Chocolate in Biological News

New study finds lowfat chocolate milk is effective post-exercise recovery aid for soccer players

JUNE 1, 2009, SEATTLE Soccer players and exercise enthusiasts now have another reason to reach for lowfat chocolate milk after a hard workout, suggests a new study from James Madison University presented at the American College of Sports Medicine annual meeting. Post-exercise consumption of lowf...

The dark chocolate version of Father Christmas is most filling

New research at the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE) at the University of Copenhagen shows that dark chocolate is far more filling than milk chocolate, lessening our craving for sweet, salty and fatty foods. In other words, eating dark chocolate may be an efficient way to keep your weight down ove...

Resveratrol, red wine compound linked to health, also found in dark chocolate and cocoa

Hershey's Center for Health and Nutrition announced the publication of a study that shows resveratrol, the compound often associated with the health benefits of red wine, is also found in cocoa and dark chocolate products. In the September 24 edition of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemi...

New study finds chocolate chip cookies lower cholesterol

Right Direction Chocolate Chip Cookies TM lower cholesterol and improve lipid subfraction profile, lowering the risk of heart disease, according to a published study in The Journal of Nutrition (October). The chocolate chip cookies, made with a combination of psyllium and plant sterols, are a tas...

Plant diseases threaten chocolate production worldwide

Chocolate lovers, beware. Each year 20 percent of the cacao beans that are used to make chocolate are lost to plant diseases, but even greater losses would occur if important diseases spread. "Plant diseases are the most important constraints to cacao production and the continued viability of...

Heart-healthy compound in chocolate identified

In a multifaceted study involving the Kuna Indians of Panama, an international team of scientists has pinpointed a chemical compound that is, in part, responsible, for the heart-healthy benefits of certain cocoas and some chocolate products. The researchers, who are from the University of Califor...

University of Minnesota research leads to new technology to protect human health

...esting and reduces the cost of melamine detection. The MaxDiscovery Melamine Test kit can detect melamine in milk, powdered milk, cream, ice cream and chocolate drink. Bioo Scientific has plans to adapt it to detect melamine in seafood and meat. Researchers at the BioTechnology Institute (BTI) developed the...

UH team analyzes Hurricane Ike's effects on waterways, fish contamination

...tdated transformers were ruined by Hurricane Ike. In July 2008, the Texas Department of State Health Services issued an advisory for Galveston Bay, chocolate Bay, East Bay, West Bay, Trinity Bay and contiguous waters, saying consumers should limit intake of spotted seatrout, also known as speckled trout, an...

Domestication of Capsicum annuum chile pepper provides insights into crop origin and evolution

...gues in the June 2009 issue of the American Journal of Botany explores the domestication of chiles. These hot peppers, found in everything from hot chocolate to salsa, have long played an important role in the diets of Mesoamerican people, possibly since as early as ~8000 B.C. Capsicum annuum is one of fiv...

Chemical found in medical devices impairs heart function

...physiology and anesthesiology and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins. "I'm a chocoholic, and after my bypass surgery everything tasted awful, and chocolate tasted like charcoal for months." Shoukas and Caitlin Thompson-Torgerson, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in anesthesiology and critical care medicin...

Stevens hosts 'Green Building: The Bottom Line,' April 8

...r advanced semi-conductor-based lighting. Mr. McDonough is currently a green building consultant on the mixed-use redevelopment of the former Van Leer chocolate factory in Jersey City. Andrew Topinka is the immediate past chairman of the New Jersey chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, the national or...

UT Southwestern researchers identify molecule that helps the sleep-deprived to mentally rebound

...ineered mice, including monitoring electronically the brain waves of the animals. The mice also traveled a maze with eight paths, each with a piece of chocolate at the end of it. Electronic measurements showed that, unlike normal mice, the mice lacking the adenosine receptor could not increase the intensity...

Lower your blood pressure, hydrate your skin and reduce dental plaque -- with chocolate?

... From Halloween through Valentine's Day, chocolate helps celebrate the season. While overindulging le... concerns, the right amounts of the right kinds of chocolate can actually make one feel and even look better. R...d what ancient civilizations believed so long ago: chocolate has healing powers. Research shows that eating...

Dark chocolate: Half a bar per week to keep at bay the risk of heart attack

...ough the news is still good for them: 6.7 grams of chocolate per day represent the ideal amount for a protectiv...t use to eat any chocolate, while 824 used to have chocolate regularly, but just the dark one. "We started ...-couraging: people having moderate amounts of dark chocolate regularly have significantly lower levels of C-rea...

Researchers develop nano-sized 'cargo ships' to target and destroy tumors

...tional Institutes of Health. The nano mother ships look individually like a chocolate-covered nut cluster, in which a biocompatible lipid forms the chocolate shell and magnetic nanoparticles, quantum dots and the drug doxorubicin are the nuts. They sail through the bloodstream in groups that, under the elec...

Tahitian vanilla originated in Maya forests, says UC Riverside botanist

... had been managing their forests for millennia to cultivate cacao and to make chocolate, and we know they were also cultivating vanilla to use it as a chocolate spice. The Maya created these forest gardens by introducing different types of species of wild cacao and vanilla from the surrounding forests, which ...

Meeting to highlight health impacts of smell and taste

...rely recognize some bitter tastes while others seem to have a heightened sensitivity to them. Bitterness can enhance food flavorcoffee, bok choy, dark chocolate and beer are perennial favorites for this reason. Scientists are seeking to better understand our response to bitterness and its influence on diet and...

The benefits of green tea in reducing an important risk factor for heart disease

...the world, is made with pure leaves, and has undergone little oxidisation during processing. The cardiovascular benefits of all teas - as well as dark chocolate and red wine - are attributed to the flavonoids they contain and their antioxidant activity.3 However, says investigator Dr Charalambos Vlachopoulos,...

Post-exercise caffeine helps muscles refuel

... you will go farther or faster," said Dr. Hawley, the study's senior author. Caffeine is present in common foods and beverages, including coffee, tea, chocolate and cola drinks. The study was conducted on seven well-trained endurance cyclists who participated in four sessions. The participants first rode a ...

Synthetic cocoa chemical slows growth of tumors in human cell lines

...tested further for cancer chemoprevention or even treatment, say researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center. "We have all heard that eating chocolate is good for you; this study suggests one reason why that might be true," says the study's lead author Min Kim, Ph.D., a research scientist in the Depa...

Chocolate bar shown to lower cholesterol

...y have demonstrated an effective way to lower cholesterol levels by eating chocolate bars. Eating two CocoaVia dark chocolate bars a day not only lowered cholesterol, it had the unexpected effect of al...

Most people believe smallpox not an extinct disease

...teria can live inside active volcanoes and 54% knew that they can attack North Sea oil platforms. About 44% were even aware of the role of microbes in chocolate making (where they promote the fermentation of the cacao beans). Overall, these results are reassuring, says Dr Bernard Dixon, who will present a r...

New research suggests biofuel blending is often inaccurate

...turally thicker and more viscous than petroleum-based diesel, so it may be settling into separate layers within fuel tanks (like a mixture of milk and chocolate syrup, or fruit juice and alcohol). Reddy and colleagues also pointed to simple human errorpoor math, measurement, or stirringas a possible reason for...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- Jan. 16, 2008

...ration is free. Highlights, resources from ACS chocolate Workshop now online The American Chemical Societys workshop, Cooks with Chemistry The Elements of chocolate provided reporters with a delectable assortment of...sponsored by the ACS Office of Communications, the chocolate workshop featured presentations from Harold McGee ...

American Chemical Society's weekly PressPac -- Jan. 9, 2008

...lists Resources Highlights, resources from ACS chocolate Workshop now online The American Chemical Societys workshop, Cooks with Chemistry The Elements of chocolate provided reporters with a delectable assortment of...sponsored by the ACS Office of Communications, the chocolate workshop featured presentations from Harold McGee ...

'Electrospray' droplet research yields surprising, practical results

... electric field to liquid drops causes the formation of structures that have a perfect cone at the leading edge. "Each drop takes on the shape of a chocolate kiss," Basaran said. Then, a thin ribbonlike strand of fluid is emitted from the leading edge of the droplet and breaks up into smaller droplets. ...

American Chemical Society's weekly PressPac -- Jan. 2, 2008

...ists Resources Highlights, resources from ACS chocolate Workshop now online The American Chemical Societys workshop, Cooks with Chemistry The Elements of chocolate provided reporters with a delectable assortment of...sponsored by the ACS Office of Communications, the chocolate workshop featured presentations from Harold McGee ...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- Dec. 19, 2007

...nstein@acs.org Highlights, resources from ACS chocolate Workshop now online The American Chemical Societys workshop, Cooks with Chemistry The Elements of chocolate provided reporters with a delectable assortment of...sponsored by the ACS Office of Communications, the chocolate workshop featured presentations from Harold McGee ...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- Dec. 12, 2007

...nstein@acs.org Highlights, resources from ACS chocolate Workshop now online The American Chemical Societys workshop, Cooks with Chemistry The Elements of chocolate provided reporters with a delectable assortment of...sponsored by the ACS Office of Communications, the chocolate workshop featured presentations from Harold McGee ...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- Dec. 5, 2007

...tein@acs.org Highlights, resources from ACS' chocolate Workshop now online The American Chemical Societys workshop Cooks with Chemistry The Elements of chocolate [ http://acselementsofchocolate.typepad.com/elemen...sponsored by the ACS Office of Communications, the chocolate workshop featured presentations from Harold McGee ...

American Chemical Society's Weekly PressPac -- Nov. 28, 2007

...sts Resources Highlights, resources from ACS chocolate Workshop now online The American Chemical Societ...sponsored by the ACS Office of Communications, the chocolate workshop featured presentations from Harold McGee ...ara Risch, the noted food and flavor chemist. With chocolate consumption nearing an annual peak as the holidays...

Eat chocolate, drink wine, add fun to life: SLU geriatrician shares secrets of staying young

... priceless, says Morley, who is coauthor of The Science of Staying Young. I suggest little changes that involve good eating, such as including dark chocolate in your diet, drinking wine, socializing and adding simple exercises that anyone can do. Its more fun than most people think. Being proactive about li...

Cocoa 'vitamin' health benefits could outshine penicillin

... taste. So there is huge scope for nutritional companies to develop epicatechin supplements or capsules Epicatechin is also found in teas, wine, chocolate and some fruit and vegetables. ...

Boosting brain power -- with chocolate

... Eating chocolate could help to sharpen up the mind and give a short... drink rich in flavanols ?a key ingredient of dark chocolate ?boosts blood flow to key areas of the brain for t...America, also raise the prospect of ingredients in chocolate being used to treat vascular impairment, including...

UCLA: How does your brain respond when you think about gambling or taking risks?

...e." Thinking about the possibility of winning money turns on some of the same areas of the brain that are activated when people take cocaine, eat chocolate or look at a beautiful face, Poldrack said. The researchers studied which parts of the brain became more active or less active as the amount of m...

Underweight women at greater risk of miscarriage

...aily or on most days was also found to halve the odds of miscarriage and, in a finding that will delight pregnant women everywhere, the consumption of chocolate was also found to be associated with lower risk. There were a number of other interesting new findings. If a woman was not married or living with...

Genome info from 'plant destroyers' could save trees, beans and chocolate

...o, strawberry and watermelon, to name a few. The pathogen also destroys an estimated 450,000 tons of cocoa beans with a resulting $400 million loss in chocolate production each year. The researchers found the pathogens have nearly twice as many genes as other fungal pathogens, and that more than 40 percent ...

Psst! Coffee drinkers: Fruit flies have something to tell you about caffeine

...onse to other types of bitter compounds," he says. "We also tested whether the flies avoided the related bitter compounds found in tea and cocoa -- chocolate -- and found that Gr66a also is required for the response to the compound in tea, but not for the one in chocolate," he says. Fruit flies often ar...

UC Davis researchers reveal apples' protective ways

... The current findings appear in the latest issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine.Earlier studies have shown that flavonoids--which are found in chocolate and green tea, as well as other fruits and vegetables--behave as anti-oxidants, taking up free oxygen radicals that can damage precious DNA. The UC Da...

Chocolate, wine, spicy foods may be OK for heartburn, Stanford study finds

...re is no evidence that ceasing consumption of the suspect foods will reduce heartburn, some of the studies did show that certain of the foods (such as chocolate and carbonated beverages) can reduce the pressure exerted by the esophageal sphincter, the control valve that keeps the food you've swallowed and your...