Chocolate Fans Are Going to Love This

PX Here[/caption] Chocolate and red wine, two things humans love to over-indulge in because they read somewhere that it was good for you. Well, this article doesn’t address the red wine, but there have been some recent studies on chocolate that will put a smile on chocolate lovers’ faces. From ScienceDaily.com: New research shows there might be health benefits to eating certain types of dark chocolate. Findings from two studies being presented today at the Experimental Biology 2018 annual meeting in San Diego show that consuming dark chocolate that has a high concentration of cacao (minimally 70% cacao, 30% organic cane sugar) has positive effects on stress levels, inflammation, mood, memory and immunity.

_ _

Pixabay[/caption] While it is well known that cacao is a major source of flavonoids, this is the first time the effect has been studied in human subjects to determine how it can support cognitive, endocrine and cardiovascular health. Study findings show that dark chocolate:

up-regulates multiple intracellular signaling pathways involved in T-cell activation, cellular immune response and genes involved in neural signaling and sensory perception – the latter potentially associated with the phenomena of brain hyperplasticity. And… enhances neuroplasticity for behavioral and brain health benefits Dr Lee Berk from Loma Linda University was the principal investigator in the studies: “For years, we have looked at the influence of dark chocolate on neurological functions from the standpoint of sugar content – the more sugar, the happier we are,” Berk said. “This is the first time that we have looked at the impact of large amounts of cacao in doses as small as a regular-sized chocolate bar in humans over short or long periods of time, and are encouraged by the findings. Flickr[/caption] These studies show us that the higher the concentration of cacao, the more positive the impact on cognition, memory, mood, immunity and other beneficial effects.” To be clear, this study is no about milk chocolate, but dark chocolate that’s at least 70% cocoa and 30% organic cane sugar. This is not the same chocolate as a regular Hershey bar or chocolate Easter bunny.