Dark Chocolate and CFS Study

[perchance dreamer]

I love Theo 85% Dark Chocolate. It's very smooth.

 

[LindaSan]

http://www.nutritionj.com/content/9/1/55

Basically the information is that a doctor noted that a patient felt better after eating dark chocolate and did a study of ten patients in his practice.

THey ate 15 grams of DARK chocolate three times a day. After eight weeks they reported improvement, enough improvement where two of them went back to work.

Some articles state that the reason MIGHT be because it increases serotonin.
I can't begin to believe that because that would just mean they emotionally felt better, which is not enough to go back to work. This article does not claim that.

I am venturing to guess another possible reason for the improvement.
See my other thread on biofilm-forming protozoa.

The protozoa (it's biofilm) keeps nutrients from entering the body. Perhaps the chocolate is toxic to this protozoa. (Chocolate is toxic to dogs and cats).

It's just a guess, but it's a possibility.

I do believe that when I got sick it was viral. It is possible that the virus opens the body to other infections such as the biofilm producing protozoa. It creates it's film, keeping nutrients from entering the body, creating a starvation of nutrients which reduces are energy to nil. This is guesswork. I'm trying to figure this out from my experience with this illness. I don't have a whole lot more to go on.

I have been trying eating dark (85%) chocolate for 6 weeks now and my energy level is up. Not enough to work, but I'm seeing improvement. Is it the chocolate? I don't know for sure. I'm always trying so many things to get well. Yes I know I'm supposed to try them one at a time so I know what's working, but sometimes I do get impatient with doing that. My life is only so long here.

It's supposed to take the full six weeks, with little or no improvement to start. The people in the study did not gain any weight. I'm finding the fat in the chocolate is cutting my appetite, so that may account, and anyway, someone figured out I was only adding 300 calories to my diet, daily.

I started out giving this a try as a joke. I've tried so many horrible awful things to try to get well. It would really be a joke if just eating chocolate would do it. I had to try it just to say I tried something easy to do.
If this ended up curing me it would be a big joke indeed!!!

I'd love it if others wanted to give this a try and report back on if it did anything for them. The nice thing about it is you don't need a prescription, and there aren't any side-effects (unless you get the good chocolate and eat too much of it like I did one week, and then I gained some weight, but as long as I've stuck to the 15 grams 3 times a day I have not gained any weight).

If nothing else, it's a good excuse to eat chocolate.

Seattle Sue:
I got a kick out of your post. You and I are a lot alike: I, too, try a bunch of different things all at once, or overlapping, because I don't seem to be getting any younger.
I envy anyone who can eat all that chocolate - it does such weird things to me. It is so incredibly stimulating that if I eat even a small piece, say at 6 pm, I will have insomnia, and often heart palpitations, until about 2 am. I must be allergic to the stuff.
I'm new to the methylation block protocol. Don't know all that much about it except that I'm taking FolaPro and Intrinsi-B-12. I'm "over-methylated" so I kinda think taking these methylated supplements probably isn't right for me. I don't know - so much to learn, so little time.
There's research over at the Marshall Protocol Knowledge Base that might interest you on these miserable *&^% bacteria. I did the Marshall Protocol and it helped my infections a lot. I might even go back on the MP, I don't know. At the MPKB.org site, you can read about, say, Lyme Disease (Borrelia Burdorger) which is also one of those microorganisms that knocks out the immune system which then allows all kinds of icky bugs to enter. I seem to have Lyme, or perhaps a cousin with a similar M.O. I quit the MP because I wanted to find a more natural way to get my immune system working again. That may have been a mistake, I don't know.
Other sites about the MP include Bacteriality.com and CureMyTh1.org if you're interested.
Bye for now,
Linda in Bellingham, WA

 

[Valentijn]

I envy anyone who can eat all that chocolate - it does such weird things to me. It is so incredibly stimulating that if I eat even a small piece, say at 6 pm, I will have insomnia, and often heart palpitations, until about 2 am. I must be allergic to the stuff.

It might just be one of the ingredients, and not the cocoa itself. Most chocolate on the market contains soy lecitithin, which could cause problems if you have soy issues. And soy is one of the more common allergens.

 

[mermaid]

I decided to include raw cacao in my diet a while back. I am lucky enough to have a powerful Vitamix so I throw in the raw cacao nibs, coconut oil and coconut milk, with cashew nuts and seeds and make a lovely kind of choc milk with it all - the coconut oil makes it sweet enough for me without needing to add any kind of sugar. I have this every morning as unfortunately if I eat chocolate bars I tend to eat the lot in one go!

Even yummier is a mix I can make like a kind of chocolate spread with just the coconut oil, the raw cacao nibs and the cashew nuts. I only make this occasionally as it's rather addictive.

I just think of the magnesium in it and feel it must be doing me good (quite apart from the coconut oil of course!).

 

[Firestormm]

Am attending this ME Management (self-management really) course at present run by my local NHS ME Service. Anyway, long story short, chocolate raised it's pretty head again today.

Due to it's caffeine content (and stimulatory effect) it was not recommended as something to munch on at night upon waking, or during the day if trying to rest. Fair enough.

I mentioned this study, and that it had only been on 10 patients etc. etc. and the British Dietetic Association were also mentioned.

Just thought I would link to their leaflet from January 2012 (there may have been an article from them specifically about this study but I can't find it now) on diet and CFS/ME if you weren't aware of it.

This was all they had to say about this particular finding, which again seems fair enough to me:

"There are many diets, (such as the anti-candida diet, or eating dark chocolate), that claim to improve CFS/ME symptoms. Although some people say the anti-candida diet helps, the scientific evidence, (based on clinical trials), does not support this claim. The study on dark chocolate and ME involved only ten people and hence is too small to make any claims."

Personally I cannot stand dark chocolate and feel it should only be used in cooking - I am a milk-man myself

I did I admit reach for something - still do - to munch when coming out of 'whatever' it is that scared the crap out of me during sleep.

I find that eating - well anything really - enables me to regain focus and settle. Anyway, that was why it was talked briefly about. Interestingly, I was/am seeking something to stimulate my awareness back into reality - it's disturbing when coming out of an episode and/or terror - plus of course food is comforting.

 

[peggy-sue]

I wonder, (in general) if anybody has ever done "gender and choccie preference" studies.
I feel that (most) women understand choccie far better than (most) men do.
(Most) men can cope with the strange phenonenon of eating just one or two pieces.
(Most) women on the other hand, fully understand the entirely normal need to consume the entire bar once it has been opened.
(Most) women understand dark chocolate, the darker the better.
But I seem to know a whole load of men who eat the white stuff by choice.

 

[Firestormm]

peggy-sue URGH!!! to the 'white-stuff' Milk chocolate is the way to go for me at least. But 'milky-bars' and the like - BLURGH! Vomit

 

[peggy-sue]

Aaah - a huMAN.

 

[MeSci]

Chocolate contains both caffeine and theobromine. I like the dark stuff, and started adding cocoa to meals (e.g. curry and pasta sauces) and carried on partly because I like it. I also eat Plamil dairy free/sugar-free dark chocolate, but like some others I can't tolerate a lot of it - it seems to make me a bit shaky and nauseous if I have more than a few squares. I don't think it's the soya in my case, as I seem OK with other soya products.

Re oxalates, this paper:

http://ndt.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/1/117.full

says "(in relation to kidney stones): “Only spinach and rhubarb are considered to be high risk food items, for their high amounts of bioavailable oxalate. Peanuts, instant tea, almonds, chocolate and pecans are considered as moderate risk food items.”

I'm not sure whether it's the study linked to in the first message of this thread, but a while back someone posted a link in a forum to an animated video which illustrated a lot of serious shortcomings with a study on chocolate's supposed benefits. It pretty well discredited the supposed evidence completely. Such studies have also supposedly found benefits for diabetics and possibly heart patients?

 

[peggy-sue]

Mmmm.. I like unsweetened dark chocolate and a bit of chilli in a red wine jus. But my OH doesn't.

I've never seen the caffeine content of choccie listed anywhere - I did go looking once, and found something that said the theobromine was the thing that kept you awake. (You can't believe everything you read on the web. )

A big bar of 81% consumed late at night (and not lost, melted under my bum) will keep me awake.

Do you know how much is in it, MeSci?

(I never touch coffee after 4.30 in the afternoon)

 

[Firestormm]

peggy-sue see the highlighted 'caffeine' link in my post above. Gives a good review of chocolate and it's constituent parts

 

[MeSci]

Mmmm.. I like unsweetened dark chocolate and a bit of chilli in a red wine jus. But my OH doesn't.

I don't like it unsweetened. The one I have is sweetened with xylitol.

(I never touch coffee after 4.30 in the afternoon)

I generally don't have coffee or chocolate in the evenings, but I don't drink much coffee anyway. Before ME I used to sleep fine after a late coffee.

 

[Dolphin]

I submitted this comment back in Dec 2010. Unfortunately the journal never put it up. I thought I'd post it here now, just to put it on the record:

I was going to post the following comment if and when the other one went up, but it never did: Looking over it quickly now, I'm not sure if I misread something regarding drop outs
e.g. perhaps this means 10 all the way through.

Ten subjects were enrolled in the study, 5 subjects completed both study arms.

I've put a strikethrough through some of it as I'm not sure about it now (2013)
Drop-outs should have been mentioned

I had been wondering if there was an error in the following: "The mean weight before and after the high cocoa chocolate intervention were unchanged at 77.04 kg and 76.80 kg, respectively (p value - 0.326). The mean weight before and after the placebo intervention were also unchanged (73.43 kg vs. 73.85 kg, respectively p value 0.345)." These two groups have a weight difference of approximately 3kg. As there are no dropouts mentioned in the paper, one presumes these are the same patients involved in a crossover trial with a two-week washout period. However I now notice in the prepublication history http://www.biomedcentral.com/imedia/1103149416384703_manuscript.pdf that not everyone completed both legs of the trial. I think it would be good if this information was included in the main text along with how many individuals did each leg of the trial.

Finally, the authors say, "As this was a proof of concept study; physical activity was not formally assessed. Biochemical markers including plasma polyphenol levels and inflammatory markers were not measured as part of the study as all of the baseline parameters prior to the study were normal, in accord with the criteria for the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome."

The authors are presumably referring to the fact that the Fukuda definition requires researchers to exclude patients with medical or psychiatric disorders that could explain the chronic fatigue and other symptoms. However it is not the case that no abnormalities will ever be found in CFS (plenty have been) nor that the definition encourages researchers not to track biological markers.

Reference:
[1] Fukuda K, Straus SE, Hickie I, Sharpe MC, Dobbins JG, Komaroff A: The chronic fatigue syndrome: a comprehensive approach to its definition and study. International Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Study Group. Ann Intern Med 1994, 121(12):953-959.

 

[WillowJ]

just came across this:

Dark chocolate might pack a double positive punch for our health—thanks to the microbes that live in our gut. New research suggests that beneficial bacteria that reside toward the end of our digestive tract ferment both the antioxidants and the fiber in cocoa.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-is-dark-chocolate-good-for-you-thank-your-microbes/

 

[Little Bluestem]

I wish they had said which brands of dark chocolate had the most polyphenols. The problem with dark chocolate is the calories. I will cut back to one square instead of two. The package says that the serving size is four squares, so I thought I was being conservative at two.

Maybe next winter I will get to trying to make chocolate from powdered cocoa, coconut oil, and stevia. During the summer (if it ever gets here), that would make chocolate syrup because of the low melting point of coconut oil. I would find it necessary to put the chocolate syrup on ice cream.

 

[A.B.]

I like powdered cocoa, a banana, fresh orange juice, some coconut milk, all mixed. Some water is needed also. It's delicious. Unfortunately it induces reactive hypoglycemia if consumed on a regular basis, so I can't have it often.

 

[golden]

Ombar is the best chocolate i have ever had - plus it contains beneficial bacteria lol

http://ombar.co.uk/

 

[Little Bluestem]

I like powdered cocoa, a banana, fresh orange juice, some coconut milk, all mixed. Some water is needed also. It's delicious. Unfortunately it induces reactive hypoglycemia if consumed on a regular basis, so I can't have it often.

Some coconut oil might make it less apt to induce reactive hypoglycemia (also more fattening).

 

[MeSci]

Some coconut oil might make it less apt to induce reactive hypoglycemia (also more fattening).

I use a lot of coconut oil and it doesn't make me gain weight. Gluten and carbs/grain/sugar do.

 

[bambi]

When are you guys ever gonna learn to read the fine print and check for a conflict of interest ?

Competing interests
None for TS, ASR, DDM and SLA

SB worked as Head of Research for Nestlé, PLC, York

Authors' contributions
TS, SB, ASR, DDM and SLA contributed to the design, conduct, analysis, drafting and revision of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgements
Nestlé PLC York, UK provided the chocolate for the study and performed the analysis as an unrestricted contribution.