http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-423646/Dark-chocolate-eases-ME-symptoms.html
I just had to laugh when I read this bullcrap.
What do you think??
I just had to laugh when I read this bullcrap.
What do you think??
Just Hilarious
- Thread starter Yungas
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Boule de feu
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Is this a new study? I'm pretty sure this is not something that was just discovered. I remember reading something along those lines 2 or 3 years ago.
Like hot milk makes you sleep (is this a myth?), dark chocolate has many good virtues (especially on serotonine). When we sleep better, we usually have less symptoms during the day. I know I do. In this way, it can help a bit.
Nielk
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This article was dated in 2006. I was waiting to see an ad for a specific brand of dark chocolate since it sang the praise of it so much. This is one study (if it really was done) that I wouldn't have minded taking part in. Seriously though, they did come out with many health benefits of eating a piece of dark (at least 70%) eaten daily, so I don't see any harm.
meadowlark
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Actually, hot milk makes me sleep like a baby!
Mary Poppins
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Fascinating! A little over-spun (the article), but still intriguing.
I have never found chocolate to do any of those lovely serotonin inducing things that other people experience. I don't even like the stuff - yet interestingly I crave it from time to time.
I have never found chocolate to do any of those lovely serotonin inducing things that other people experience. I don't even like the stuff - yet interestingly I crave it from time to time.
PokerPlayer
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It can help make me feel more talkative, but it is also a stimulant, and stimulants can make us worse .... I used dark chocolate like a drug for a month or so but became worse because of it, so I stopped. I should probably still use it every once in a while for fun though.
biophile
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I was fairly skeptical when I first read about this study years ago. However, I have since learnt that the the polyphenols in dark chocolate can reduce the same specific markers of oxidative stress (and possibly inflammation as well) also found elevated in CFS, and this dark chocolate study was on CFS patients. The study trialled 15g of 85% cocoa dark chocolate 3 times a day. I purchased some but I didn't respond well to the caffeine so I had to stop. For those who can handle caffeine OK, it shouldn't hurt to try it unless there is something else in it that doesn't agree with you. It may also be possible to get decaffeinated dark chocolate?
I've been trying to research alternative food sources for the effects of polyphenols but it is rather complex, particularly the function of the immune system. It also isn't as simple as throwing antioxidants at the oxidative stress and hoping for the best. Different foods and supplements seem to have different effects on various markers or no effect on the ones associated with CFS. Some may also have both positive effects and negative effects. Much of the research is on animals too. One food which seems to have emerged to the top of my list right now with possible vague relevance for CFS, or at least good brain health in general, is blueberries.
I've been trying to research alternative food sources for the effects of polyphenols but it is rather complex, particularly the function of the immune system. It also isn't as simple as throwing antioxidants at the oxidative stress and hoping for the best. Different foods and supplements seem to have different effects on various markers or no effect on the ones associated with CFS. Some may also have both positive effects and negative effects. Much of the research is on animals too. One food which seems to have emerged to the top of my list right now with possible vague relevance for CFS, or at least good brain health in general, is blueberries.
We discussed this study at length quite some time ago but unfortunately the thread title wasn't related to the subject and I can't recall it now, so it wouldn't be easy to track the thread down.
On that thread, the idea that chocolate might be beneficial for ME patients, and that this was a genuine area of research, was angrily dismissed by some, who saw it as belittling and ridiculous. But the most memorable part of the discussion for me was when one of those who was angry about the study asserted that nobody would seriously consider insulting people with serious diseases like AIDS and Cancer by conducting such offensive research - and I then found several pages of chocolate/AIDS research with a 30 second PubMed search.
I've found dark chocolate hugely beneficial but it took several years before I found a brand that didn't also contain various other products that are harmful to me because of my food sensitivities - caffeine, soya, dairy, nuts, wheat and gluten, egg...there are so many reasons why most chocolate products can be harmful to us. I'm posting this now because I've been meaning for a long time to share the brand of dark chocolate that I found so helpful:
Plamil Organics, Organic Dark Chocolate; Plamil Foods Ltd, Folkestone, Kent CT19 6PQ.
http://www.plamilfoods.co.uk/chocolate
Biophile is right, the polyphenols and flavinoids in cocoa are the subject of a great deal of research interest and the aim will of course be to identify the most beneficial compounds for human health, and sell them as drugs. But in the meantime, I'd strongly recommend anybody who hasn't tried a completely allergen-free dark chocolate to give it a try. It certainly made a big difference for me.
On that thread, the idea that chocolate might be beneficial for ME patients, and that this was a genuine area of research, was angrily dismissed by some, who saw it as belittling and ridiculous. But the most memorable part of the discussion for me was when one of those who was angry about the study asserted that nobody would seriously consider insulting people with serious diseases like AIDS and Cancer by conducting such offensive research - and I then found several pages of chocolate/AIDS research with a 30 second PubMed search.
I've found dark chocolate hugely beneficial but it took several years before I found a brand that didn't also contain various other products that are harmful to me because of my food sensitivities - caffeine, soya, dairy, nuts, wheat and gluten, egg...there are so many reasons why most chocolate products can be harmful to us. I'm posting this now because I've been meaning for a long time to share the brand of dark chocolate that I found so helpful:
Plamil Organics, Organic Dark Chocolate; Plamil Foods Ltd, Folkestone, Kent CT19 6PQ.
http://www.plamilfoods.co.uk/chocolate
Biophile is right, the polyphenols and flavinoids in cocoa are the subject of a great deal of research interest and the aim will of course be to identify the most beneficial compounds for human health, and sell them as drugs. But in the meantime, I'd strongly recommend anybody who hasn't tried a completely allergen-free dark chocolate to give it a try. It certainly made a big difference for me.
PokerPlayer
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Mark - I get good results from chocolate except for the caffeine ends up hurting me in the end. I looked up plamil and it seems to me that their chocolate also has caffeine in it. Have you found a caffeine free chocolate and can you link me?