The influence of chocolate on the human body

Scientists in their recent studies claim that chocolate not only helps to cope with stress, but also prevents heart attacks and helps to lose weight. Moreover, it is worth digging a little deeper, and all this turns out to be not what it seemed at first glance.

If there is anything that people love more than chocolate, it is the assurances of scientists that it is healthy. Recent research in this area is finding a link between eating chocolate and improving brain function. But is it worth taking it seriously when you consider how much fat and sugar most chocolate products contain?

Does Chocolate Affect Your Quick Wits?

This new study conducted on a group of 1000 people living in New York is not the first attempt to establish the degree of influence of chocolate onthe human body, but, in any case, is too blurred.“It is almost impossible to talk about accuracy in our research, because we cannot prove anything using our methods,” said a representative of a group of scientists from the University of South Australia working on this project. Having said this, he meant that at this level of development of science it is impossible to determine what the matter is: whether smart people love chocolate more than others, or whether chocolate really makes people smarter. In general, it is simply so far known only that something chaotic and incomprehensible in the brain is still happening.

Will chocolate help you lose weight?

Could this be true? This fact was very much discussed last year in America and England, but in the end it turned out to be a huge trick orchestrated by science journalist John Bogannon. By this he wanted to prove the high degree of media susceptibility to pseudoscientific research, as well as the lack of verification of the authenticity and reliability of the information selected for articles in many publications. Although it should be notedthat Bogannon did a real-life study of two groups of people, some eating chocolate and others not. The journalist identified so many different parameters for the study for the study of each individual person that, by a lucky coincidence, after numerous checks, some effect did appear (most likely, the effect of self-hypnosis).And what do you think? The group of chocolate eaters did indeed lose weight, but the other did not change in weight.

Can chocolate protect against strokes and heart attacks?

There are thousands upon thousands of scientific papers on this topic that claim to be true. Some, such as an analytical work by a team of Swedish scientists in 2012, carried out on a group of 37,103 men, looks quite convincing. Her result shows that the incidence of stroke among middle-aged people and older men was 17% lower among those who ate a lot of chocolate, and factors other than chocolate did not affect this indicator in any way.Unfortunately, the results are not statistically significant.Plus, too much chocolate can easily lead to obesity, so it's best to consume it in reasonable amounts.

Does chocolate affect stamina?

Researchers at UC San Diego claim that chocolate can exhibit doping properties during physical activity. A 2011 study talks about a substance called epicatechin in chocolate that affects mice but not humans. Epicatechin significantly improved the endurance of the mice while they ran on a special treadmill. However, it is not yet clear if this effect will work in humans as well. And if it does, then, most likely, this will require such a small dose of epicatechin that it will be contained in only half of the chocolate slice.If there are more substances, then the opposite effect may occur.Also, only dark chocolate will need to be consumed, because epicatechin breaks down as a result of the preparation of milk chocolate.

So what does chocolate affect?

Despite everything, chocolate is absolutely sure and without any "but" or "if" produces the hormone of happiness, endorphin.Eating a chocolate bar is one of the most proven and enjoyable ways to cheer you up.In addition, the smell of chocolate alone causes the brain's special "theta waves" to intensify, which leads to relaxation of the body. So chocolate is very helpful in overcoming any stress, and it is not for nothing that it is advised to bring it with you during important and lengthy exams.
Linnik Julia