Chocolate - the Elixir of Youth?
It's been a good week for chocolate...well, for chocolate eaters, really. First came the news from a Dutch study that regularly consuming cocoa can halve the risk of dying (from a heart attack, I think; we all know what the real risk of dying is!). Then a group of New Zelanders announced that a glass of chocolate milk after taking a stroll may help one live a longer, healthier life.
But don't go knocking the corner store over for their stock of Hershey's just yet. Both studies were focused on the health of seniors and on ways to help reduce the impact of aging. Plus, both were advocating the use of chocolate in moderation (a word unfamiliar to many of us in the West). Keep in mind that turning to a diet of Mars bars can help boost the risks of type 2 diabetes and obesity. And at least from what I read, neither research group accounted for lifestyle factors outside the scope of the study. If it turns out that they happened to recruit a pack of retired marathon runners, then the results may not really apply to the rest of us.
But all that being said, I'm going to have some chocolate milk.
[Read more at New Scientist and ScienceDaily.]
Update 3/7/06: Apparently chocolate - or fudge, anyway - also has educational value, as a tool for teaching geology students about the properties of lava. (Seems scotch and rum are geologically educational, too.) Had I known that, I would have paid more attention in Geology 101!
But don't go knocking the corner store over for their stock of Hershey's just yet. Both studies were focused on the health of seniors and on ways to help reduce the impact of aging. Plus, both were advocating the use of chocolate in moderation (a word unfamiliar to many of us in the West). Keep in mind that turning to a diet of Mars bars can help boost the risks of type 2 diabetes and obesity. And at least from what I read, neither research group accounted for lifestyle factors outside the scope of the study. If it turns out that they happened to recruit a pack of retired marathon runners, then the results may not really apply to the rest of us.
But all that being said, I'm going to have some chocolate milk.
[Read more at New Scientist and ScienceDaily.]
Update 3/7/06: Apparently chocolate - or fudge, anyway - also has educational value, as a tool for teaching geology students about the properties of lava. (Seems scotch and rum are geologically educational, too.) Had I known that, I would have paid more attention in Geology 101!
posted by Tom Ulrich at 8:31 PM
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