Nothing strikes me as very interesting today. Except that I have given a lot of chocolates and nuts to my students in class. Then there is this article in the news today. By Press Association,
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| Image from CNN Health |
Chocolate 'may cut stroke risk'
Chocolate-lovers could be cutting their risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke, research suggests.
Previous studies have found that chocolate, particularly of the dark variety, contains compounds which may reduce the inflammation that leads to heart disease. The sweet treat is also hailed as having antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which could be beneficial for health.
In the latest research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), experts from the University of Cambridge reviewed seven studies on the issue. Five reported a positive link between higher levels of chocolate consumption and lower risks of several diseases.
People who ate the most chocolate had a 37% reduced risk of heart disease and a 29% reduction in stroke compared with those eating the least. One of the studies also found a 31% lower risk of diabetes for chocolate-lovers. No significant reduction was found in relation to heart failure.
The research, which covered more than 100,000 people, included milk, dark and white chocolate and examined consumption of chocolate bars, drinks, biscuits and desserts.
High consumption was generally regarded, depending on the study, as eating chocolate products more than once a week or 7.5g daily.
However, the authors warned that the results should be interpreted with caution, especially because chocolate is so calorific it can cause weight gain. Excess weight increases the risk of several diseases, including diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
While the health benefits of eating chocolate mean more could be done to reduce its fat and sugar content, further studies are needed, the experts said.
Victoria Taylor, from the British Heart Foundation, said: "Evidence does suggest chocolate might have some heart health benefits but we need to find out why that might be. We can't start advising people to eat lots of chocolate based on this research.
"It didn't explore what it is about chocolate that could help and if one particular type of chocolate is better than another. If you want to reduce your heart disease risk, there are much better places to start than at the bottom of a box of chocolates."
Copyright © 2011 The Press Association. All rights reserved.
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Hm.... yummy yummy chocolate! I have almost completely quit chocolate. You see, as one gets older, their craving for sweet things dies down. Now looks like I should restart a light chocolate diet again! 7.5g of chocolate sounds appropriate and within safety range to me. What about you?
Won't eating chocolate get me fat too? Can we eat chocolate and not get fat? Maybe, but you can't always get what you want.
Vocabulary:
strike (sb as) -- (vb) [T] (struck or ESP. US stricken, struck or ESP. US stricken) to cause someone to have a feeling or idea about something
diabetes -- (n)[U] a disease in which the body cannot control the level of sugar in the blood
stroke -- (n) [C] a sudden change in the blood supply to a part of the brain, which can cause a loss of the ability to move particular parts of the body
antioxidant -- (n) [C] a substance which slows down the rate at which something decays because of oxidization (= combining with oxygen)
anti-inflammatory -- (adj) describes a drug that is used to reduce pain and swelling
calorific -- (adj) containing calories (= units of energy provided by food)
craving (for) -- (n) a strong or uncontrollable want
Chocolate 'may cut stroke risk' @ Press Association
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jnnQZ-63welxEK41-jFH3VAi00oQ?docId=N0067411314582461462A
Semi-sweet news for chocolate lovers @ CNN Health
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/29/semi-sweet-news-for-chocolate-lovers/
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/strike_7
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/diabetes?q=diabetes
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/stroke_1?q=stroke
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/antioxidant?q=antioxidant
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/anti-inflammatory_1?q=anti-inflammatory
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/calorific?q=calorific
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/craving?q=craving
