A Sense of Doubt blog post #4016 - Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate and the History of Valentine's Day
Happy Feat of Lupercalia better known to Americans in the 21st Century as Valentine's Day.
I am a big fan of dark chocolate and eat it all the time.
A PDF - Chocolate the new health food or is it?
Precise reason for health benefits of dark chocolate: Thank hungry gut microbes
- March 18, 2014
- American Chemical Society
- The health benefits of eating dark chocolate have been extolled for centuries, but the exact reason has remained a mystery -- until now. Researchers reported that certain bacteria in the stomach gobble the chocolate and ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the heart.
The health benefits of eating dark chocolate have been extolled for centuries, but the exact reason has remained a mystery -- until now. Researchers have just reported that certain bacteria in the stomach gobble the chocolate and ferment it into anti-inflammatory compounds that are good for the heart.
Their findings were unveiled at the 247th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The meeting is being held at the Dallas Convention Center and area hotels through Thursday.
"We found that there are two kinds of microbes in the gut: the 'good' ones and the 'bad' ones," explained Maria Moore, an undergraduate student and one of the study's researchers.
"The good microbes, such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria, feast on chocolate," she said. "When you eat dark chocolate, they grow and ferment it, producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory." The other bacteria in the gut are associated with inflammation and can cause gas, bloating, diarrhea and constipation. These include some Clostridia and some E. coli.
"When these compounds are absorbed by the body, they lessen the inflammation of cardiovascular tissue, reducing the long-term risk of stroke," said John Finley, Ph.D., who led the work. He said that this study is the first to look at the effects of dark chocolate on the various types of bacteria in the stomach. The researchers are with Louisiana State University.
The team tested three cocoa powders using a model digestive tract, composed of a series of modified test tubes, to simulate normal digestion. They then subjected the non-digestible materials to anaerobic fermentation using human fecal bacteria, according to Finley.
He explained that cocoa powder, an ingredient in chocolate, contains several polyphenolic, or antioxidant, compounds such as catechin and epicatechin, and a small amount of dietary fiber. Both components are poorly digested and absorbed, but when they reach the colon, the desirable microbes take over. "In our study we found that the fiber is fermented and the large polyphenolic polymers are metabolized to smaller molecules, which are more easily absorbed. These smaller polymers exhibit anti-inflammatory activity," he said.
Finley also noted that combining the fiber in cocoa with prebiotics is likely to improve a person's overall health and help convert polyphenolics in the stomach into anti-inflammatory compounds. "When you ingest prebiotics, the beneficial gut microbial population increases and outcompetes any undesirable microbes in the gut, like those that cause stomach problems," he added. Prebiotics are carbohydrates found in foods like raw garlic and cooked whole wheat flour that humans can't digest but that good bacteria like to eat. This food for your gut's helpful inhabitants also comes in dietary supplements.
Finley said that people could experience even more health benefits when dark chocolate is combined with solid fruits like pomegranates and acai. Looking to the future, he said that the next step would be for industry to do just that.
This study was supported by the Louisiana State College of Agriculture and a Louisiana AgCenter Undergraduate Research Grant.
Story Source:
Materials provided by American Chemical Society. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Study finds heavy metals in many dark chocolate products in the US
Researchers found levels of lead and cadmium that far exceed allowable amounts under California guidelines
A new study has found numerous dark chocolate products are contaminated with lead and cadmium, two highly toxic metals.
The study by researchers at George Washington University was published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Nutrition.
More than 70 dark chocolate products sold at stores such as Amazon, GNC and Whole Foods were purchased to test for toxic metal contamination, though the names of the products or manufacturers were not disclosed in the study. The samplings were conducted over a period of eight years from 2014 to 2022.
The study found that 43% of the products tested had exceeded acceptable levels of lead contamination, and 35% exceeded cadmium levels, based on California legal limits for heavy metals in food.
Researchers found lead levels in chocolate samples ranging from zero to as high as 3.316 micrograms per daily serving, with 0.5 micrograms a day the maximum allowed according to California guidelines, and cadmium levels in the samples ranged from 0.29 to 14.12 micrograms per daily serving, with 4.1 micrograms a day the maximum allowed.
No amount of lead exposure is safe. Cadmium is a highly toxic metal with exposure linked to cancer, and targeting the cardiovascular, renal, gastrointestinal, neurological, reproductive and respiratory systems.
The products were also tested for arsenic, but none tested above the maximum contamination level. The researchers also found organic products contained higher contamination levels, but they did not determine how the metal contaminations were introduced into the chocolate products.
Cadmium is suspected as a soil contaminant, while lead is suspected to be introduced to the products through drying, processing or packaging.
The researchers concluded in their study that the heavy metal contamination found in the products may not pose a risk to the average person by themselves, but could pose a risk for consumers of more than one serving per day or in combination with other sources of heavy metal contamination.
“The results of our analysis suggest that many products contain [lead] and [cadmium] in amounts that may exceed certain, stringent regulatory requirements,” wrote the researchers in the study.
“Therefore, enhanced surveillance may be warranted. Further, additional research into cumulative heavy metal exposure from the diet as a whole would help put this work into context to best inform public health policy and interventions.”
Christopher Gindlesperger, senior vice-president of public affairs and communications for the National Confectioners Association, said in a statement to the Guardian: “Chocolate and cocoa are safe to eat and can be enjoyed as treats as they have been for centuries. Food safety and product quality remain our highest priorities and we remain dedicated to being transparent and socially responsible.”
A spokesperson for the Food and Drug Administration said the agency did not generally comment on specific studies.
They stated :“the FDA monitors for environmental contaminants, including lead and cadmium, in chocolate and chocolate products. Cadmium and lead levels in chocolate depend on the growing area and the percentage of cocoa solids in the chocolate product. While the presence of cadmium and lead in chocolate has been the subject of considerable media attention, experts from around the world have found that chocolate is a minor source of exposure to these contaminants internationally.”
Happy Feast of Lupercalia!
The origin of Valentine's Day derives from a roman festival with werewolves, blood, and fucking.
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- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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