Biomedical Engineering

I love when things taste good and are good for you too! Who doesn't? While it doesn't always work out so nicely for things like the potato chips I'm eating right now…chocolate and alcohol have a shot (pun intended) of going on the good and good for you list.

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Chocolate

As a woman, chocolate has a special place in my heart and I feel that I can safely say that for the majority of my gender. We learned of the aphrodisiac effects of chocolate from HUSH's Courtship Chemistry blog post and now a study has found that people who ate chocolate more frequently have a lower body mass index (BMI).

The study was done by Dr. Beatric Golomb and a team of researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and is published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Golomb hypothesized that modest, regular chocolate consumption might be calorie-neutral. This means that the metabolic benefits of eating a modest amount of chocolate might reduce fat deposition per calorie and offset the added calories. The study surveyed 1,018 men and women between the ages of 20 to 85 years old about their weekly food intake. The results of the surveys showed that those who reported eating more chocolate had lower BMIs. Also surprising was the lower BMI group did not report eating fewer calories or exercising more. The size effect was slim (again with the puns) but the effect was large enough to be significant and no differences in behaviors could be identified.

Unfortunately, this does not mean you can eat chocolate all day, every day and get skinny. Dr. Susan Roberts, director of the Energy Metabolism Laboratory at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, isn't convinced. She was concerned about the self-reporting nature of the study and how the team handled people who didn't actually report their calorie consumption. This is especially relevant since overweight and obese people under-report the "bad stuff" they eat and normal weight individuals may over-estimate the number of calories they were consuming. Both parties (Golomb and Roberts) agree that more research should be done with controls to directly observe if chocolate's metabolic benefits can offset the calories consumed. Both women also agree to the many benefits of chocolate already proven. This includes a high amount of anti-oxidants (especially dark chocolate), anti-inflammatory properties, helping to reduce HDL (good cholesterol) and lower LDL (bad cholesterol), improve insulin sensitivity, and helping to reduce the risk of developing heart disease. But as with everything in life, it's good in moderation. Chocolate does contain a high number of calories and irresponsible use of chocolate can actually cause all the problems that it helps to prevent.

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Alcohol

While I don't like alcohol as much as I like chocolate, I feel that it has more appeal across both genders. And, it does have its good points. According to recent studies alcohol can help heart attack victims live longer. The study was done by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. It was led by Dr. Jennifer Pai and published in the online edition of European Heart Journal.

Researchers in the U.S monitored 1,818 men for up to 20 years after they survived a heart attack between 1986 and 2006. Every four years they were surveyed to evaluate their lifestyle, include diet and alcohol intake. Moderate drinking was defined as two 4 ounce glasses of wine, two bottles or cans or beer, or a shot of spirits a day. The results of the study showed that long-term moderate alcohol consumption among men who survived a heart attack had a 42% lower risk of dying from heart disease than non-drinkers. It furthered showed that their risk of death from any cause was reduced by 14%. To be clear, this was only seen in the group labeled "moderate" drinkers. High consumption wiped out the survival gains and it was most clearly found in men who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol prior to the heart attack and then continued after the attack. This video explains more.

Previous studies demonstrated that moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with a lower risk of heart disease and death in healthy people. Alcohol has also been linked to increasing HDL, improving insulin sensitivity, decreased fibrinogen, and decrease inflammation. (And adding strawberries doesn't hurt either). Unfortunately these results aren't necessarily the same for women. ^{Image Credit: Healthline.com}

Now this can be an instance of "too much of a good thing." While there is some glimmer of satisfaction you can gain by having a drink and a piece of chocolate after a long day, there is a fine line between what's good for you and what's bad for you. So enjoy your treat and know that you're treating your heart right…just don't do so at the expense of the rest of your body.

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Resources

CNN Health- Could eating chocolate make you thinner?

The Telegraph- Alcohol can help heart attack victims live longer

Regular Chocolate Eaters are Thinner