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Chocolate Does a Man’s Heart Good
02.27.06, 12:00 AM ET

MONDAY, Feb. 27 (HealthDay News) — Chocolate lovers, take heart: Dutch research suggests that eating or drinking cocoa appears to lower blood pressure and even reduce the death risks for older men.

Since the 1700s, cocoa has been associated with healthy hearts, but only recently has scientific evidence backed up these claims, according to a new report in the Feb. 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

According to the study, cocoa contains flavan-3-ols, which have been linked to lower blood pressure and improved function of the cells lining the blood vessels.

In their study, researchers led by Brian Buijsse, of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, in Bilthoven, examined links between cocoa and cardiovascular health in 470 men aged 65 to 84 years. The men had physical examinations and were interviewed about their diet at the start of the study in 1985 and then again in 1990 and 1995.

The researchers found that over a 15-year period, men who ate cocoa — including chocolate — regularly had significantly lower blood pressure compared with those who didn’t.

The sweet treat might even help ward off death. The researchers reported that 314 men died over the course of the study, with 152 of those deaths blamed on heart disease. Men who consumed the highest amount of cocoa were half as likely to die from cardiovascular disease, compared to men who ate little or no cocoa, the team found. In addition, men who ate the most cocoa were less likely to die from any causes.

For these men, the risk remained low even after taking into account other factors, such as weight, smoking, physical activity, calorie intake and drinking alcohol, the researchers found.

The researchers believe that the lowered death risk didn’t stem so much from lowered blood pressure, as from other heart-healthy benefits linked to flavan-3-ols. And since cocoa is rich in antioxidants, it may also protect against other diseases linked to oxidative stress, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and certain types of cancer, the researchers speculated.

One expert said the study helps confirm the use of cocoa as part of a healthful diet.

“Cocoa is the most concentrated source of bioflavonoid antioxidants readily available in our diets,” said Dr. David L. Katz, an associate professor of public health, and director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

“An accumulating body of evidence suggests that this translates into health benefits for those who consume cocoa or dark chocolate with a cocoa content of 60 percent or more. Benefits have been seen in endothelial function, a measure of blood vessel health, blood pressure, insulin levels, and serum lipids,” added Katz, author of The Flavor Point Diet.

The evidence is now very consistent that cocoa has health-promoting effects, Katz said.

“However, it is almost certainly dose-dependent,” he added, cautioning that there’s a calorie-rich downside to excessive cocoa consumption. “Cocoa comes in foods that tend to be energy-dense, and the harm of excess calories could readily offset the benefit of antioxidants.”

And he stressed that cocoa’s heart-healthy benefits only come from bittersweet dark chocolate and in concentrated cocoa beverages, which contain an effective dose of antioxidants, along with magnesium, arginine and fiber.

“This is not the case for milk chocolate, which contains potentially harmful saturated fats, or candy bars that dilute cocoa with a long list of other ingredients,” Katz said.

It’s Monday morning and I seem to have lived through the wierdness vortex, mostly by just staying indoors all day Sunday.

The top goes down on the Miata today, so I’ve got that going for me.

I got so much done at home this weekend by the simple expedient of just being at the house that I’m all fired up for work this week.

Good thing, too, since I’m dead broke and MUST bill some time in order not to starve to death. LOL

I got a lesson in the written word last night.

I’m so proud of my writing and I think I express myself so much better in writing than I do verbally. I rely on this ability to be clear and precise with words. Except, when it fails, it fails big time.

I wrote a letter to someone I care about. I tried to tell them how much I really really care and that I would always care, no matter what.

What they READ, however, was: You’re OK, but leave me alone from now on.

How did that get so fugazi?

I’ve been told in the past that my emails are harsh and unforgiving and punishing. Each time, I resolve to work harder to say exactly what I mean and leave no room for doubt about my position, which is almost never intended to hurt unnecessarily. I don’t ever want to be unkind. Mostly, my motives are pretty pure and my intentions are benign.

It just doesn’t seem to always come out that way.

I know for a fact that I’ve faced the same thing in this blog.

Sometimes, the confusion over what I meant and wrote isn’t my fault. One person mentioned in my blog just flat made up something hurtful as my words. When we went back to the text, the words imagined weren’t there. Nevertheless, the reader found the “tone” hurtful and harsh. I wonder what there is about how I express myself that gets that reaction. I mean I understand how that happens when I’m TRYING to be mean. That happens sometimes in my profession. But, when I want to be understanding and comforting and what is read is hurtful and harmful?

Part of the problem must be in the tonelessness of the written word. A big part of my verbal communication has an ironic tone in it that can’t be expressed in writing. However, as I write, I hear the emphasis on one or another syllable and it makes perfect sense to me. In black and white it can be a very different thing.

So, here’s the deal. When you read what I write, try to remember that I’m a mostly genial guy and don’t really harbor grudges or angry thoughts about much of anyone. Those people I have a problem with can generally tell because there’s no mistake or judgment to make about my intention to give them a piece of my mind. The vast majority of the time, I’m just making an observaton or a joke or don’t care enough to skewer, only to cheep cheep cheep my birdlike protest at the nature of the universe.

Unless you are George Bush, Ann Coulter, Dick Cheney or Don Rumsfeld, you are very likely off the hook with me and I probably either really like you or at least like you enough to tolerate your flaws since I need for you to tolerate mine.

Don’t just sit and stew and be offended by something I’ve written. Come ask me. It may be I was trying to tell you how much I love you and it just came out wrong.

Gotta go. It may get up to 80 degrees this week and I’m going to enjoy the hell out of it and I’m going to start by putting the top down on the car.

C U later.

I think I’ve been dumped into some kind of wierdness vortex the past day or so.

It’s not bad. Life is still good. But, it seems like large swaths of my life are just a degree or two off plumb. Not quite right.

I’m not even going to try to explain, but some wierd stuff has been happening, even if it’s small wierd stuff, it’s still a little disconcerting.

I would say disgruntled, but I’ve never been gruntled, so I won’t use that word.

So I went into hiding today.

I really haven’t answered phones, text messages or emails all day. Didn’t go anywhere much except the grocery and ate at home. When I did go out, like to Starbucks and briefly to the Paseo, I hid out in corners and drank a little coffee and moved on. I’m hoping that being a moving target will dampen the wierdness doppler effect.

I wrote letters today. Not emails or anything like that. Honest to goodness handwriting on stationary that goes into the U.S. Mails just as old school as it gets. Even used an old fashioned fountain pen.

I get so much crap in my mailbox. Bills and throwaways. That’s it.

Don’t you LOVE getting a card or a letter? Something personal in the mail from a real person you might want to actually hear from?

It makes my whole day.

Got one the other day from The Gary.

I would have jumped up and down and skipped around with joy, but I’m too old and sedentary for that kind of display. It wouldn’t be my “look”, would it?

I realized no one gets such missives because no one sends them.

So, I buckled down and wrote some letters. Maybe it will inspire others. Maybe many of us could get cards and letters and short notes of greetings. Something that doesn’t require me to buy a matched pen set or a kitchen appliance, if you don’t mind.

I was just looking at Diatribe 101 and Kat with a K’s Mom is trying her wings. YOU GO, GRRRL!!!!

Mcarp has hit the 156 milestone over at 3:40 a.m.

Oklahoma beat K State by a narrow margin.

There is normalcy out there. I looked around and I’m pretty sure (PIMP JAY! ) there’s normalcy around me.

I just happen to be in a little sliver of time/space where there are car wrecks before my eyes and “ghosts” from my past and chance encounters with Eros. It’s a little confusing, but there it is. What’s a guy to do?

Hide.

Well, that’s what I did, even if it’s not what you’d do.

Shut up.

The sun is shining and the top is down on the Miata.

Life is good.

Went to Rococo last night and caught Shy’s trio doing some jazz standards and they knocked Coltrane out of the ballpark while I did a little snoochie boochie (fans of Kevin Smith films will have to help me with the spelling there) with the lovely Juliet.

Life is good.

It’s Friday, the end of a productive week, and I have several options for this evening, mostly including the Brave Combo show at VZDs, one of my favorite OKC cultural “events”.

Life is good.

I spent some time with a friend late yesterday afternoon at Flip’s and I don’t have the romantic troubles I listened to.

Life is good.

I made a couple of AA meetings this week, my quota, and heard stuff I needed to hear, as is almost always the case if I’ll just listen.

Life is good.

I saw a 7 day forecast that says next Wednesday it will be 77 degrees in OKC. Amazing at this time of year.

Life is good.

I got snuggles and cuddles and kisses this morning first thing and got to pet and smooth a stomach. Sinatra is still simply the best.

Life is good.

De Shan is back from Australia and this old town can light up again.

Life is good.

My family is in good health and no one is in jail or bankruptcy court.

Life is good.

Dropped by to see my tobacconist, The Pink Lady, who I simply adore and think is wonderful, and picked up a couple packs of my favorite cigarets while looking forward to the 1st, when the bars and cars and restaurants stop allowing smoking and I’ll try once again to quit.

Life is good.

Don’t bother to trouble me with your troubles today, folks. I’m not listening.

Life is good.

From: The Onion

Girlfriend Dumped After Valentine-Candy-Related Weight Gain

February 20, 2006 | Issue 42•08

MONTCLAIR, NJ—27-year-old LeeAnne Copeland’s decision to consume an entire box of Valentine’s chocolates over the course of five days led her boyfriend of 10 months to end their relationship Monday.

Michael Kristoff, 27, a part-time bartender, gave Copeland a two-pound, red-satin-lined box of Russell Stover premium assorted chocolates on Valentine’s Day. According to Kristoff, Copeland “really packed on the pounds” in the days that followed.

“It was noticeable,” Kristoff said, describing a bulge on Copeland’s midriff. “She seemed completely unaware of what she was doing to herself physically, and I found that very disconcerting.”

The weight gain, which Kristoff estimated to be between three and five pounds, transformed the young woman into “kind of a porker,” according to Kristoff.

“Before the candy, LeeAnne was an active person,” Kristoff said. “She was always hopping around, straightening up her apartment, going to the gym.”

However, the chocolate, coupled with a snowstorm that shut down much of the Northeast, “gave [Copeland] an all-too-convenient excuse” to spend a week watching DVDs and eating chocolate.

“For the next couple nights, when I’d come over I’d notice her stealing into the candy box, cramming her face,” Kristoff said. “She even made a joke about it, telling me that she could see why they put Valentine’s Day in February, when it was cold and snowy and there wasn’t much else to do but eat. Like it was all a big joke to her.”

Kristoff said he was repulsed by the sight of Copeland eating.

“I’d seen her eat before, but it was nothing like this,” Kristoff said. “You could see chocolate dotting her teeth and tiny strings of saliva between her lips and traces of nougat and coconut on the corners of her mouth.”

Kristoff added: “It made me sick.”

Copeland initially refused to eat the chocolate, according to Kristoff.

“She was all, ‘Oh, no, no, I can’t eat all these, they’re way too fattening,’” said Kristoff, impersonating Copeland. “She was trying to get me to eat most of the box, and was really stubborn about it.”

“It’s kind of ironic, considering how this has all panned out,” Kristoff added.

Kristoff said that as he watched Copeland take her first, tentative bite of a strawberry cream, he had “this out-of-nowhere premonition.”

“It struck me that the chocolate-eating could be a foreshadowing of things to come,” Kristoff said. “If I took her out to a steak place for her birthday, would she finish her whole meal? And what about holidays like Thanksgiving? When I got to thinking about the wedding cake, that’s when the alarm bells really went off.”

Despite these strong reservations, Kristoff said he “remained in deep denial for several days.”

“I tried to make it work,” Kristoff said. “I tried to tell myself that maybe the old LeeAnne would come back once the chocolates were gone, but I didn’t think I could wait it out.”

Kristoff severed ties via a brief e-mail.

Copeland said the sudden breakup had left her devastated, confused, and “so depressed I can’t eat.”

Reached for comment, Kristoff said: “It’s too bad she didn’t display a little bit of that self-discipline earlier… We might still be together today.”