Benefits and Adverse Effects of Chocolate |
|
The reputation chocolate has for being a mood elevator can be based in part on its chemical content; chocolate contains several natural mood altering chemicals including phenylethylalanine and anandamide. (Phenylethylalanine is the chemical found in the blood of people who are in love.) One of the active ingredients, anandamide stimulates the same parts of your brain as marijuana, however it would require eating 25 pounds of chocolate at one time to get anywhere near the effects you get from marijuana. http://aamovers.com While there is a lot of discussion about this, cocoa beans, cocoa powder and plain dark chocolate are all high in saturated fats; therefore some believe that it increases the possible risk of heart disease. Milk chocolate has both high levels of saturated fats and cholesterol, high levels of these in your blood increase your risk of heart disease when eaten. There are studies that contradict these findings, showing that foods high in stearic acid, the saturated fat in cocoa products lower the risk of blood clots. Chocolate is also high in flavonoids, these are the antioxidant chemicals the give the heart-healthy reputation to red wine. While there is less caffeine in chocolate than in a cup of coffee of equal size, people who are sensitive to caffeine may have problems eating or drinking chocolate, it may cause them to have mild jitters. http://aamovers.com Chocolate is on of the 12 foods shown to be most likely to trigger food allergies, upset stomach, swelling of the lips and eyes, and hives are some of these symptoms. Three berries, three types of beans, corn, eggs, fish, milk, nuts, peaches, pork, shellfish and wheat round out the list of high reaction foods. There are drug interactions to chocolate, the MAO inhibitors used to treat depression inactivate the natural enzymes in your body that metabolize tyramine, which is found in fermented or aged foods, like chocolate. Blood pressure can be increased by tyramine which constricts blood vessels. http://aamovers.com In the past a false-positive for pheochromocytoma (a tumor of the adrenal gland) could be found when the patient ate chocolate or cocoa, both containing VMA, testing the urine for VMA was one of the tests for this tumor, so chocolate and cocoa had to be eliminated from the diet in order to give an accurate test reading. There is no positive proof that chocolate causes migraine headaches. Thank you, http://aamovers.com
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
 |
|
|
FoodEditorials Snacks Guide offers you a variety of ideas for your snack time. Choose from simple delights such as Cheese & Chocolates to other pleasurable and delicious Snacks such as Pizza and find out which Dips & Sauces go best with those tortilla chips!
© 2023 Streetdirectory & Foodeditorials