Chocolate Can Prevent Stroke
March 2, 2010
Natural News
By S. L. Baker
Stroke takes an enormous toll on health. In fact, it’s the third leading cause of death in the US, according to the American Stroke Association. So imagine how much money Big Pharma could rake in if drug manufacturers came up with a medication that not only reduced the risk of having a stroke but slashed the risk of dying from a stroke in half. It turns out there’s a substance already on the market that does just that. Only, it isn’t an expensive prescription drug but a delicious, natural food — chocolate.
A report just released by Canadian scientists from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and the University of Toronto provides evidence that consuming chocolate regularly significantly reduces the odds of having a stroke. What’s more, if a person who eats chocolate does suffer a stroke, their risk of dying afterwards is almost half that of non-chocolate eaters.
The research team reached these conclusions after analyzing three studies for any links between chocolate intake and strokes. Although one study didn’t reveal any risk or benefit, two others did. A large study of 44,489 people showed that those who ate at least one serving of chocolate each week were 22 percent less likely to have a stroke than the research participants who didn’t indulge in chocolate.
Another study of 1,169 people found that when someone did experience a stroke, if they ate 50 grams of chocolate each week they were about 50 percent less likely to die afterwards than those who had strokes but didn’t eat chocolate. The researchers stated that chocolate’s abundant antioxidant content could be the key to its apparent stroke-protective effect.
“More research is needed to determine whether chocolate truly lowers stroke risk, or whether healthier people are simply more likely to eat chocolate than others,” study author Sarah Sahib, BScCA, of McMaster University, said in a statement to the media.
Historically, traditional healers have long contended that chocolate is good for body and spirit. For example, the ancient Aztecs and Mayans are believed to be the first people who drank a chocolate drink to help matters of the heart. And in recent years, scientists have found that some phytochemicals in chocolate can alter a person’s sense of well being, producing a lift similar to the feeling of being in love. As NaturalNews has previously reported (http://www.naturalnews.com/023499_c…), Harvard Medical School scientists have discovered that cocoa, which is the main component of chocolate, may literally be good for the heart — their research shows it could reduce the risk of heart disease and also cancer.
Click here for the full report.
Chocolate Helps Prevent Stroke
February 15, 2010
Telegraph
By Richard Alleyne
A study of nearly 50,000 people found that those eating chocolate were 22 per cent less likely to suffer a stroke than those that didn’t.
And those who did suffer a stroke but had indulged in chocolate were 46 per cent less likely to die as a result.
The reason is believed to be that the food is rich in flavanoids, a healthy anti-oxidant, although researchers at the University of Toronto are keen to carry out extra studies.
Sarah Sahib, the study author of the University of Toronto in Canada, said: “More research is needed to determine whether chocolate truly lowers stroke risk, or whether healthier people are simply more likely to eat chocolate than others.”
She worked alongside colleague Dr Gustavo Saposnik and they found that 44,489 people who ate one serving of chocolate per week were 22 per cent less likely to have a stroke than people who ate no chocolate.
A second study found that 1,169 people who ate 50 grams of chocolate once a week were 46 percent less likely to die following a stroke than people who did not eat chocolate.
The researchers found only one additional relevant study in their search of all the available research. That study found no link between eating chocolate and risk of stroke or death.
However, Dr Saposnik warned: “Eating too much chocolate can make you fat as chocolate also contains saturated fats.
“Further investigation needs to be done. We need to study specific chocolate consumption.”
The findings are due to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto.
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Study Reveals Chocolate Could Help Prevent Stroke
February 12, 2010
USA Today
By Mary Brophy Marcus
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, research out this week suggests eating chocolate may have a positive impact on stroke. Don’t go buying too many heart boxes just yet, though, say the study authors.
A new analysis, which involved a review of three prior studies, suggests eating about a bar of chocolate a week can help cut the risk of stroke and lower the risk of death after a stroke. But the evidence is still limited, says study author, neurologist Gustavo Saposnik at St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto.
“This is something that requires further investigation,” Saposnik says.
One study they looked at found that 44,489 people who ate one serving of chocolate per week were 22% less likely to have a stroke than people who ate no chocolate. Another study found that 1,169 people who ate 50 grams of chocolate once a week were 46% less likely to die following a stroke than people who didn’t eat chocolate.
The research appears in this week’s Neurology and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 62nd annual meeting in Toronto in April.
Saposnik says future studies need to address which component in chocolate, the amount, and what kind — white, milk or dark — makes a difference.
New chocolate-stroke studies should also take into account age and gender of consumers, says Italo Mocchetti, a professor in the Department of Neuroscience at Georgetown University Medical Center. Mocchetti, who has studied flavonoids, says this chemical, which is found in cocoa, is linked to anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties.
The chocolate-health connection is something many clients are interested in, says Katrina Markoff, owner of the premium chocolate line Vosges.
“We get a lot of customers that come in who only want to eat dark chocolate because they believe that it helps their health — everyone speaks in cocoa percentages now,” Markoff says. “This generation is really interested in super foods.”
Click here for the full report
Toddler Snatched By Social Workers For Not Eating Junk Food
February 9, 2010 by Andrew
Filed under Government
December 3rd, 2009
Daily Mail
By Chris Brooke
Like many toddlers, Zak Hessey was a fussy eater who refused his mother’s healthy home cooking.
Concerned about his falling weight, his parents sought the advice of doctors. That simple act triggered a shocking chain of events that led to the youngster being put into foster care for four months.
Paul and Lisa Hessey believe in the long-term benefits of healthy eating and rejected advice to feed their two-year-old son high-calorie snack food such as chocolate, crisps and cakes.
To their horror, social workers put Zak into foster care ‘to assess his needs’ and allegedly threatened the couple with the loss of their parental rights if they fought the decision in court.
‘I was absolutely devastated, I broke down in tears,’ recalled Mrs Hessey, 48. ‘I was scared out of my wits. I phoned Paul to tell him and he just broke down on the phone.’
But they went to court and, after four months, Zak returned home with the blessing of social services, who accepted he had good and caring parents.
Zak is now putting on some weight, but his eating problems were not cured by his time in the care of ‘experts’ and, much to the annoyance of his parents, he has acquired a taste for junk food.
Mrs Hessey, of Bolsover, near Chesterfield, said: ‘I thought I was doing the right thing going to the best people for advice when Zak began to lose weight.
‘Instead they basically accused me of neglecting him and implied it was all my fault. I have four other children and they are perfectly healthy, it was just that Zak was refusing food for some reason. They said I should just feed Zak chocolate, cakes and junk food just to get calories into him. But I objected, saying that was only a short-term answer and not a proper solution.
‘The Government and doctors are always drumming into parents the importance of healthy eating – yet they were telling us to feed Zak all the wrong things.
‘That is obviously what they were doing when he was in foster care so now it is hard to get him to eat anything else.’
Mrs Hessey and her 48-year-old husband, a lorry driver, took Zak to see a paediatrician at Chesterfield Royal Hospital in July. He was 20 months old and weighed 1st 3lb.
Mrs Hessey, whose four other children are under ten, said she was happy for Zak to be admitted for a two-week hospital assessment and was hit by a thunderbolt when she went to collect him on July 24.
She was taken into a room with a nurse and social worker who apparently told her: ‘We would like Zak to go into foster care to assess how he feeds. You have legal rights but be warned if you oppose this we will go straight to court and have all your parental rights taken away.’
Mrs Hessey said: ‘They kept saying, “If you love Zak and you want the best for him then you’ll agree to this”. They said we had been negative about eating. That was because they had been telling us we should feed Zak crisps, chocolate and cakes to get calories into him.
‘I was questioning that approach. We eat proper home-made food at our house and just have chocolate and cakes as a treat.’
She agreed to Zak going into care after hearing to the possible repercussions if she objected. Initially she and her husband couldn’t see Zak for six days.
After hiring a solicitor, they were allowed three hours a day with him during the week in the company of a social worker.
The first hearing before the family court in Derby was on September 2 and the case was adjourned for two weeks. Interim care orders were imposed and Zak returned home following a third court hearing on November 18. By this stage social workers had lifted their objections – and he had put on only 1lb.
Mrs Hessey said: ‘Social services did a complete about turn. They admitted that in foster care Zak was exactly the same with his food as he was at home.
‘They said we were very good parents. I still find it hard to come to terms with how we have been treated.’ Derbyshire County Council said: ‘We only take a child into our care either with the consent of the parents or following very careful consideration by a court.’
A spokesman for Chesterfield Royal Hospital said: ‘While we understand Mr and Mrs Hessey’s distress, Zak’s welfare was paramount and we believe we acted in his best interest.’
Click here for the full report
The Kevin Trudeau Show: 10-27-09
Today, Kevin gives you the truth behind the food you eat everyday!
Food Inc.
Orange Juice Scam
Chocolate Better Than Aspirin for Heart Attacks
Wine Protects Skin from Radiation
Psychic Warfare
Ted Kennedy’s Confession
Plus, the author of Vitamin D3 and Solar Power for Optimal Health, Marc Sorenson, joined Kevin to explain how vitamin D3 & the sun can save YOUR life!!
Take Trudeau on the Go! Click here to download this show to your iPod, mp3 player, or PC through iTunes!
Click below to hear The Kevin Trudeau Show RIGHT NOW!!!
Chocolate is the New Aspirin?
October 27, 2009
FoodNavigator.com
By Catherine Boal
Cocoa can function in the same way as aspirin in preventing heart attacks, according to a new study investigating its effect on blood platelets.
The research will lend further weight to the various health claims now attached to the traditional indulgence.
Dark chocolate has recently been making inroads into the health market as its beneficial antioxidant and flavanoid content becomes more widely publicised and consumers switch from milk or white chocolate to keep up with the trend.
Scientists at the John Hopkins University School of Medicine say that a few squares of chocolate a day can reduce the risk of a heart attack by almost 50 per cent in some cases.
The discovery came after volunteers for a trial on the effects of aspirin were disqualified for eating chocolate, despite being warned that this would interfere with results from the study.
Despite being barred from participating in the drug study, the chocolate-eaters blood was examined and compared with others who hadn’t indulged in order to determine what effect cocoa has on platelets.
Platelets from those who had eaten chocolate clotted more slowly than those who had not – taking an average of 130 seconds to clump together compared to 123.
Professor Diane Becker said: “What these chocolate ‘offenders’ taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to aspirin in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack.”
She continued: “Eating a little bit of chocolate or having a drink of hot cocoa as part of a regular diet is probably good for personal health, so long as people don’t eat too much of it, and too much of the kind with lots of butter and sugar.”
The full results of the study were presented to the American Heart Association’s annual Scientific Sessions in Chicago yesterday.
Click here for the full report.
