolate, in the USA and eventually their 65%, later 70% and 85%....THOSE are the ones I eat most of the time

 

[enggirl]

Yay dark choco-holics!
A possible warning, tho: I read somewhere (don't rememebr where) sometime in the past year that drinking milk when you eat the dark chocolate negates whatever good stuff you are supposed to get from the dark chocolate. I don't know if it's baloney, but if anyone else has heard the same thing...speak up!

 

[joyfulgirl]

how does one do a cleanse? i'm assuming this is nutritional and doesn't involve ... well, i'll just leave it at that.

It does involve some form of...but maybe not what you're thinking. But yes, it's nutritional and I'm also taking various herbs and enzymes for a specific health issue and since it works well with a low-carb diet, I'm doing that, too; colon cleansing is one of the, ahem, side affects shall we say. I've lost a lot of water weight this week and am feeling slim and, after a couple of days of intense detoxing headaches, have high energy and feel good about myself today.

And I want some dark chocolate.

 

[Irvine511]

It does involve some form of...but maybe not what you're thinking. But yes, it's nutritional and I'm also taking various herbs and enzymes for a specific health issue and since it works well with a low-carb diet, I'm doing that, too; colon cleansing is one of the, ahem, side affects shall we say. I've lost a lot of water weight this week and am feeling slim and, after a couple of days of intense detoxing headaches, have high energy and feel good about myself today.

sounds great -- and, yes, the colon-cleansing was the thing i was referring to, and i'm still traumatized by seeing some VH1 show where Usher was talking about his spring water enemas and how Janet Jackson had recommended them.



are you following a particular book? advice of a nutritionist?

i'm interested in doing something like this to kick off summer. i did the whole South Beach thing, and that was torture, and made me feel incredibly lethargic and dull.

 

[joyfulgirl]

sounds great -- and, yes, the colon-cleansing was the thing i was referring to, and i'm still traumatized by seeing some VH1 show where Usher was talking about his spring water enemas and how Janet Jackson had recommended them.



are you following a particular book? advice of a nutritionist?

i'm interested in doing something like this to kick off summer. i did the whole South Beach thing, and that was torture, and made me feel incredibly lethargic and dull.

The colon cleansing I'm doing is not an enema. That's what I thought you meant.

I do a lot of cleansing and have followed more formal regimens in the past but this one's kind of loose (no pun intended, lol), doing my own thing based on what I've learned over the years. Since one of my closest friends is a nutritionist, I get his advice almost everyday, lol, and take a lot of supplements. Right now I'm taking some herbs in pill form that are absolutely amazing for colon cleansing, and the enzymes are for a specific minor but annoying issue but they have a powerful overall detoxing effect. Because carbs aggravate this health issue, the low carb diet is helping a lot. I'm drinking tons of water and this crazy stuff called Kombucha Tea that has changed my life during the last 8 months. There are so many different kinds of cleanses--from juicing to colonics and then the random thing I'm doing--it just depends on what your goal is and what works best for you. I'm not much of a cook so I like cleanses that involve herbal pills and beverages, and I'm not willing to starve myself on a liquid diet but there are some great ones involving liquids and soups. With any of them, there are about 2-3 days of headaches and sleeplessness, and then the high energy and deep sleep kick in. I actually called in sick yesterday because I felt so horrible (it was day 3, usually the toughest for me) and today I'm a new woman.

 

[LittlejDesign]

I know I've read a couple articles about patients recovering from serious injury, eating dark chocolate to speed the healing process. I'm all for believing it!
Dark chocolate study
This was the only reference I could find for the time being.

 

[Lila64]

This thread is making hungry. Time to grab this from my desk drawer!

 

[LikeA(U2)Song]

snickers

 

[Muggsy]

I love chocolate... but I can't eat it cuz I'm hipoglicemic

 

[AliEnvy]

Hmmm...where is Jamila to tell us to buy Africa-friendly chocolate?