Chocolate (dark) - A food to include?

December 15, 2005

hmmm... ??? :PThe 119 year old woman ate "2 POUNDS" of chocolate per week!!?? - see below..." ... a study of 8000 male Harvard graduates showed that chocaholics lived longer than abstainers. Their longevity may be explained by the high polyphenol levels in chocolate. Polyphenols reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins and thereby protect against heart disease. Such theories are still speculative. Coincidentally or otherwise, many of the worlds oldest supercentenarians, e.g. Jeanne Calment (1875-1997) and Knauss (1880-1999), were passionately fond of chocolate. Jeanne Calment habitually ate two pounds of chocolate per week until her physician

induced her to give up sweets at the age of 119 - three years before her death aged 122. Life-extensionists are best advised to eat dark chocolate rather than the kinds of calorie-rich confectionery popular in America. http://www.chocolate.org/http://www.chocolate.org/refs/index.html Felice Chocolate: the key to eternal youth? ...A German confectioner claims to have come up with the first anti-ageing chocolates. Made with dark chocolate, mango and soya milk, the creators believe the Felice chocolates not only make you happy, but keep you young. http://www.chocolate.org/health/antiaging.htmldangerous?, or a wise supplement to add?D.H.

Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at

December 15, 2005

Certainly dangerous if you listen to the outrageous claims of that last link you posted. I notice that it was dated 2003, and yet it hasn't " caught on " with the scientific community ;-).

We have long recommended plain dark unsweetened cocoa, sweetened with the sweetner of your choice. This is the same unsweetened cocoa powder you can buy in the grocery. I mix with a bit of water to make a fudgy concoction and then I sweeten to taste. A good substitute for the fattening, sugary processed chocolates sold, for an arm and a leg if you're buying Godiva or some other expensive brand.

on 12/15/2005 6:59 AM, D. H. at d7882001@... wrote:

hmmm... ???

The 119 year old woman ate " 2 POUNDS " of chocolate per week!!?? - see below...

" ... a study of 8000 male Harvard graduates showed that chocaholics lived longer than abstainers. Their longevity may be explained by the high polyphenol <http://www.chocolate.org/polyphenols.html> levels in chocolate. Polyphenols reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins and thereby protect against heart disease. Such theories are still speculative.

Coincidentally or otherwise, many of the worlds oldest supercentenarians <http://www.supercentenarian.com/records.html> , e.g. Jeanne Calment (1875-1997) and Knauss (1880-1999), were passionately fond of chocolate. Jeanne Calment habitually ate two pounds of chocolate per week until her physic! ian induced her to give up sweets at the age of 119 - three years before her death aged 122. Life-extensionists are best advised to eat dark chocolate <http://www.chocolate.org/health/dark-chocolate.html> rather than the kinds of calorie-rich confectionery popular in America.

http://www.chocolate.org/

http://www.chocolate.org/refs/index.html

Felice Chocolate: the key to eternal youth?

...A German confectioner claims to have come up with the first anti-ageing chocolates.

Made with dark chocolate, mango and soya milk, the creators believe the Felice chocolates not only make you happy, but keep you young.

http://www.chocolate.org/health/antiaging.html

dangerous?, or a wise supplement to add?

D.H.

December 15, 2005

Hi D.H.:

It does seem there are beneficial properties to some component(s) of

the cacao plant. It is not clear to me that it is known for certain

which confer the benefit, although there are plenty of guesses.

***BUT*** check the ingredient list of a variety of chocolate

products available in stores. Many contain large amounts of

hydrogenated fats, for example. The vast majority of chocolate

products contain sizeable amounts of various fats, and sugar as well

or course, even if not the hydrogenated ones.

I was once given a gift that was labelled as " chocolate " which,

according to the ingredient list, contained nothing at all from the

cacao plant, and was very nearly 100% hydrogenated fats -

hydrogenated to the extent that it was **solid** at room temperature.

So one needs to be very cautious about which chocolate product one

selects.

Rodney.

>

> hmmm... ???

>

> The 119 year old woman ate " 2 POUNDS " of chocolate per week!!?? -

see below...

>

> " ... a study of 8000 male Harvard graduates showed that

chocaholics lived longer than abstainers. Their longevity may be

explained by the high polyphenol levels in chocolate. Polyphenols

reduce the oxidation of low-density lipoproteins and thereby protect

against heart disease. Such theories are still speculative.

Coincidentally or otherwise, many of the worlds oldest

supercentenarians, e.g. Jeanne Calment (1875-1997) and Knauss

(1880-1999), were passionately fond of chocolate. Jeanne Calment

habitually ate two pounds of chocolate per week until her physician

induced her to give up sweets at the age of 119 - three years before

her death aged 122. Life-extensionists are best advised to eat dark

chocolate rather than the kinds of calorie-rich confectionery popular

in America.

>

> http://www.chocolate.org/

> http://www.chocolate.org/refs/index.html

>

> Felice Chocolate: the key to eternal youth?

> ...A German confectioner claims to have come up with the first

anti-ageing chocolates.

> Made with dark chocolate, mango and soya milk, the creators

believe the Felice chocolates not only make you happy, but keep you

young.

> http://www.chocolate.org/health/antiaging.html

>

> dangerous?, or a wise supplement to add?

>

> D.H.

>

> ---------------------------------

>

> Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at

>

December 15, 2005

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3032114

Journal Report

07/18/2005

Dark chocolate may reduce blood pressure, improve insulin

resistance

American Heart Association rapid access journal report:

DALLAS, July 19 – If you have high blood pressure, a daily bar-sized

serving of flavonol-rich dark chocolate might lower your blood pressure

and improve insulin resistance, researchers report in Hypertension:

Journal of the American Heart Association.

“Previous studies suggest flavonoid-rich foods, including fruits,

vegetables, tea, red wine and chocolate, might offer cardiovascular

benefits, but this is one of the first clinical trials to look

specifically at dark chocolate’s effect on lowering blood pressure among

people with hypertension,” said study author B. Blumberg,

Ph.D.

Blumberg is a senior scientist at the Mayer USDA Human Nutrition

Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.

Flavonoids are natural antioxidants found in many foods from

plants.

“This study is not about eating more chocolate,” Blumberg

cautioned. “It suggests that cocoa flavonoids appear to have

benefits on vascular function and glucose sensitivity.”

Blumberg and colleagues at the University of L’Aquila in Italy, including

senior author Dr. Claudio Ferri, studied 10 men and 10 women. They

all had hypertension and a systolic blood pressure (the top number in a

blood pressure reading) between 140 and 159 millimeters of mercury (mm

Hg) and a diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) between 90 and

99. None of the participants was taking antihypertensive

medicines, and none had diabetes or other disease, nor did they

smoke.

For one week before starting the study, participants avoided all

chocolate and other flavonoid-rich foods. During the next 15

days, half ate a daily 3.5-ounce bar of flavonoid-rich dark chocolate,

while the other half ate the same amount of white chocolate.

After another week of avoiding flavonoid-rich foods, each subject

“crossed over” and ate the other chocolate.

“White chocolate, which has no flavonoids, was the perfect control food

because it contains all the other ingredients and calories found in dark

chocolate,” Blumberg said. “It’s important to note that the

dark chocolate we used had a high level of flavonoids, giving it a

slightly bittersweet taste. Most Americans eat milk chocolate,

which has a low amount of these compounds.”

The researchers found a 12 mm Hg decrease in systolic blood pressure and

a 9 mm Hg decrease in diastolic blood pressure in the dark chocolate

group after 15 days. Blood pressure did not decrease in the

white chocolate group.

etc.

Maco

December 15, 2005

Hi folks:

Also, I believe most of the powdered forms of chocolate are

manufactured using what is called the " Dutch " process which

eliminates some of the (possibly the beneficial ones) components from

the original.

I emailed Nestlé and asked if their powdered chocolate was made by

this method. They replied and said their policy was to not disclose

this information!!!!!

This suggests they likely understood the reason I asked, and knew

that if they answered I would avoid the product.

fwiw

Rodney.

December 15, 2005

Hi folks:

So in short, if anyone knows of a de-fatted, sugar free, non-

'Dutched' REAL chocolate product please post : ^ )))

Rodney.

--- In , " Rodney " <perspect1111@y...>

wrote:

>

> Hi folks:

>

> Also, I believe most of the powdered forms of chocolate are

> manufactured using what is called the " Dutch " process which

> eliminates some of the (possibly the beneficial ones) components

from

> the original.

>

> I emailed Nestlé and asked if their powdered chocolate was made by

> this method. They replied and said their policy was to not

disclose

> this information!!!!!

>

> This suggests they likely understood the reason I asked, and knew

> that if they answered I would avoid the product.

>

> fwiw

>

> Rodney.

>

December 15, 2005

The one data point I have is my 102 yo neighbor ate chocolate, hershey's, when she could remember. We fed her egg milks to keep her alive, after 95yo.

When you eat only chocolate, it's not a lot of calories.

She died from pneum.

The way things are processed, I wouldn't expect any value in life extension, and I laugh at any value to BP. Just tells me you can run a test to get whatever results you want.

If chocolate lowered BP, they would have found it out before now, purified the ingredient that lowers BP and sell it for 1$ per pill.