Jane Phillips
news: healthy living eat your peas! I am not going to start this year by telling you to eat up all your peas or stop smoking – this year we are going to focus on LIVING. Living healthily? “Yes” But also enjoying life and embracing it. Studies suggest we can have our health but it is important to enjoy ourselves, too. Sex, sleep, and an active social life seem all to give us many healthy benefits! Let’s take a closer look at chocolate and sex! So which one of the three-hundred compounds and chemicals in chocolate is it that makes us feel so good exactly?
TOP LINE: Dark chocolate (typically 65% or higher cocoa content). Milk or white chocolate cannot make the same claims.
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May have cardiac benefits Improves blood flow through the arteries to the heart and brain Lowers levels of C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation Stimulates endorphins, which give a feeling of pleasure (like sex) Contains serotonin; an anti-depressant Contains 8 times the number of antioxidants than strawberries and 4 times more than tea
And chocolate stimulates production of endorphins, which create a feeling of happiness and pleasure. The pheromone in chocolate is similar to dopamine which creates natural opiates that affect your mood. Opiates lower the feeling of pain and increase the feeling of happiness. Maybe that’s why we eat chocolate when we are stressed, worried or depressed. 64 Spring 2011
Could we be looking at structured chocolate interruptions? Harvard researchers found that two weeks of enhanced chocolate intake (uptake on this study was rapid!) quickened blood flow through the middle cerebral artery. Another study on the Kuna tribe of Panama who consumed large amounts of raw cacao every day found they had lower overall disease rates and longer life expectancy than nearby tribes who did not consume as much. Cocoa beans contain substances called flavonoids (specifically, catechin and epicatechin which stimulate production of nitric oxide, a chemical that relaxes blood vessels). Flavonoids act as antioxidants; they protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage and heart disease. Chocolate is made from a plant, it’s a dark vegetable. Higher in magnesium than any other plant). Magnesium is a mineral that helps digestion, neurological, and cardiovascular systems.
BASELINE:
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Eat chocolate that contains 70% or more cocoa solids. Choose pure ingredients and no chemical additives. Make it a special once a week treat. A little of what you fancy does you good. www.baseline-hiv.co.uk