Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water".
Just because everything's different doesn't mean anything's changed.
The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor. Enough for chocolata, let's extract our potential anti-stroke element from cacao to support this blog and what we found is flavonoid.
Flavonoids (both flavonols and flavanols) are most commonly known for their antioxidant activity, the antioxidant abilities of flavonoids in vitro may be stronger than those of vitamin C and E, depending on concentrations tested.
Consumers and food manufacturers have become interested in flavonoids for their possible medicinal properties, especially their putative role in inhibiting cancer or cardiovascular disease. Although physiological evidence is not yet established, the beneficial effects of fruits, vegetables, tea, chocolate, and red wine have sometimes been attributed to flavonoid compounds.
These researchers also combined data from prior studies about chocolate and stroke risk. This technique is called meta-analysis. The combined studies showed a similar risk reduction: People who ate the most chocolate had a 19% lower stroke risk than those who ate none.
The new study on chocolate appears in the medical journal Neurology. Researchers studied more than 37,000 men. They answered questions about diet, including how much chocolate they ate. In the next 10 years, nearly 2,000 men had strokes. Here's what the study found:
Stroke risk was lowest in those eating the most chocolate.
The risk was 17% lower for men who ate the most chocolate than for those who ate no chocolate.
Men who ate the most chocolate consumed about 63 grams each week. That's equal to one-third of a cup of chocolate chips.
Remember, no human condition is ever permanent. Then you will not be overjoyed in good fortune nor too scornful in misfortune.
For years, researchers have suggested that flavonoids in chocolate lower the risk of heart attack. Flavonoids are antioxidants. These natural "scavengers" remove potentially harmful toxins from the blood. They also thin the blood a bit and reduce inflammation. Both of these effects can lower heart attack risk. But no one really knows whether it's the flavonoids in chocolate that provide its protective effect.
In fact, no one really knows if chocolate truly lowers stroke and heart attack risk (despite the findings of this and prior studies).
Some factor other than chocolate could account for the reduced risk. For example, people who like chocolate might tend to smoke less and exercise more than others. This study tried to account for such factors, but it's nearly impossible to account for them all.
The researchers used questionnaires about diet, including chocolate. People's memory (and honesty) about what they ate may not be reliable.
The researchers used hospital discharge records to establish the diagnosis of stroke. This means that men who had stroke and died before being admitted to the hospital were not included. Including these men could have changed the results.
Even if people who eat the most chocolate truly have a lower risk of stroke, other risks (such as weight gain or diabetes) may offset this benefit.
To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.
This study included men ages 49 to 75. It lasted 10 years. A longer-term study that included younger or older adults might have come to different conclusions.
Most of us are about as eager to be changed as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock.
If we are worried about stroke and want to support our actions to reduce the risks, we can speak to qualified specialist to avoid or control the following;-
Diabetes,
A "bad" lipid profile,
High blood pressure,
Atrial fibrillation. This abnormal heart rhythm may allow blood clots to form in the heart,
Smoking,
High-calorie.
Some people change their ways when they see the light, others when they feel the heat.
We need more studies on chocolate and if other studies confirm that chocolate lowers stroke risk, we'll need to know the ideal "dose" and whether the type of chocolate matters. Dark chocolate is often considered the healthiest. But in Sweden, where this study was done, 90% of the chocolate eaten is milk chocolate (according to the study's authors).
The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created, created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.
No comments:
Post a Comment