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Pluvious

(4,314 posts) Thu Apr 26, 2018, 11:47 AM Apr 2018

Eating dark chocolate is good for you, study claims

Like I needed any moar encouragement !!

Eating chocolate with a high concentration of cacao - at least 70 percent - can help decrease a person's stress levels, as well as boost mood, memory and immunity, according to two studies from Loma Linda University.

The flavonoids found in cacao are powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents, aiding brain and heart health, the studies showed.

One trial examined the impact of chocolate on immune system function, focusing on its anti-inflammatory properties, while the other examined the brain's response to eating the chocolate.

Eating the chocolate increases the response stimulus of "multiple intracellular pathways involved in T-cell activation, cellular immune response and genes involved in neural signaling and sensory perception." In other words, it fortifies the immune system response.

http://www.kcbd.com/story/38048928/eating-dark-chocolate-is-good-for-you-study-claims

20 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Eating dark chocolate is good for you, study claims (Original Post) Pluvious Apr 2018 OP

I am eating some dark chocolate at this very moment. n/t elocs Apr 2018 #1

Did you bring enough for everyone? Laffy Kat Apr 2018 #15

Unless you have Barrett's Esophagus WhiteTara Apr 2018 #2

Caffeine? late Apr 2018 #3

Good. Because I guess WhiteTara Apr 2018 #5

Hey! Welcome to DU WhiteTara Apr 2018 #6

Dark Chocolate has a fair amount of caffeine in it still_one Apr 2018 #7

I can't tolerate dark chocolate LeftInTX Apr 2018 #9

A good number of people can't take chocolate still_one Apr 2018 #13

That's not much late Apr 2018 #19

One candy bar of dark chocolate is about a can of coke. For those who have gastric reflux or other still_one Apr 2018 #20

I am sure there must be some dark chocolate thbobby Apr 2018 #4

IIRC milk chocolate is treated with an alkaline process, which removes health benefits n/t Pluvious Apr 2018 #8

Yea, I know thbobby Apr 2018 #12

Depends on the "you" jberryhill Apr 2018 #10

I love dark chocolate, never had cancer. My wife, who likes milk chocolate, has had it twice. See? DFW Apr 2018 #11

Gosh, 70% makes it bitter, IMO. Laffy Kat Apr 2018 #14

I first heard about the benefits of eating dark chocolate on the Dr. Dean Edell Radio Show red dog 1 Apr 2018 #16

Ive been buying the 3-pack dark chocolate bars at Trader Joes MissB Apr 2018 #17

Oddly enough, it's a pretty goid cough suppressant too n/t TexasBushwhacker Apr 2018 #18

elocs

(22,588 posts)

1. I am eating some dark chocolate at this very moment. n/t

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 11:49 AM

Apr 2018

Laffy Kat

(16,383 posts)

15. Did you bring enough for everyone?

Reply to elocs (Reply #1)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 03:05 PM

Apr 2018

Hmmmmm?

WhiteTara

(29,719 posts)

2. Unless you have Barrett's Esophagus

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 11:52 AM

Apr 2018

and then the caffeine in it will kill you.

late

(20 posts)

3. Caffeine?

Reply to WhiteTara (Reply #2)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 11:55 AM

Apr 2018

There isn't much caffeine in chocolate.

WhiteTara

(29,719 posts)

5. Good. Because I guess

Reply to late (Reply #3)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 12:01 PM

Apr 2018

I will die with death by chocolate!

WhiteTara

(29,719 posts)

6. Hey! Welcome to DU

Reply to late (Reply #3)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 12:02 PM

Apr 2018

I just saw your post count and welcome to the fray.

still_one

(92,273 posts)

7. Dark Chocolate has a fair amount of caffeine in it

Reply to late (Reply #3)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 12:05 PM

Apr 2018

https://www.consumerlab.com/answers/how-much-caffeine-is-really-in-dark-chocolate-bars/caffeine_dark_chocolate/

LeftInTX

(25,416 posts)

9. I can't tolerate dark chocolate

Reply to still_one (Reply #7)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 12:22 PM

Apr 2018

It also has higher levels of theobromine. Theobromine makes me crazy. I can't tolerate chocolate chip cookies etc. Theobromine effects are similar to caffeine. I don't know why I'm so sensitive to it, but I am.

[link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobromine_poisoning|
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobromine

still_one

(92,273 posts)

13. A good number of people can't take chocolate

Reply to LeftInTX (Reply #9)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 02:50 PM

Apr 2018

late

(20 posts)

19. That's not much

Reply to still_one (Reply #7)

Fri Apr 27, 2018, 10:36 AM

Apr 2018

For most people, that's not going to be an issue.

That also correlates with my experience, the only time I got a caffeine buzz off something chocolately was a Starbucks hot chocolate.

I wish it did have more caffeine, maybe that's why I'm mad for mocha..

still_one

(92,273 posts)

20. One candy bar of dark chocolate is about a can of coke. For those who have gastric reflux or other

Reply to late (Reply #19)

Fri Apr 27, 2018, 10:44 AM

Apr 2018

issues, that would be a problem

thbobby

(1,474 posts)

4. I am sure there must be some dark chocolate

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 11:59 AM

Apr 2018

in the milk chocolate I am eating.

Pluvious

(4,314 posts)

8. IIRC milk chocolate is treated with an alkaline process, which removes health benefits n/t

Reply to thbobby (Reply #4)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 12:20 PM

Apr 2018

thbobby

(1,474 posts)

12. Yea, I know

Reply to Pluvious (Reply #8)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 12:58 PM

Apr 2018

but I am not very smart and just trying to be a glass half-full sort of person.

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)

10. Depends on the "you"

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 12:23 PM

Apr 2018

Move faster, kid.

http://www.foodispower.org/slavery-chocolate/

Cases often involve acts of physical violence, such as being whipped for working slowly or trying to escape. Reporters have also documented cases where children and adults were locked in at night to prevent them from escaping. Former cocoa slave Aly Diabate told reporters, “The beatings were a part of my life. I had seen others who tried to escape. When they tried, they were severely beaten.” Drissa, a recently freed slave who had never even tasted chocolate, experienced similar circumstances. When asked what he would tell people who eat chocolate made from slave labor, he replied that they enjoyed something that he suffered to make, adding, “When people eat chocolate, they are eating my flesh.”

DFW

(54,414 posts)

11. I love dark chocolate, never had cancer. My wife, who likes milk chocolate, has had it twice. See?

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 12:38 PM

Apr 2018

OK, don't get started, I know that is patently ridiculous. EVERY woman in my wife's family has had cancer at least once, many of them twice, and they ALL lived past 90, which my genes say I probably will not. Neither parent made it to 80, and only one out of four grandparents did. Both my parents had cancer and ALL their siblings did, too. I could eat nothing but dark chocolate and still be relatively sure that with me and cancer, it's not "if," but "when."

That does not change the fact that I love dark chocolate AND have the good fortune to have a job that takes me to Belgium once a week, France three times a month, and Switzerland once a month. I will never have to worry about withdrawal symptoms.

Laffy Kat

(16,383 posts)

14. Gosh, 70% makes it bitter, IMO.

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 03:03 PM

Apr 2018

Still, it's great news. Maybe if I go with a lower percentage of cacao, I can eat more? Makes sense to me.

red dog 1

(27,826 posts)

16. I first heard about the benefits of eating dark chocolate on the Dr. Dean Edell Radio Show

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 03:56 PM

Apr 2018

more than 20 years ago.

He was syndicated on over 200 radio stations until he retired in 2010.

The best part of his program was the first segment where he read the latest findings from medical journals, which he read voraciously.

I love chocolate cookies made with dark chocolate, (but I'm trying to quit)
My favorites are
- Pepperidge Farms Milano Cookies, Dark Chocolate,
- LU Cookies, Le Petit Ecolier (The Little Schoolboy), Dark Chocolate (45% or 70% chocolate)

MissB

(15,810 posts)

17. Ive been buying the 3-pack dark chocolate bars at Trader Joes

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Thu Apr 26, 2018, 04:44 PM

Apr 2018

The first saturday I bought them, the pack was 2/3 gone by Sunday. I ate one square; DH had the rest of the bar plus one more bar.

Now I buy a couple at a time and hide them, only putting one out.

This week I mixed it up a bit and bought a good thick bar from the local grocery- and he ate it in one night. I like a square a night and he apparently loves an entire bar. The 72% bars are the bomb.

TexasBushwhacker

(20,205 posts)

18. Oddly enough, it's a pretty goid cough suppressant too n/t

Reply to Pluvious (Original post)

Fri Apr 27, 2018, 12:56 AM

Apr 2018

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