Chocolate another charmed substance?

The study: Heavy chocolate consumption may be linked to heart health  

The result: From an analysis of seven studies with 100,000 participants, five of the studies reported “a beneficial link between higher levels of chocolate consumption and the risk of cardiovascular events. They found that the ‘highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with a 37% reductionin cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke compared with lowest levels.’ No significant reduction was found in relation to heart failure.”

And this: 

“A number of recent studies have shown that eating chocolate has a positive influence on human health due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. This includes reducing blood pressure and improving insulin sensitivity (a stage in the development of diabetes).”

Of course, everything in moderation, you can’t just gnaw on a great big chocolate bunny to achieve optimal heart health. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), the type we do at  Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training, has been shown to lower blood pressure, It is also beneficial to diabetics; one of our clients went from five insulin shots a day down to one.

Charmed substances that contain life preserving properties. Saccharine?

From the Woody Allen movie, Sleeper, describing health foods, “Those charmed substances that some years ago that were felt to contain life preserving properties”.

There have been changes in the conventional wisdom regarding a number of charmed and not so charning substances – margarine versus butter,eggs, salt intake, dark chocolate, cholesterol, coffee, high carb diets versus diets with more meat and fat, and now saccharine. From this Medical News Today article, Could saccharin be used to treat aggressive cancers? comes this quote:

 ‘Saccharin is utilized as a sweetener in many sugar-free products, and now researchers are proposing that it could be used as a key ingredient in new drugs for treating aggressive cancers with fewer side effects.

 "It never ceases to amaze me how a simple molecule, such as saccharin - something many people put in their coffee every day - may have untapped uses, including as a possible lead compound to target aggressive cancers," says study author Robert McKenna, PhD, from the University of Florida.’

 Another area where the things have changed is strength training. We have been saying this long before the conventional wisdom gave it the imprimatur.  At Austin Personal Training and New Orleans Personal Training we have been getting people stronger and healthier for years.