Chocolate
Thomas Carter
Another sensational chocolate paper has just published. The ORs for
fatal heart disease in Swedish AMI survivors are .73, .56, and .34 for
chocolate consumption of once/month, once/week, and twice/week! If I
were smarter I’d dress up in a white robe and write a book extolling
the chocolate, wine, nuts, and apples diet.
I now have five epidemiologic papers reporting a nearly perfect linear
relationship between chocolate consumption and total or coronary
fatalities. The line starts at a 15% reduction for the very low
consumption of Iowa post menopausal women and runs to an umbelievable
95% reduction of CVD and cancer in the Kuna Indians of Panama who
consume about 900 mg of chocolate polyphenols in five cups/day. They
also see a 70% reduction in total mortality.
The Kuna Indian paper is the only one with serious methodological
weaknesses. The others are large, strong studies done mostly on
representative cohorts in industrial countries and there is no reason
at all to suspect confounding. These people were eating candy!! And
the Zutphen Dutch were eating only half dark chocolate processed by a
method called Dutching which destroys most of the phenols. The rest of
their chocolate was milk chocolate. The others were just eating the
standard chocolate candy seen everywhere.
I’m thinking that chocolate is now the most important life extending
substance, and could potentially be as beneficial as all the rest
combined. I include all five studies below as well as one that reports
low absorption when not complexed with fat. Sunfood Nutrition sells a
powder that does not have the fat removed, and contains nine grams of
fiber. This is the closest thing I could find to what I would guess
the Kunas consume.
This could be a good option since hi consumption of chocolate candy
might causse a doubling of pancreatic cancer risk. I include that
study as well and one that reports on an anti cancer mechanism for
chocolate.
Thomas
J Intern Med. 2009 Sep;266(3):248-57.Related Articles, Links
Chocolate consumption and mortality following a first acute myocardial
infarction: the Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program.
Janszky I, Mukamal KJ, Ljung R, Ahnve S, Ahlbom A, Hallqvist J.
Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm,
Sweden. imre.j...@ki.se
OBJECTIVES: To assess the long-term effects of
chocolate consumption amongst patients with established coronary heart
disease. DESIGN: In a population-based inception cohort study, we
followed 1169 non-diabetic patients hospitalized with a confirmed
first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) between 1992 and 1994 in
Stockholm County, Sweden, as part of the Stockholm Heart Epidemiology
Program. Participants self-reported usual chocolate consumption over
the preceding 12 months with a standardized questionnaire distributed
during hospitalization and underwent a health examination 3 months
after discharge. Participants were followed for hospitalizations and
mortality with national registries for 8 years. RESULTS: Chocolate
consumption had a strong inverse association with cardiac mortality.
When compared with those never eating chocolate, the multivariable-
adjusted hazard ratios were 0.73 (95% confidence interval, 0.41-1.31),
0.56 (0.32-0.99) and 0.34 (0.17-0.70) for those consuming chocolate
less than once per month, up to once per week and twice or more per
week respectively. Chocolate consumption generally had an inverse but
weak association with total mortality and nonfatal outcomes. In
contrast, intake of other sweets was not associated with cardiac or
total mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Chocolate consumption was associated
with lower cardiac mortality in a dose dependent manner in patients
free of diabetes surviving their first AMI. Although our findings
support increasing evidence that chocolate is a rich source of
beneficial bioactive compounds, confirmation of this strong inverse
relationship from other observational studies or large-scale, long-
term, controlled randomized trials is needed.
PMID: 19711504
Arch Intern Med. 2006 Feb 27;166(4):411-7. Links
Cocoa intake, blood pressure, and cardiovascular mortality: the
Zutphen Elderly Study.
Buijsse B, Feskens EJ, Kok FJ, Kromhout D.
Center for Nutrition and Health, National Institute for Public Health
and the Environment, Bilthoven, and Division of Human Nutrition,
Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands.
brian....@rivm.nl
BACKGROUND: Small, short-term, intervention studies
indicate that cocoa-containing foods improve endothelial function and
reduce blood pressure. We studied whether habitual cocoa intake was
cross-sectionally related to blood pressure and prospectively related
with cardiovascular mortality. METHODS: Data used were of 470 elderly
men participating in the Zutphen Elderly Study and free of chronic
diseases at baseline. Blood pressure was measured at baseline and 5
years later, and causes of death were ascertained during 15 years of
follow-up. Habitual food consumption was assessed by the cross-check
dietary history method in 1985, 1990, and 1995. Cocoa intake was
estimated from the consumption of cocoa-containing foods. RESULTS: One
third of the men did not use cocoa at baseline. The median cocoa
intake among users was 2.11 g/d. [4.2 g/d in the third tertile] After
adjustment, the mean systolic blood pressure in the highest tertile of
cocoa intake was 3.7 mm Hg lower (95% confidence interval [CI], -7.1
to -0.3 mm Hg; P = .03 for trend) and the mean diastolic blood
pressure was 2.1 mm Hg lower (95% CI, -4.0 to -0.2 mm Hg; P = .03 for
trend) compared with the lowest tertile. During follow-up, 314 men
died, 152 of cardiovascular diseases. Compared with the lowest tertile
of cocoa intake, the adjusted relative risk for men in the highest
tertile was 0.50 (95% CI, 0.32-0.78; P = .004 for trend) for
cardiovascular mortality and 0.53 (95% CI, 0.39-0.72; P < .001) for
all-cause mortality. CONCLUSION: In a cohort of elderly men, cocoa
intake is inversely associated with blood pressure and 15-year
cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.
PMID: 16505260 [Full text on line] [The men were getting
their cocoa from chocolate candy. About half the candy was dark
chocolate which Americans don’t eat much. They were quite hi in sugar
and transfatty acids, and before adjustment for these the OR’s were
only about .60. The benefits were quite linear across tertials with
half of the benefit seen between the second and third. This suggest
additional benefits might be possible with higher consumption. The
Zutphen study has published on quite a few health factors like tea,
fruit, vegetable etc, and they tend to report more favorable OR’s than
the rest of the literature. This may be because they were all men, and
above 65 years at baseline. Another factor, however, may have been
that the dietary study was unusually efficient. They were interviewed
for an hour in their home in the presence of the person who prepared
their meals, and were reinterviewed every five years. This suggests
that studies done with a single dietary questionair are under
reporting OR’s. And that chocolate is extremely powerful, or that the
caveat that much of the epidemiological benefits are due to healthy
lifestyles and diet is flawed. The only significant other healthy
factor that the third tertial displayed was nut consumption, probably
from the candy which would not approach the quantities found necessary
to affect health in other studies.]
[In a population of 40,000 there were no cancer or cardiovascular
deaths for those between the ages of 50 and 60 during the four year
period. For those above 50 cancer was 96.7% reduced, cardiovascular
disease was 95.8% reduced, and total mortality was 70.5% reduced.
These numbers might undervalue the actual affect of their lifestyle
since it is common for Kunas to work in the mainland for decades, then
return to the Kuna’s islands to retire. These retirees probably added
to the mortality rates of the over 60 crowd. They drank an average
of 900 mg/day of cocao polyphenols in five cups of coco pluse some
added to various recipes.] PMID: 17299579 [full text free online]
Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Mar;85(3):895-909.Related Articles, Links
Flavonoid intake and cardiovascular disease mortality: a prospective
study in postmenopausal women.
Mink PJ, Scrafford CG, Barraj LM, Harnack L, Hong CP, Nettleton JA,
Jacobs DR Jr.
Exponent, Inc, Washington, DC 20036, USA. pm...@exponent.com
BACKGROUND: Dietary flavonoids may have beneficial
cardiovascular effects in human populations, but epidemiologic study
results have not been conclusive. OBJECTIVE: We used flavonoid food
composition data from 3 recently available US Department of
Agriculture databases to improve estimates of dietary flavonoid intake
and to evaluate the association between flavonoid intake and
cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. DESIGN: Study participants
were 34 489 postmenopausal women in the Iowa Women's Health Study who
were free of CVD and had complete food-frequency questionnaire
information at baseline. Intakes of total flavonoids and 7 subclasses
were categorized into quintiles, and food sources were grouped into
frequency categories. Proportional hazards rate ratios (RR) were
computed for CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and total
mortality after 16 y of follow-up. RESULTS: After multivariate
adjustment, significant inverse associations were observed between
anthocyanidins and CHD, CVD, and total mortality [RR (95% CI) for any
versus no intake: 0.88 (0.78, 0.99), 0.91 (0.83, 0.99), and 0.90
(0.86, 0.95)]; between flavanones and CHD [RR for highest quintile
versus lowest: 0.78 (0.65, 0.94)]; and between flavones and total
mortality [RR for highest quintile versus lowest: 0.88 (0.82, 0.96)].
No association was found between flavonoid intake and stroke
mortality. Individual flavonoid-rich foods associated with significant
mortality reduction included bran (added to foods; associated with
stroke and CVD); apples or pears or both and red wine (associated with
CHD and CVD); grapefruit (associated with CHD); strawberries
(associated with CVD); and chocolate (associated with CVD).
CONCLUSION: Dietary intakes of flavanones, anthocyanidins, and certain
foods rich in flavonoids were associated with reduced risk of death
due to CHD, CVD, and all causes.
PMID: 17344514 [THE OR FOR FATAL STROKE VS CHOCOLATE WAS .78 AND .85
AFTER MULTIVARIANT ADJUSTMENT. CHOCOLATE CONSUMPTION ONLY ACCOUNTED
FOR 2% OF THE TOTAL PHENOLIC INTAKE. ]
BMJ. 1998 Dec 19-26;317(7174):1683-4. Links
Life is sweet: candy consumption and longevity.Lee IM, Paffenbarger RS
Jr.
Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston,
MA 02115, USA. i-mi...@channing.harvard.edu
PMID: 9857124 [8000 male Harvard grads had an OR of .73 for total
mortality, candy eaters vs non candy eaters.]
2: J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Jul 8;57(13):5743-9.Related Articles,
Links
Effect of fat content on the digestibility and bioaccessibility of
cocoa polyphenol by an in vitro digestion model.
Ortega N, Reguant J, Romero MP, Macià A, Motilva MJ.
Food Technology Department, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería
Agraria Universidad de Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
This work describes the applicability of an in vitro digestion model
for the evaluation of the digestibility and bioaccessibility of cocoa
polyphenols (procyanidins, phenolic acids, and flavones) and for the
study of the food matrix effect in relation with the fat content. For
this purpose, two cocoa samples, cocoa liquor ( approximately 50% fat
content) and cocoa powder ( approximately 15% fat content), were used.
The results showed an important increase of the concentration of
procyanidin (monomers and dimers), probably due to the hydrolysis of
procyanidins with a high degree of polymerization (pentamers to
nonamers) submitted to the digestion procedure. In relation to
flavones, the concentration of aglycone forms remained almost constant
after the digestion steps; in contrast, the concentration of the
glycoside forms an increase in the digestion mixtures mainly after the
duodenal step, probably as a result of the partial digestion of the
dietary fiber present in the cocoa. The higher fat content in the
cocoa liquor seemed to have a protective effect, probably related with
a better micellarization that favors the stability of polyphenols
during digestion.
PMID: 19492841 [PubMed - in process]
J Nutr Biochem. 2009 Jul 1. [Epub ahead of print]Related Articles,
Links
Cocoa polyphenols attenuate hydrogen peroxide-induced inhibition of
gap-junction intercellular communication by blocking phosphorylation
of connexin 43 via the MEK/ERK signaling pathway.
Lee DE, Kang NJ, Lee KM, Lee BK, Kim JH, Lee KW, Lee HJ.
Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University,
Seoul 151-921, Republic of Korea.
Cocoa, a good source of dietary antioxidative polyphenols, exhibited
anticarcinogenic activity in animal models, but the molecular
mechanisms of the chemopreventive potential of cocoa remain unclear.
Inhibition of gap-junction intercellular communication (GJIC) is
strongly related to tumorigenesis. Cocoa polyphenol extracts (CPE)
dose dependently attenuated hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2))-induced
inhibition of GJIC in rat liver epithelial (RLE) cells. CPE inhibited
the H(2)O(2)-induced phosphorylation and internalization of connexin
43, which is a regulating protein of GJIC in RLE cells. The H(2)O(2)-
induced accumulation of reactive oxygen species and activation of
extracellular signal-regulated kinase were inhibited by CPE treatment.
However, CPE did not block H(2)O(2)-induced phosphorylation of p38
mitogen-activated protein kinase. An ex vivo kinase assay demonstrated
that CPE inhibited the H(2)O(2)-induced mitogen-activated protein
kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase (MEK) 1 activity
in RLE cell lysates. Ex vivo pull-down assay data revealed that CPE
directly bound with MEK1 to inhibit MEK1 activity. These results
indicate that CPE protects against the H(2)O(2)-induced inhibition of
GJIC through antioxidant activity and direct inhibition of MEK
activity, which may contribute to its chemopreventive potential.
PMID: 19576746 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Cancer Causes Control. 2009 Aug;20(6):835-46. Epub 2009 Mar 11.Related
Articles, Links
Sweets, sweetened beverages, and risk of pancreatic cancer in a large
population-based case-control study.
Chan JM, Wang F, Holly EA.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California
San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA. june...@ucsf.edu
OBJECTIVE: We examined the associations between sweets, sweetened and
unsweetened beverages, and sugars and pancreatic cancer risk. METHODS:
We conducted a population-based case-control study (532 cases, 1,701
controls) and used multivariate logistic regression models to
calculate odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Because
associations were often different by sex, we present results for men
and women combined and separately. RESULTS: Among men, greater intakes
of total and specific sweets were associated with pancreatic cancer
risk (total sweets: OR = 1.9, 95% CI: 1.0, 3.6; sweet condiments: OR =
1.9, 95% CI: 1.2, 3.1; chocolate candy: OR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.1, 5.0;
other mixed candy bars: OR = 3.3, 95% CI: 1.5, 7.3 for 1 + servings/
day versus none/rarely). Sweets were not consistently associated with
risk among women. Sweetened beverages were not associated with
increased pancreatic cancer risk. In contrast, low-calorie soft drinks
were associated with increased risk among men only; while other low-/
non-caloric beverages (e.g., coffee, tea, and water) were unassociated
with risk. Of the three sugars assessed (lactose, fructose, and
sucrose), only the milk sugar lactose was associated with pancreatic
cancer risk (OR = 2.0, 95% CI: 1.5, 2.7 comparing extreme quartiles).
CONCLUSION: These results provide limited support for the hypothesis
that sweets or sugars increase pancreatic cancer risk.
PMID: 19277880 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
PMCID: PMC2694313
KittyAntonikWakfer
> Hi,
>
> Another sensational chocolate paper has just published. The ORs for
> fatal heart disease in Swedish AMI survivors are .73, .56, and .34 for
> chocolate consumption of once/month, once/week, and twice/week! If I
> were smarter I’d dress up in a white robe and write a book extolling
> the chocolate, wine, nuts, and apples diet.
You might have a market for the information,Thomas, even without the
white robe.
What part do chocolate, wine, nuts, and apples play in your diet? And
how is your own health? Having your own diet, supplements and home
monitored health parameters, as a minimum, available online would
allow readers to see that you practice what you recommend and what
effect it is having on you personally - of interest to many beyond the
epidemiological studies.
Chocolate (very low sugar undutched) and nuts are prominent in my and
Paul's diet; wine and apples present but of less importance - berries
far more so. Most important in our estimation is the intermittent
fasting and modest protein intake - promotion of autophagy. Supplement
lists and our health parameters plus lab test results are available
for viewing.
**Kitty Antonik Wakfer
MoreLife for the rational - http://morelife.org
Reality based tools for more life in quantity and quality
Self-Sovereign Individual Project - http://selfsip.org
Self-sovereignty, rational pursuit of optimal lifetime happiness,
individual responsibility, social preferencing & social contracting
Thomas Carter
> On Aug 30, 6:11 pm, Thomas Carter <tomcarter...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Hi,
>
> > Another sensational chocolate paper has just published. The ORs for
> > fatal heart disease in Swedish AMI survivors are .73, .56, and .34 for
> > chocolate consumption of once/month, once/week, and twice/week! If I
> > were smarter I’d dress up in a white robe and write a book extolling
> > the chocolate, wine, nuts, and apples diet.
>
> You might have a market for the information,Thomas, even without the
> white robe.
> What part do chocolate, wine, nuts, and apples play in your diet? And
> how is your own health? Having your own diet, supplements and home
> monitored health parameters, as a minimum, available online would
> allow readers to see that you practice what you recommend and what
> effect it is having on you personally - of interest to many beyond the
> epidemiological studies.
>
> Chocolate (very low sugar undutched) and nuts are prominent in my and
> Paul's diet; wine and apples present but of less importance - berries
> far more so. Most important in our estimation is the intermittent
> fasting and modest protein intake - promotion of autophagy. Supplement
> lists and our health parameters plus lab test results are available
> for viewing.
>
> **Kitty Antonik Wakfer
>
> Reality based tools for more life in quantity and quality
> Self-sovereignty, rational pursuit of optimal lifetime happiness,
> individual responsibility, social preferencing & social contracting
Hi Kitty,
I take six teaspoons of cocoa powder in three cups hot chocolate, one
ounce of mixed nuts, and one small read apple. I recommend a glass of
red wine, but don’t take it since I suffer from panic disorder which
it aggravates. Alcohol is well documented to benefit the heart, but
has a very short half life, so drinkers spend most of the time with no
ongoing benefit. Sipping a dose already proved to be efficacious all
day long might prove to have extremely good benefits. I intend to try
this some day and continue if it doesn’t aggravate my panic disorder.
Other than arthritic hips and heart arrhythmia caused by an occasional
panic attack my health is good at age 68. My common health parameters
are mostly normal.
Years ago I copied Paul’s regimen and have stayed quite close to it
except for adding the more uncommon supplements he takes. I now
exercise frequently, but very moderately due to having injured myself
many times by over exertion.
Here’s a list of the supplements I take.
Thomas
LEF Mix
MITOCHONDRIAL ENERGY OPTIMIZER (started in ’06)
Cognitex
Calcium 727mg 227mg in
LE
CoQ10 150
Ester C 6,000mg intra cellular
activity
Fish oil 3gm 540mgEPA/360mgDHA
Garlic 3000mg find out what dose in
trials
Gelatine 10gm need to study
Grape seed extract 125 mg 25mg in LE mix.
glucosamine 1500mg taking HCL form. Sulfate
might be
better
Melatonin 30mg need to test
absorption
Methyl-cobalamine 1mg
Hawthorn
Horse chestnut
Saw Palmetto
320mg
Tocotrienols 74mg with sesimin
Trimethylglycine 2100mg
vitamin K2 45mg new concept,
must keep current
Whey Protein 100 calories
Mixed tocopherols 333 mg Vitamin E
Peak ATP 100 mg
Acetylcarnosine eye drops
Alpha Lipoic Acid 600
Acetyl L Carnitine 200
Nettle leaf 100
Grape seed extract 100
Milk Thistle 515
Branched chain amino acids 1800
SAMe 400 mg
Biotin 1 mg
Saw Palmetto 400 mg
Garlic 900
B50 complex two pills B vitamins
Vitamin B3 2000
Beta Carotene 25,000 IU
Medicinal foods and spices
Nuts 200 calories
Chocolate six heaping teaspoons
Lycopene 18 mg in V8 juice simmered one hr w/
olive oil
Citrus skin from one fruit
Pomegranate juice 5 to 8 oz
Carrots two
Apples one
TEA three cups
fibre 35 grams Whole
grain
Olive oil about 15 gm
Gelatin one scoop
SPICES
turmeric 1.9 gms Curcumin
pepper .22 gm Piperine
rosemary .22 gm
oregano .22 gm
paprika .22 gm
cumin .22 gm
Ginger .22 gm
Sage .22 gm
Cinnamon .22 gm
cayenne pepper .22 gm
Garlic .5 gm
End of section
Kofi
Doesn't pot smoking also increase testicular cancer rates and doesn't
cocoa flavonoid consumption do something similarly strange to testicular
development?
Wonder if there's a connection through cannabinoids...