Daily Cup of Cocoa Helps Prevent Flu

Written By: Margie King, Health Coach



When the wintry flu season strikes do you crave a comforting cup of hot cocoa? It could be your body's innate wisdom at work.

Nature works in mysterious ways.  Just when cold, dry weather chills us to the bone and flu season is in full bloom, we crave a comforting cup of hot cocoa.  As it turns out, that chocolate craving may be our body's innate wisdom at work.

According to a new Japanese study a daily cup of hot cocoa during influenza season may be just what we need to avoid the flu and stay healthy.[i]

The Japanese researchers conducted a three-part chocolate study that included cell tests, animal experiments, and human trials.

In the cell studies they found that cocoa extract inhibited the flu from taking hold in canine kidney cells. The cells had been infected with human influenza A (H1N1, H3N2) and B viruses, as well as avian flu viruses (H5N1, H5N9).

In the animal trial, mice were given cocoa extract for four days before being infected with the flu virus.  The cocoa extract had a preventative effect and significantly improved survival times of the mice.  

The daily dose of cocoa for the mice was equivalent to a human drinking two to three cups of a 10% cocoa solution.  In other words, the amounts were close to what a person might normally drink in a cup of hot chocolate.

Then, the researchers tested their findings in humans.  They divided 123 people into two groups.  Both groups were vaccinated against the influenza A (H1N1) virus.

For three weeks before and after being vaccinated, one group consumed a cup of hot chocolate every morning.  The drink is commercially available in Japan (under the name Kakao 2 Bai) and contains 360 mg of cocoa polyphenols per cup.  The control group did not drink any cocoa.

After two weeks, antibodies against the A (H1N1) virus were not significantly different between the two groups.  But the cocoa drinking group had significantly more natural killer (NK) cell activity.  NK cells recognize and eliminate influenza-virus-infected cells in order to keep the virus from spreading.

In other words, NK cell activity is an indicator of the body's natural immunity. Vaccine-induced elevations in antibodies, on the other, do not necessarily equate to bona fide immunity against infection as they are only a proxy measure of effectiveness.  The fact that cocoa consumption significantly increased compared to the control group suggests that drinking cocoa may inhibit influenza virus infection by stimulating natural immunity and therefore confer real world protection against onset of the flu.

Other studies had already found that chocolate elevates NK cell activity against cancer cells. The Japanese researchers believed their finding concerning the NK cell activity may suggest that cocoa polyphenols and especially procyanidins in chocolate might be effective in treating and preventing colorectal cancers  and hepatitis B virus infection in humans.

How does chocolate work against the flu?
The researchers concluded that drinking cocoa works in three different ways.

First, it inhibits the virus from adsorbing to target cells, as shown in their cell study.

Second, cocoa activates natural immunity.  In their human trial they found that cocoa enhanced the immune response from the flu vaccination.  In that way it provides stronger protection against influenza virus infection and disease onset.

Third, drinking hot cocoa has an anti-inflammatory effect. The researchers believe that the increased survival rates of mice fed cocoa may have been due to the elimination of virus-infected cells in the early stages and promotion of anti-inflammatory effects at the inflammation site.

And there's one more interesting way that chocolate fights the flu.

The researchers suggested that immediately after drinking cocoa, its healing compounds are present in the mouth, pharynx, and throughout the digestive tract at concentrations that inhibit infection.  These compounds work immediately and for some time after consumption. And they work in precisely the places where the virus would likely be present.

Some of these compounds include the polyphenols contained in chocolate. Polyphenols are powerful antioxidants and have broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity.

But even when the researchers removed the polyphenols from the cocoa extract, the remaining compounds in the extract were still effective.

Those other active compounds in cacao include:

the bitter component theobromine;
lignin, a dietary fiber;
free fatty acids; and
minerals such as iron, copper, and zinc.
Chocolate does much more than fight the flu.  In fact, chocolate has well over 40 health benefits and has been called the ultimate medicinal food.

Here are just a few of chocolate's other amazing properties:

relieves stress and lowers blood pressure
better for heart health than statins
burns belly fat
lowers diabetes risk
To read more about other health benefits associated with eating chocolate or cocoa-containing foods, visit the GreenMedInfo page dedicated to Chocolate Health Benefits.

When choosing chocolate instead of a flu shot, make sure your chocolate is:

1. At Least 70% Dark.  The darker the chocolate the less sugar is added.  And sugar can be the difference between healthy chocolate and junk food.

2. Raw. The more cacao is processed, the more polyphenols and flavanols are destroyed.  So the best source of chocolate antioxidants comes from raw unprocessed dark chocolate. In fact, raw cacao has the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food.

2. Organic.  Non-organic cocoa may contain residues of the dangerous herbicide glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup), and other pesticides used in conventional farming.

3. Free Trade. Cacao crops are often unfairly traded, and have even been linked to child enslavement.

 http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/daily-cup-cocoa-helps-prevent-flu

Chocolate could PREVENT obesity: Scientists say antioxidant in cocoa stops weight gain and lowers blood sugar

Scientists say antioxidant in cocoa stops weight gain and lowers blood sugar

Flavanols in dark chocolate fight weight gain and lower the risk of diabetes

Dark chocolate is also thought to improve concentration, decrease appetite, lower blood pressure and boost heart health

By Emma Innes
It has long been maligned as a source of weight gain.
But chocolate could help prevent obesity and Type 2 diabetes, new research suggests.
Scientists found that an antioxidant in cocoa can prevent weight gain and help lower blood sugar levels.
The researchers say there is also evidence to suggest eating dark chocolate can improve thinking, decrease appetite and lower blood pressure.
The latest study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, revealed that an antioxidant in cocoa can prevent mice from gaining weight and that it also lowered their blood sugar levels.
Dr Andrew Neilson and his colleagues explained this is because cocoa, the basic ingredient of chocolate, is one of the most flavanol-rich foods available.
This is good because antioxidants – of which flavanols are one type - have been shown to help fight weight gain and Type 2 diabetes.
However, not all flavanols are equally beneficial and cocoa contains many different ones.
So, the research team decided to try and establish the individual health benefits of the different flavanols.
The scientists fed groups of mice different diets, including high-fat and low-fat diets, and high-fat diets supplemented with different kinds of flavanols.

They found that adding one particular set of these compounds, known as oligomeric procyanidins (PCs), to the food made the biggest difference in keeping the mice's weight down if they were on high-fat diets.

They also improved glucose tolerance, which could potentially help prevent Type 2 diabetes.
‘Oligomeric PCs appear to possess the greatest anti-obesity and anti-diabetic bioactivities of the flavanols in cocoa, particularly at the low doses employed for the present study,’ the researchers say.
The news comes just after scientists at Louisiana State University released finding which show dark chocolate can reduce blood pressure and improve heart health.

 

 

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Chocolate contains flavanols - a type of antioxidant - that help to lower blood sugar levels. They also help fight weight gain. Previous studies have shown dark chocolate can lower blood pressure and improve heart health

The researchers say dark chocolate is beneficial because of the way our guts ferment the fibre in cocoa beans.
Researcher Maria Moore said: 'We found that there are two kinds of microbes in the gut: the “good” ones and the “bad” ones.
'The good microbes, such as Bifidobacterium and lactic acid bacteria, feast on chocolate.
'When you eat dark chocolate, they grow and ferment it, producing compounds that are anti-inflammatory.'
This naturally forming anti-inflammatory enters the bloodstream and helps protest the heart and arteries from damage.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2595990/Chocolate-PREVENT-obesity-Scientists-say-antioxidant-cocoa-stops-weight-gain-lowers-blood-sugar.html

Thank Your Gut Bacteria For Making Chocolate Healthful

by MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF

Boy, it's a good time to be a dark-chocolate lover.

We've noted before the growing evidence that a daily dose of the bitter bean
may help reduce blood pressure. There also seems to be

 a link between a regular chocolate habit and lower body weight.

Now scientists are offering an explanation for just why cocoa powder may be
good for the heart and waistline. The magic may reside 

in our microbes.

The friendly bacteria in our guts can gobble up cocoa powder and turn it into
 compounds known to help the heart, food scientists 

from Louisiana State University reported Tuesday at the American Chemical
 Society meeting in Dallas.

The critters also convert the cocoa powder into molecules that reduce
inflammation and help tell us when we're full.

 For centuries, people have been attributing a vast array of health benefits 
to eating chocolate, from curing infertility and fatigue to 

fever and dental problems. But so far, the links to lower blood pressure and
 heart health have been the strongest — and one of the 

few benefits to pass muster in the eyes of science."These are good
compounds to have in your gut," says John Finley, who led 

the study. "They can get absorbed into your blood" and protect cells in your
blood vessels from stress, he says.

"I was holding out for scientists to prove chocolate's aphrodisiac effect,"
Finley jokes. "But it's the cardiovascular benefits that will 

probably pan out. Our findings are one more brick in the road to proving
that one."

Of course, Finley is talking about cocoa powder here: The stuff that has
 no sugar and milk in it. "Our results don't translate to a 

Hershey bar," he says. "But cocoa powder goes well with many foods.
I put it on my oatmeal every morning with berries."

Cocoa powder is packed with potent antioxidants, called polyphenols. These
 healthful molecules are also found in dark berries and 

black tea. And they're known to help the heart and possibly prevent cancer.

But there's one major problem with many polyphenols: They're so large that
 they don't get absorbed into the blood. That's where the

 critters in your gut can help out, Finley says.

Previous studies have found that gut bacteria like to feast on polyphenols
from blackberries and tea. So Finley wanted to see what 

the bugs would do with the polyphenols in cocoa powder.

"It's a rather yucky way of mimicking people's lower gut," Finely says. 
"It's just a mixture of fecal matter. We pay people $20 to

 give us a sample. We get a lot of graduate students to volunteer."He and
 his students passed the cocoa powder through a

 device that mimics the human gut. First, it treats the cocoa with enzymes
 like the ones in your stomach. And then the remaining 

material goes through an "artificial colon."

Sounds gross, but those "donations" are teeming with life — trillions of
bacteria that see the cocoa powder as a five-star dinner.

"The microbes break down the polyphenols into smaller molecules that
 are more likely to make it across the gut into the blood,"

 Finely says. Those compounds are the good ones that help reduce
 inflammation and stress in the blood vessels.

And the friendly bacteria don't stop there. They also feasted on the
fiber in cocoa powder, Finley and his team found. "The 

microbes break down the fiber into short fatty chain acids, which get
 absorbed and can have an effect on satiety," he says.

Of course, Finley and his team have to confirm their results in real
digestive tracts. "The next step is to give people cocoa powder

 and see if we can find these metabolites in the blood," he says.

Those types of experiments are critical to figuring out exactly what's
in chocolate that makes it healthy for the heart, says 

Joshua Lambert, a food scientist at Pennsylvania State University,
 who wasn't involved in the study.

"That's the big missing link right now," Lambert tells The Salt. We know
 now that gut bacteria can break down cocoa into compounds

 that have beneficial cardiovascular effects, he says. But we don't
 know yet if these are the critical ones inside the blood.

In the meantime, I'll keep indulging my gut bacteria with a few cubes
of extra dark chocolate each day. Seems like a win-win

 situation for both of us.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/18/290922850/chocolate
-turns-into-heart-helpers-by-gut-bacteria?