I am an avid, daily follower
of current events, but recently the news has been so depressing I am
considering a hiatus from the daily habit. School shootings, deathly epidemics,
war, forest fires and volcanic eruptions result in one negative story after
another.
Even the elections are a
barrage of negative ads assaulting the senses from all directions. A lot of
noise, no substance.
Then one evening recently,
perusing the news while ostensibly watching TV, which is more like watching a
series of ads punctuated by three or four minutes of a show, a headline caught
my eye.
“To Improve a Memory, Consider
Chocolate”
Chocolate is one of my all time
favorite things in the world, although I do not indulge in the decadence nearly
enough.
To summarize a recent scientific
study, ingredients in chocolate - antioxidants called cocoa flavanols - were
found to increase memory in older adults. The study involved men and women aged
50-69. The group performed at a level equated with people two to three decades
younger. The increased memory function occurred following three months drinking
a cocoa flavanols mixture.
A word of caution – this
does not mean one can sit back and eat candy bars all day and all night. The
article makes it pretty clear that processed chocolate, especially milk
chocolate, has this wonderful ingredient squeezed out of the final product,
usually a candy bar.
The bad news (if there is
such a thing as bad news when it comes to consuming chocolate) is that a person
would have to eat the equivalent of seven – 7 – dark chocolate bars every day to
ingest enough flavanols to be effective, about 300 grams.
It sounds like a tough job,
and as much as I would love to do it, I know my body would at some point rebel.
So what are the
alternatives?
There are other foods
containing flavanols, but in lesser amounts, including tea, apples, and red
wine.
One hypothesis is that an
individual can reduce the amount of chocolate eaten on a regular basis and
memory will improve over a longer period of time. Scientists have not done
follow-up studies to know whether or not this theory works, or figured out the
best way for people to take advantage of cocoa flavanols.
They will. And, if any
scientist is reading this, I am willing to volunteer for follow-up studies.
But please do not place me
in the control group.
Give me the chocolate.
If I am going to eat
chocolate, which will inevitably come along with fat, sugar and calories, it
may as well be for a worthwhile cause.
My body for a dark chocolate
bar. Or two. Or three. Every day.
A sacrifice for science, but
someone has to do it.
FYI -
Here are links to two
articles describing the study and the results:
What great news! I'm off to read those articles. I love dark chocolate and don't need an excuse, but what the heck. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes to chocolate, and I have finally cultivated a taste for the semisweet kind. Bought a Godiva bar at the. Bookstore only. Yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI am an American man, and I have decided to boycott American women. In a nutshell, American women are the most likely to cheat on you, to divorce you, to get fat, to steal half of your money in the divorce courts, don’t know how to cook or clean, don’t want to have children, etc. Therefore, what intelligent man would want to get involved with American women?
ReplyDeleteAmerican women are generally immature, selfish, extremely arrogant and self-centered, mentally unstable, irresponsible, and highly unchaste. The behavior of most American women is utterly disgusting, to say the least.
This blog is my attempt to explain why I feel American women are inferior to foreign women (non-American women), and why American men should boycott American women, and date/marry only foreign (non-American) women.
BOYCOTT AMERICAN WOMEN!
www.boycottamericanwomen.com