Chocolate News and Research

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Mindfulness meditation helps relationships

Besides being a boon to the greeting card and florist industries, Valentine’s Day reminds many Americans of the importance and great joy of their romantic relationships, especially courting and marriage.

7 Feb 2005

Tasty polymeal cuts heart disease by 76 per cent

A combined meal of seven foods including wine and chocolate could reduce cardiovascular disease by 76 per cent, a team of researchers has found.

21 Dec 2004

Scotland’s deep-fried Mars bar is not just an urban myth

A letter in this week’s issue of THE LANCET details a survey of Scottish fish and chip shops to try and estimate the popularity of the deep-fried Mars bar.

20 Dec 2004

Wine, fish, dark chocolate, fruits and vegetables cut the risk of heart disease

Scientists in this week's Christmas issue of the BMJ have discovered the 'Polymeal', a set of ingredients which cuts the risk of heart (cardiovascular) disease by 76% and significantly increases life expectancy.

20 Dec 2004

Ingredient present in chocolate could help stop persistent coughs

According to research published online in FASEB Journal the team have discovered that theobromine, a derivative found in cocoa, is nearly a third more effective in stopping persistent coughs when compared with codeine, currently considered the best cough medicine.

23 Nov 2004

Researchers have found two areas of the brain that appear to compete for control over behavior

You walk into a room and spy a plate of gooey doughnuts dripping with chocolate frosting. But wait: You were saving your sweets allotment for a party later today. If it feels like one part of your brain is battling another, it probably is, according to a newly published study.

18 Oct 2004

Most people’s diets get healthier from childhood to young adulthood

Adults eat around twice the amount of fruit and vegetables and less fat and sugar than they did as children, a new study suggests.

16 Sep 2004

Findings point to the hippocampus as critical to the process of recollection

For millennia, the process of memory and remembering has intrigued scholars and scientists. In 350 B.C., Aristotle, in his seminal treatise on the subject, described it as having two forms: familiarity and recollection. Of these, he considered recollection to be a purely human condition.

8 Sep 2004

Researchers work to defeat acne by understanding it better on a molecular level

To defeat an enemy, you must first understand it, or so the saying goes. And for nearly every teenager and young adult, acne is a formidable foe, causing damage to their skin and their self-image that can leave long-lasting physical and emotional scars.

2 Sep 2004

Preschoolers' still getting too much added sugar and juice and not enough fruits and vegetables

Preschoolers' diet quality improved marginally between 1977 and 1998 but they are still getting too much added sugar and juice and not enough fruits and vegetables a recent study shows.

29 Aug 2004

World's first tagatose-containing chocolate is very low in glycemic load

Spherix Incorporated today announced that the world's first tagatose-containing chocolate, Miada(R) ChocoLite(R), is very low in Glycemic Load (GL) and estimated relative Glycemic Index (GI), according to newly performed studies.

13 Aug 2004

Feeding strategies can have a profound effect on children's food preferences

Researchers at the University of Birmingham's School of Psychology have discovered that parents' feeding strategies can have a profound effect on children's food preferences.

11 Aug 2004

Study suggests that weather patterns can bring on headaches

Headache, a peer-reviewed journal published on behalf of the American Headache Society, features the most carefully done study on the influence of weather patterns on headache.

16 Jul 2004

Increased consumption of artificial sweeteners and of high-calorie beverages is not the sole cause of obesity, but it may be a contributing factor

Choosing a diet soft drink over a regular, sugar-packed beverage may not be the best way to fight obesity, according to new research from Purdue University.

1 Jul 2004

New research offers clues into how the body controls appetite and food intake

Concurrent with the national obesity epidemic has been a rise in the discoveries about how the body controls appetite and food intake.

30 Jun 2004

Chocolate is good for your heart

UCSF scientists are publishing sweet results of a study examining chocolate's effects on blood vessel function in healthy people. The team reports that small daily doses of flavonoid-rich dark chocolate consumed over a two-week period improved blood vessels' ability to dilate, or expand.

1 Jun 2004

UK House of Commons Health Committee publishes its long-awaited Report on obesity

Obesity has grown by almost 400% in the last 25 years such that three-quarters of the adult population are now overweight or obese (around 22% are now obese). England has witnessed the fastest growth in obesity in Europe and childhood obesity has tripled in twenty years.

27 May 2004

Women exposed to noise stress ate more cheese, chocolate, potato chips and popcorn after stress was over

In laboratory experiments, women - but not men - who had been exposed to frustrating noise stress ate more cheese, chocolate, potato chips and popcorn after the stressful session was over.

24 May 2004

Dark chocolate and cocoa may help arterial stiffness

“This is the first study to investigate whether chocolate has any favorable effects on cardiovascular function in healthy subjects,” says Charalambos Vlachopoulos, MD, of the Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece. “We found dark chocolate improves endothelial function and decreases arterial stiffness in healthy young adults.”

19 May 2004

Pregnant women need to be aware of coffee and tea strength

A Food Standards Agency survey published today shows that out of the samples tested, a cup or mug of tea could contain from 1 to 90 milligrams (mg) of caffeine, and instant coffee from 21 to 120 mg. Brewed ground coffee ranged from 15 to 254 mg.

30 Apr 2004