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Tag: cocoa

  • Memory Loss Prevention May Be Just One Bite Of Chocolate Away

    Memory loss is a condition that is both terrifying and tragic.

    For far too many individuals, memory problems grow worse with time.

    For those who suffer from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, memory loss can be particularly bad.

    For years, scientists have been working to reverse memory loss.

    Now there are claims that a much-beloved food may not only prevent the loss of memory, but reverse it as well.

    According to the results of a recent study, a special cocoa concoction helped improve the memory of subjects substantially over a period of time.

    Their brain function was said to be comparable to individuals in their 30s or 40s.

    However, before you run down to the nearest supermarket and buy the store’s entire supply of chocolate candy, there is something you should know.

    The subjects were given a high-flavonol cocoa drink to consume, since the flavonols are what play a part in helping to improve overall memory function.

    Unfortunately for us, the levels are not what is typically found in your average candy bar.

    “This [memory loss study] really not about chocolate,” said Dr. Scott Small. “It would be detrimental to one’s health to try and run out and get flavonols from chocolate, which exist in chocolate, but in minuscule amounts.”

    Small is the director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center with the Taub Institute at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. He is also the co-author of this groundbreaking study.

    Thirty-seven healthy subjects between the ages of 50 and 69 were tested to see how they would respond to a flavonol-rich diet. Those who were given more of this substance in their diet showed greatly improved memory functions.

    “What is interesting here,” said Small, “is that this is the first study to show a causal connection between a specific area of the brain and age-related memory loss.”

    In other words, it’s possible for healthy adults to improve their memory and maybe even protect themselves from age-related memory loss by eating a diet rich in flavonols.

    Though there are various foods that contain it, it would probably be more attractive to members of the public if they can eat a great deal of chocolate in order to reverse memory loss.

    Though we aren’t there yet, perhaps this will represent a sweet incentive to promote future memory loss research.

  • Chocolate Prices May Soar Due To Ebola Outbreak

    The price of chocolate is predicted to rise with the onset of the year’s biggest candy-consuming holidays: Halloween and Christmas. Because most of the world’s cocoa is produced in West African countries, chocolate production is being affected by the outbreak of the Ebola virus in Liberia and Guinea.

    According to NPR, half of the world’s cocoa, a key ingredient in chocolate, is produced in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which are next door to Liberia and Guinea. Since Ivory Coast has shut its borders to human traffic from the Ebola-affected countries, migrant workers from Liberia and Guinea are unable to cross the border and take part in the harvest season for cocoa, which lasts from October to March.

    Normally, chocolate companies send agronomists during this time of the year to West Africa to count trees and pods and use mathematical modeling to predict the output of cocoa for the year, which sets prices. However, due to the Ebola virus, many of the pod-counters chose not to go to the region this year.

    “The speculators who agree to set prices for raw cocoa don’t know how the Ebola epidemic is going to affect the harvest and production of it,” said Virginia Whetstone, owner of Whetstone Chocolate, in an interview with FOX 31 in Denver.

    The chocolate industry had already been experiencing a decline in supply due to the waning productivity of West African cacao trees in recent years. The spread of the Ebola virus in the region has reportedly put even more pressure on chocolate production.

    The current price of cocoa is at $3,118 per metric ton, but, according to Financial Post, an executive from World Cocoa Foundation recently told reporters in Copenhagen that it could more than double to $6,000 or $8,000 if cocoa farms don’t start producing more. Thus, chocolate companies are reportedly participating in various efforts to stabilize the supply of cocoa to meet the steadily increasing demand for chocolate all over the world.