First of all, we should be able to define what is stroke.
Stroke is like a heart attack but in the brain. It is divided into two types:
(1) Ischemic stroke and (2) hemorrhagic stroke. Ischemic stroke is when an
artery in the brain is blocked and causes restriction of blood and oxygen in
the brain while hemorrhagic stroke is when a vessel in the brain bursts and
spills the blood in the brain.
The paper discusses about the health benefits of chocolate
in women. It has been in the news before and a lot people seem to know about
the benefits of chocolate. But it is not chocolate in general, it is dark
chocolate. Dark chocolate is the type of chocolate that is rich in cocoa, and
cocoa is the vital substance that has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant
properties.
The author did not say much about what makes cocoa good for
you. I did some research on cocoa and the main substance that reduces heart
disease and stroke risks is flavonoids. Sounds familiar? Yes it does! Flavonoid
was one of the plant metabolites we discussed when we talked about the review
articles regarding onions. Flavonoids suppress oxidation of low density
lipoproteins or LDL cholesterol. This explains the reason on why dark chocolate
is better compared to milk or white chocolate. Dark chocolate has more cocoa in
it, so the more the cocoa, the more flavonoids it has.
It seems like a delicious way to fight off heart disease and
stroke. The question I have for you is whether or not this is an ideal
lifestyle change to have? With all the obesity, diabetes, etc. diseases we have
talked about, is adding chocolate good for you? Also, does this have the same
effects in men? The paper and research only talked about women, and it made me
wonder on whether or not the anatomical makeup of men versus women play a role
here.
Reference: http://www.naturalnews.com/034077_chocolate_stroke_risk.html
Reference: http://www.naturalnews.com/034077_chocolate_stroke_risk.html
The topic of chocolate and health is so interesting to me. I think it is because I can now rationalize eating some chocolate for possible health benefits. Christian, I like how you summarized this article and their findings. Since flavonoids have come up several times on the blog and in discussion, I thought I would do a little more research. I found a website from the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology at Oregon State University talking about flavonoids and their antioxidant properties. Their article is a little old, but I think they give a good explanation of how flavonoids work. Here is the link: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/f-w00/flavonoid.html
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question about adding chocolate as a healthy part of our diet, I think there are many other healthier ways to add flavonoids. In this article, the researchers point out several different foods that contain flavonoids, like fruits, vegetables, tea, and soy, which are all much healthier. In addition, the researchers focus on hops and beer as a source of flavonoids that can reduce LDL oxidation, which can lead to atherosclerosis. The researchers say that chalcone and flavanone flavonoids found hops and beer may be responsible for antioxidant activity.
Now, I'm not trying to say that we should all drink beer AND eat chocolate to protect our vascular system, but it is an interesting point. I think what we should take away is that flavonoids can be found in many foods, not just chocolate. Like we discussed, chocolate in moderation might be a good idea, but too much can increase risk of obesity and all the complications that go along with it. Other healthier food containing flavonoids are a much better choice.
Hey Julia, thanks for the reply.
DeleteI'm glad I'm not alone on my views about the topic. Flavonoids are abundantly found on other food types, and with all of the havoc about health, obesity, and inflammation, I just don't think that this will be a good source of it. I don't condone eating it, but the idea of it being a "good source" is something I hear from the marketing department of companies. What I mean is that, we see a lot of food that is "heart healthy" or "brain food."
I don't really think that chocolate is that of a beneficial compared to nature's true food. There were people arguing that pizza is now a vegetables because of the ingredients used, so can chocolate be considered as a fruit or vegetable now? I don't really think it will work that way.
I know I am a little late on the topic, but there are also a few things I would like to mention. I’ll begin by saying that in a perfect world chocolate would be the ideal source of flavonoids and that by consuming chocolate we would all be rid of heart disease, cancer, and inflammation. A piece of chocolate a day keeps the disease away! Unfortunately, this obviously isn’t the case due to the added side effects of consuming sugary foods. I definitely agree with Julia in that moderation is the key and that healthier alternatives of flavonoids would be much more beneficial. I found this rather interesting paper in the Journal of Nutrition in Gerontology and Geriatrics (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/21551197.2012.702530) titled “Estimated Flavonoid Intake of the Elderly in the United States and Around the World.” Although this isn’t necessarily related to the issue of strokes, the paper did mention that elderly individuals in the United States and in other countries consumed the most flavonoids compared to any other age groups. The flavonoid intake was mostly in the form of tea, which is a much healthier substitute to chocolate for a source of flavonoids. Because flavonoid intake helps to reduce the prevalence of common and deadly diseases such as heart disease and cancer, it would make sense that the elderly, who are more susceptible to disease, would consume more flavonoids for health benefits. We all should follow their example!
ReplyDeleteBack to chocolate… I don’t really believe that the research of flavonoids in chocolate is an attempt to get us to consume more of it. Rather, I believe that it is merely an attempt to provide reassurance to those who enjoy the consumption of chocolate that it isn’t completely bad for you. I could be totally wrong in my assumption, however.
Anyway, that’s all I got. Listen to your elders and drink more tea!
Hey Richard, you are right about the research as reassurance for people who eat chocolate. It is just hard to know whether or not people will eat chocolate in moderation, especially when chocolate contains, not only cocoa, but a lot of sugars and fats that will pile up on our daily calorie intake.
DeleteI believe that it is awesome for the people who already eat the type of chocolate that gives you the benefits, but I don't think people who don't already eat it should add it to their diet because of the risk of what it does to your health (adding more sugar to your diet). I think if someone wants to add flavonoids to their diet in order to get their benefits, they should eat other types of foods. According to the Linus Pauling Institute, flavonoids are also found in fruits, vegetables, and certain vegetables such as red wine, tea, and beer. However, I would only recommend people increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables because of the all around benefits they add to someone's diet.
ReplyDeletehttp://lpi.oregonstate.edu/f-w00/flavonoid.html
Hey Nicole, I agree that people who don't eat them regularly should add them as part of their daily diet. They can, however, eat and consume it in moderation just like any food.
DeleteIf resorting to chocolate as a main source of flavonoids, maybe they should look into more of what they eat because, like what you said, flavonoids are found in a more healthier options.
Christian you stated this equation:whether or not this is an ideal lifestyle change to have? With all the obesity, diabetes, etc. diseases we have talked about, is adding chocolate good for you?
ReplyDeleteI think adding more chocolate just because this article has said it is beneficial for you to reduce or prevent stroke is not ideal lifestyle, if we keep in mind most researchers use natural coca which it taste so bitter that you can just eat not more than a teaspoon of it . Most of commercial chocolates even dark chocolates have lost their beneficial products such as Flavnoid, because flavnoid is so sensitive to heat and recombining with other extracts which in this case most commercial chocolate has been heated or been added to other agents. Most dark chocolate do not have enough flavnoid to help with stroke. Unless we eat natural cocoa which i do not think so anyone wanna eat , i do not recommend commercial chocolate and i think it has high risk especially with people who have other diseases such as diabetes.
I think adding chocolate to our daily diet can be more harmful as it can cause serious other conditions such as Diabetes and Obesity, Having known the complications of Diabetes on our system, I think it should be consumed more carefully. For individuals that consume chocolate everyday in moderation should think about the kind of chocolate that are more "healthier", for instance, the kind that contains more flavanoids than the ones that are seen in the regular grocery stores.
ReplyDelete