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News tagged with chocolate

Red wine and dark chocolate cancer killers: researcher

Cabernet and chocolate are potent medicine for killing cancer, according to research presented here Wednesday.

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Feb 11, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (12) | comments 2

Study shows chocolate reduces blood pressure and risk of heart disease

Easter eggs and other chocolate may be good for you - at least in small quantities and preferably if it's dark chocolate - according to research that shows just one small square of chocolate a day can lower ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Mar 30, 2010 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (12) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Chocolate rich in flavanols may protect the skin from UV

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new study has discovered for the first time that dark chocolate rich in flavanols may provide significant protection from the harmful effects of ultraviolet light.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Nov 06, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 3 weblog

Scientists unveil chocolate-fueled race car

(AP) -- Scientists unveiled on Tuesday what they hope will be one of the world's fastest biofuel vehicles, powered by waste from chocolate factories and made partly from plant fibers.

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created May 05, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (10) | comments 3

Chocolate cuts death rate in heart attack survivors: study

Heart attack survivors who eat chocolate two or more times per week cut their risk of dying from heart disease about threefold compared to those who never touch the stuff, scientists have reported.

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Aug 13, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (9) | comments 4

'Food of the gods' genome sequence could make finest chocolate better

The production of high quality chocolate, and the farmers who grow it, will benefit from the recent sequencing and assembly of the chocolate tree genome, according to an international team led by Claire Lanaud ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 26, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 16 | with audio podcast

People with depression eat more chocolate, a mood food

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found that women and men eat more chocolate as depressive symptoms increase, suggesting an association between mood and chocolate.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Apr 26, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (7) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

How dark chocolate may guard against brain injury from stroke

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that a compound in dark chocolate may protect the brain after a stroke by increasing cellular signals already known to shield nerve cells from damage.

Medicine & Health / Health

created May 05, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Eating sweets every day in childhood 'increases adult aggression'

Children who eat sweets and chocolate every day are more likely to be violent as adults, according to new research.

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created Oct 01, 2009 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 1

Research Team Finds Evidence Cacao Ritually Used in Chaco Canyon

(PhysOrg.com) -- Inhabitants of Chaco Canyon apparently drank chocolate from cylinders like these about a thousand years ago. That’s the finding in a paper published this week by PNAS, a publication of the ...

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Feb 02, 2009 | popularity 3.6 / 5 (7) | comments 0

Chocolate is a 'super fruit'

It is widely known that fruit contains antioxidants which may be beneficial to health. New research published in the open access journal Chemistry Central Journal demonstrates that chocolate is a rich source of antioxidants and co ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Feb 07, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 2

Ford's new chocolate-inspired plastic, made with air bubbles

(PhysOrg.com) -- Plastic is often used in vehicles, when the designs demand a lower weight on the vehicle, in order to increase vehicle speed or fuel efficiency. Current plastics only meet those goals to a ...

Technology / Engineering

created Apr 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast weblog

Sick of the same old thing? Researchers finds satiation solution

Have you ever gotten sick of pizza, playing the same computer game, or had a song stuck in your head for so long you never wanted to hear it again? If you have, you may suffer from variety amnesia. In new research, Joseph ...

Other Sciences / Social Sciences

created May 19, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (7) | comments 1

Researchers: It is possible to get sick of chocolate

They say that laughter is the best medicine, but some people might endorse chocolate instead. The dark variety has been shown to reduce blood pressure better than a placebo. Scientists credit the flavanols in dark chocolate ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Aug 17, 2010 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 5

New evidence that dark chocolate helps ease emotional stress

The "chocolate cure" for emotional stress is getting new support from a clinical trial published online in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research.

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Nov 11, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (5) | comments 2

Chocolate

Chocolate (pronounced /ˈtʃɒklət/ (help·info) or /-ˈələt/) comprises a number of raw and processed foods produced from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican peoples made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs and the Maya, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.

After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted, and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground and liquified, resulting in pure chocolate in fluid form: chocolate liquor. The liquor can be further processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Pure, unsweetened chocolate contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, combining chocolate with sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. "White chocolate" contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids (and thus does not qualify to be considered true chocolate).

Chocolate contains alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Scientists claim that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure. Dark chocolate has recently been promoted for its health benefits, including a substantial amount of antioxidants that reduce the formation of free radicals, though the presence of theobromine renders it toxic to some animals, such as dogs and cats.

Chocolate has become one of the most popular flavors in the world. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on Easter, chocolate coins on Hanukkah, Santa Claus and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and hearts on Valentine's Day. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and hot chocolate.

For more information about Chocolate, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.