Shedding Light on Dark Chocolate by Catherine Boal

In a previous post about Flavonoid-rich Cocoa found healthy for the brain I promised to do a little research about chocolate manufacturers...
this is what I found:

Shedding Light on Dark Chocolate by Catherine Boal
The US based Chocolate Manufacturers Association (CMA) has released a guide to cacao content labels in order to demystify confused chocolate consumers.

The luxurious image of dark chocolate combined with increased publicity about its purported health benefits has made it a popular chocolate choice - leading many manufacturers to incorporate product labels proclaiming percentage cocoa content.
However, this is frequently easily misunderstood by consumers who fail to understand the exact nature of the cacao composition and can make inaccurate assumptions about the health benefits or taste of the product.

CMA president Lynn Bragg said: "We wanted to provide consumers with useful information for a greater appreciation of this trend, as cacao terminology becomes increasingly more important."

The CMA consumer guide defines cacao percentages as "the total percentage of ingredients (by weight) which come from the cacao bean". ....read more at http://confectionerynews.com/news/ng.asp?id=72675

Seven Steps to Breaking the Food Seduction

Tired of feeling like food has an uncontrollable hold on your life?
Wondering whether you really could live without chocolate, cheese,
sugar, or meat? Here’s a list of tips to help you free yourself
from unhealthy food cravings:

1. Start with a good breakfast. Cutting hunger is the first step
in cutting cravings.

2. Choose foods that steady your blood sugar. Beans, green vegetables,
fruit, and whole grains help prevent blood sugar dips that can lead
to cravings.

3. Eat at least 10 calories each day per pound of your ideal body
weight. This tip is directed at calorie-cutting dieters who do not
realize that, if they eat too little, their bodies stop making an
appetite-controlling hormone called leptin. A person whose ideal
weight is 150 pounds needs at least 1,500 calories per day, and
probably much more.

4. Break out of craving cycles, which can occur daily, monthly
(with a woman’s cycle), or yearly (with the change in seasons).
Monthly chocolate cravings, for example, can be reduced with a
low-fat, vegetarian diet, which tends to reduce the hormone
swings that lead to cravings.

5. Exercise and rest are keys to restoring your physical resilience.

6. Use social support. Enlisting the help of friends and family
makes changing habits much easier.

7. Take advantage of other motivators. New parents, for example,
may decide to eat healthy foods not just for themselves, but
for the sake of their children.

Most importantly, try the “Three-Week Break.” Research shows
that if you have managed to set aside an addicting food, such
as chocolate, for three weeks, you crave it much less than if
you had just had it yesterday.

Breaking the Food Seduction includes a Three-Week Kickstart
program and dozens of gourmet “addiction-free” recipes,
including Portobello Mushroom Steaks, Eggplant Pecan Pesto,
Tunisian Potato Salad, Spicy Noodle Soup, and Carob Walnut Fudge.

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Brain Function Boosted by Chocolate?

Reuters - 02/18/07
By Julie Steenhuysen

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - As if people needed another excuse to like chocolate, new studies suggest a specially formulated type of cocoa may boost brain function and delay decline as people age, researchers said on Sunday.

Scientists, speaking at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Francisco, presented results from early studies testing the effects on the brain of flavanols, an ingredient found in cocoa.

Funded by candy maker Mars Inc., which provided a specially formulated liquid cocoa concoction for the research, the studies suggest that flavanols increase blood flow to the brain and may hold promise for treating some vascular impairments.

Mars, a private company, has made a study of the health benefits of cocoa. Its CocoaVia line of chocolates, made with a process that retains flavanols, have been shown in clinical trials to have benefits for the heart.

The latest research also suggests benefits for the brain.

Ian Macdonald of Britain's University of Nottingham Medical School, conducted a small brain imaging study on young, healthy women to see whether flavanol-rich cocoa helped boost cognitive function during challenging mental tasks.

Although the beverage did not improve their performance on the tests, it did increase blood flow to their brains for a two to three-hour period, Macdonald said.

He believes more research might show that increased blood flow could benefit older adults and those who have cognitive impairments, such as fatigue or even mini-strokes.

A U.S. study of healthy adults over 50 also found a marked rise in blood flow. It was conducted by Harvard Medical School researcher Dr. Norman Hollenberg, who has studied the effects of cocoa and flavanols on Panama's Kuna Indian population.

Hollenberg believes that, while promising, the brain benefit needs to be verified.

"The only way we can prove something is working is a large clinical trial," he said.

Meanwhile, the researchers cautioned against rushing out to binge on the special Mars line of chocolates.

"It is a modest calorie load but it is a calorie load," Macdonald said. "As long as you are doing something to earn that 100 calories, then that's fine."