Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Eating dark chocolate can reduce stress: study

IF you want to feel less guilty the next time you indulge in chocolate, then here's some good news.

A new study shows that eating certain kind of dark chocolate could relieve stress and boost memory power. It also helps to deal with mood fluctuations and immunity. This is due to the high concentration of cacao, which is a major source of flavonoids that are beneficial for brain and cardiovascular health.


"For years, we have looked at the influence of dark chocolate on neurological functions from the standpoint of sugar content -- the more sugar, the happier we are," said lead investigator Lee S. Berk, from Loma Linda University in California, US.

"This is the first time that we have looked at the impact of large amounts of cacao in doses as small as a regular-sized chocolate bar in humans over short or long periods of time, and are encouraged by the findings," Berk added. "These studies show us that higher the concentration of cacao, the more positive the impact on cognition, memory, mood, immunity and other beneficial effects," Berk noted.

The findings were presented at the Experimental Biology 2018 meeting in San Diego, US.

Here are a few other benefits of consuming cacao.

Helps to deal with mood swings: Consuming cacao has shows to help boost serotonin, which is known as the feel good chemical. The serotonin levels in women drop during PMS, and consuming cacao can help balance mood swings.

Prevent premature ageing: Those who want to look young should definitely include cacao in their diet or skincare regime as this super food is known to protect your cells from oxidation and ageing.

Combat fatigue: A study released in 2007 found that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome experienced significantly less fatigue after eating 45 grams of a special dark chocolate for eight weeks.

Depression and anxiety: Cacao has compounds like anandamide and theobromine, which help with imbalances like depression.

More For You

UK safety watchdog warning

Parents are urged to never leave babies unsupervised while feeding, as self-feeding products pose serious choking risks.

GOV.UK

UK safety watchdog issues urgent warning over deadly baby self-feeding pillows

Highlights

  • Office for Product Safety and Standards issues urgent warning about animal-headed baby self-feeding pillows.
  • Products enable babies to bottle feed without caregiver assistance, creating serious choking and pneumonia risks.
  • All baby self-feeding products deemed inherently dangerous and can never be made safe, regardless of design changes.

Dangerous baby pillows

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) has issued an urgent warning to parents and businesses about a new variant of dangerous baby self-feeding products that now feature animal head-shaped pillows.

These controversial devices are designed to allow babies to bottle feed with little or no assistance from a caregiver. The products present a risk of serious harm or death from choking on the feed or aspiration pneumonia, according to the government safety watchdog.

Keep ReadingShow less