"Chocolate is a perfect food, as wholesome as it is delicious, a beneficent restorer of exhausted power. It is the best friend of those engaged in literary pursuits." Baron Justus von Liebig
"What you see before you, my friend, is the result of a lifetime of chocolate." - Katherine Hepburn
Who doesn't love chocolate? Some say it is better than love and sex. I wouldn't go that far, but it does have medicinal benefits. It is difficult for me to chose my favorite actress. I had the pleasure of knowing Kate so she takes the lead. She loved her chocolate. It seemed to do her well. Many famous writers and painters had their addictions. Some used heroin, morphine and cocaine. Chocolate is no exception. I have met many chocolate addicts. Chocolate can be as addictive as alcohol.
Please choose your addiction wisely!There books written about many herbs. Some of these are:
Opium, A History
Ginseng: The Divine Root
Garlic
Coffee
and most important: The History of Chocolate.
Botany has changed my life. Two other botany books I recently acquired are Plants of Love: The History of Aphrodisiacs and Murder, Magic and Medicine. Chocolate is discussed in these books as well as in Baron Ernst von Bibra's, Plant Intoxicants.
Flavinoids, potent antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables, are also found in significant amounts in cocoa , chocolate (Theobroma cacao), red wine, and tea. Researchers have found that consumption of foods containing flavonoids can lower blood pressure, reduce cardiovascular disease, and lessen the risk of strokes.
In 2005, Herbalgram, the journal of the American Botanical Council published an article entitled, "The Health Benefits of Chocolate" that explored the role of chocolate in reducing hypertension (high blood pressure) among different cultures around the world. Here is an excerpt:
"The anti hypertensive role of chocolate is a relatively recent finding. In the early 1980s, Norman Hollenberg, a Harvard physician, discovered papers of Dr. B.H. Kean, who worked among the Kuna Indians on the San Blas Islands off the southern end of Central America. Dr. Kean had noted remarkably low rates of hypertension among aging Kuna adults. Dr. Hollenberg, who was involved in hypertension research and its genetic aspects, decided to see whether the Kuna Indians were still experiencing low rates of hypertension. Instead of finding a protective blood pressure gene, Dr. Hollenberg found an environmental effect: the Kuna Indians who left the San Blas Islands and resettled in Panama City had rates of hypertension comparable with other Indians and, more importantly, rising rates with aging. Dietary changes appeared to be responsible for the findings. For example, as Dr. Hollenberg noted, the more traditional Kuna diet included very lightly processed flavonoid-rich cocoa, consumed five times a day, whereas those living in Panama City drank several cups of highly processed cocoa."
Other studies have been conducted on the cardiovascular benefits of chocolate. One study researched the vasodilation effect of chocolate. It concluded, " The results demonstrated that the consumption of dark chocolate "markedly improves coronary vasodilation," which indicates an increase in the bioavailability of nitric oxide and a decrease in platelet reactivity. Furthermore, the improvement in coronary vasomotion and decrease in platelet adhesion after dark chocolate consumption coincided with an increase in serum epicatechin concentrations. These findings are evidence that epicatechin is a probable and likely dominant mediator of improved coronary vasomotion, along with procyanidins. This study was also reviewed by and published in the Herbalgam.
From my readings and studies on chocolate, there is no doubt that consumption will be a benefit in cardiovascular disease. How much, what type and duration of benefit still needs to be determined. Most authors of chocolate studies agree that the clinical effects of cocoa on cardiovascular disease should be investigated further.
Until tomorrow...
Opium, A History
Ginseng: The Divine Root
Garlic
Coffee
and most important: The History of Chocolate.
Botany has changed my life. Two other botany books I recently acquired are Plants of Love: The History of Aphrodisiacs and Murder, Magic and Medicine. Chocolate is discussed in these books as well as in Baron Ernst von Bibra's, Plant Intoxicants.
Flavinoids, potent antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables, are also found in significant amounts in cocoa , chocolate (Theobroma cacao), red wine, and tea. Researchers have found that consumption of foods containing flavonoids can lower blood pressure, reduce cardiovascular disease, and lessen the risk of strokes.
In 2005, Herbalgram, the journal of the American Botanical Council published an article entitled, "The Health Benefits of Chocolate" that explored the role of chocolate in reducing hypertension (high blood pressure) among different cultures around the world. Here is an excerpt:
"The anti hypertensive role of chocolate is a relatively recent finding. In the early 1980s, Norman Hollenberg, a Harvard physician, discovered papers of Dr. B.H. Kean, who worked among the Kuna Indians on the San Blas Islands off the southern end of Central America. Dr. Kean had noted remarkably low rates of hypertension among aging Kuna adults. Dr. Hollenberg, who was involved in hypertension research and its genetic aspects, decided to see whether the Kuna Indians were still experiencing low rates of hypertension. Instead of finding a protective blood pressure gene, Dr. Hollenberg found an environmental effect: the Kuna Indians who left the San Blas Islands and resettled in Panama City had rates of hypertension comparable with other Indians and, more importantly, rising rates with aging. Dietary changes appeared to be responsible for the findings. For example, as Dr. Hollenberg noted, the more traditional Kuna diet included very lightly processed flavonoid-rich cocoa, consumed five times a day, whereas those living in Panama City drank several cups of highly processed cocoa."
Other studies have been conducted on the cardiovascular benefits of chocolate. One study researched the vasodilation effect of chocolate. It concluded, " The results demonstrated that the consumption of dark chocolate "markedly improves coronary vasodilation," which indicates an increase in the bioavailability of nitric oxide and a decrease in platelet reactivity. Furthermore, the improvement in coronary vasomotion and decrease in platelet adhesion after dark chocolate consumption coincided with an increase in serum epicatechin concentrations. These findings are evidence that epicatechin is a probable and likely dominant mediator of improved coronary vasomotion, along with procyanidins. This study was also reviewed by and published in the Herbalgam.
From my readings and studies on chocolate, there is no doubt that consumption will be a benefit in cardiovascular disease. How much, what type and duration of benefit still needs to be determined. Most authors of chocolate studies agree that the clinical effects of cocoa on cardiovascular disease should be investigated further.
Until tomorrow...
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