Issue 5 Volume 1 May 1999
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Chocolate Eaters May Live Longer"We want to be part of this study!!"
LONDON (AP) -- Scientists already have suggested
that eating chocolate may make you happy. Now they say men who indulge
in chocolate may live longer. A study of 7,841 men, all Harvard graduates,
found that chocolate and candy eaters - regardless of how voracious
their appetite for goodies - live almost a year longer than those
who abstain.
Although they fared worse
than the moderates, the more ardent confectionery eaters - classified
as those treating themselves to three or more sweets a week - still
lived longer than those who had banished candy from their lives, with
a 16 percent decreased risk of death.
Scientists know
that chocolate contains phenols, antioxidants chemicals also present
in wine. Antioxidants prevent fat-like substances in the blood from
oxidizing and clogging the arteries. "It’s raising a hypotheses that,
if true, would bring cheer to those who like chocolate," said Dr.
I-Min Lee, an epidemiology professor at Harvard who led the research.
The study, in which men were questioned in 1988 about their candy
habits over the past year, did not count chocolate sauce, cake or
other chocolate consumed in desserts. The men, who started the study
at an average age of 65, were followed for five years, by which time
514 had died. Results took into account factors including weight, smoking and other lifestyle habits, but Lee said other health effects could have played a role.
Andrew Waterhouse, a wine chemist at the University of California at Davis who has researched antioxidant properties, said the Harvard hypothesis that death risk could be linked to chocolate is plausible," adding he was surprised, however, by the finding that eating only three chocolate bars a month was associated with a lower death risk and doubted that was due to phenol. "That frequency is so low it was surprising there would be any benefit from an antioxidant effect - if that's the full explanation," he said. "Oranges are high in antioxidants and you wouldn't expect much benefit from eating three oranges a month."
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Y2K Chocolate Shortage!
Chocolate Quotes
Exercise is a dirty word...
Every time I hear it, I wash my mouth out with chocolate.
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The researchers from Harvard University’s School of Public
Health, whose study was published in this week’s issue of the British
Medial Journal, said they don’t know why this is. They speculate,
however, that antioxidants present in chocolate may have a health
benefit The scientists stress that their findings are preliminary,
and other experts caution that research does not prove the results
can be attributed to the antioxidants. In the study, those who ate
a moderate amount of sweets - allowing themselves only one to three
candy bars a month - fared the best, having a 36 percent lower risk
of death compared to with noncandy eaters.
A fungus is to blame for the dark side of chocolate. It’s
attacking cocoa trees. Roger Allan of Mary’s Candy in
Lewiston, Maine, says the industry is well aware of the
problem, even if we’re not. A possible shortage of chocolate
could be a pain in the sweet tooth and the wallet.
The Chocolate Manufacturers Association says we’ll
never run out of chocolate — but the sweet stuff could cost
you more this time next year.