Swedish scientists have proved that a chocolate diet can prevent a stroke. However, their British colleagues immediately proved false the results of several months' worth of studies. Chocolate can be good for the heart, but also simultaneously present a danger to human health, according to experts interviewed by the Voice of Russia.
By Alexandra Zakharova, Over the course of ten years the Swedish scientists fed chocolate to a control group of men. It turned out that taking flavonoids contained in cocoa beans on a regular basis strengthens the blood vessels, thus reducing the risk of a stroke, claim the scientists. However, it is too early to announce that chocolate brings absolute good. Alexander Sharandak, a Russian cardiologist, is convinced that even if the sweets do decrease the risk of heart disease, it is due to the fact that it improves a person’s mood. Happy people get sick less often: “Eating chocolate does improve one's mood to a certain degree. The fact that depressed people are prone to heart disease has been long proved. Some sweets, chocolate included, are good for you to some extent, but only if not taken in large quantities. It is the dark chocolate that contains real caffeine and not the milk chocolate that has nothing but carbohydrates. By fighting depression and improving one's mood, chocolate helps to prevent heart disease. Often headaches are related to low blood sugar. People complain about headaches and weakness, but if we raise the level of blood sugar with the help of chocolate, not only would their mood improve, but it would also raise their blood sugar and increase efficiency.” Scientists from Australia and Denmark also conducted a number of experiments and found that dark chocolate curbed the desire to eat salty, spicy or other types of sweets - in other words all the potentially dangerous products. The Australian scientists state that chocolate helps control weight. But Julia Bastrigina, a dietitian, warns that humans cannot only eat cacao beans: “In this case a person could disturb the functioning of the bile duct, the pancreas and other organs. One cannot live on chocolate. It is not a food that helps prevent any diseases and is not so healthy to eat it on a daily basis instead of normal food.” Cacao beans also stimulate the production of endorphins in the body. These hormones of happiness not only improve one's mood, but also cause addiction. Thus, one must be cautious with chocolate, psychologist Sergey Klyuchnikov believes: “It does lead to the production of endorphins in our body as well as to positive emotions. But if a person gets addicted to this or that food, even the sweetest food, he gets used to it. And then the positive effect disappears. The person has to start eating more. Some people can even become sweet addicts. They think they simply experience a pleasant taste in their mouth, when in fact their blood sugar goes up. It brings on the risk of diabetes. But chocolate itself in small quantities is a healthy.” Dark chocolate is healthy. In milk chocolate there is significantly less cacao and the good antioxidants. In white chocolate there are only carbohydrates. Nevertheless, the sweeter the treat, the more endorphins it produces. That is why the sales volumes of cacao beans based treats are constantly growing. Source: Voice of Russia
