Great news!
Rocker: I also wondered what the orange stars were for. I thought it was the number of complaints lodged against my comments!
MerryBe: You are SUCH a killjoy. ;-)
Amazing what a dirty mind can do in the absence of clarity! ;-)
I think this is the first time I found out that something I love is good for me. Yahoo!!!
I can handle the 75% but any stronger than that...... makes it easier not to eat too much though.
Thanks for the answer, I just saw what it's about on Elaines thread to medhelp.
I do think it'll be hard to figure, calculate.
And I still don't know what a peen is???
My new slogan!
"A Kiss a day keeps the doctor away."
(As in Hershey's Dark, yum.)
CocoPure is the way to go.
I love chocolate, and still indulge from time to time...but I will have to be the killjoy here on one point only...the sugar content and the way this triggers too much insulin as well as too much fat storage in the liver need to be weighed.
Yes chocolate is high in omega 3's...that's a good thing...but ONLY if they haven't taken out the cacao fat and substituted another kind. (you have to read the fine print here because lots of chocolate has had another fat added and the cacao butter removed....
usually they use soy, palm and a few others...none of which is good for us..
plus, like I said...it half fat, and half pure sugar...so a little restraint might be in order.
here's a good primer on it....I am trying to raise my omega 3 profile also, but using sardines and an ALA supplement to get there...not that I would't prefer to use chocolate...but let's not loose sight of what we know about the liver and fat metabolism.
Easing Liver Inflammation: Balancing Omega-3's and Omega-6's
February 22, 2010
Although both are required for a healthy immune response, learn why those with inflammation of the liver should favor omega-3 fatty acids over omega-6's.
by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.
Considered to be essential fatty acids, omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids are both necessary for human health. There are many reasons that health conscious individuals increase their consumption of omega-3 laden foods, while reducing their omega-6's. Upon recognizing why health professionals advise consuming more omega-3's than omega-6's, those with liver disease have every reason to follow suit.
Taken for everything from depression to heart disease to arthritis, the primary therapeutic action of omega-3 fatty acids is squelching inflammation. For decades, omega-3's have proven their ability to improve inflammatory conditions. Because hepatitis falls under this umbrella, this liver condition benefits from omega-3 fatty acid consumption.
Hepatitis literally means inflammation of the liver, and is involved in most types of liver disease, including:
· Viral Hepatitis: when hepatitis is caused by a virus - this includes Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C
· Alcoholic Hepatitis: when hepatitis is caused by alcohol, common in alcoholics
· Steatohepatitis: when fatty liver disease escalates and causes inflammation
The Inflammatory Pump
To address its current needs, the body is always trying to strike the right balance between inflammation and anti-inflammation. In achieving this balance, omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids are known to have opposing roles. The following events maintain this inflammatory pump:
· When an infection or foreign invader is detected, the immune system triggers production of Prostaglandin II.
· To quarantine the infection or invader, Prostaglandin II produces an inflammatory response that sends white blood cells to the affected area.
· Almost immediately, the immune system also triggers the production of Prostaglandin I to suppress inflammation and begin the healing process.
The balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids can affect the inflammatory pump's balance, because of their role in making prostaglandins:
· Omega-3 fatty acids are a necessary component in the production of Prostaglandin I.
· Omega-6 fatty acids are a necessary component in the production of Prostaglandin II.
Omega-3's and Omega-6's
Consequently, omega-3's are needed to suppress inflammation and encourage healing, while omega-6's are needed to initiate the inflammatory response. Nutritionists believe that a ratio of 2:1 of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3's help keep the inflammatory pump in balance.
A suspected culprit of today's high rate of inflammatory diseases, many of our modern day food choices are rich in omega-6 fatty acids and stingy in omega-3's. In fact, experts estimate that the typical American diet contains 14 - 25 times more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3's.
· Omega-6's are found in certain seeds and nuts, and the oils extracted from them. Refined vegetable oils (like soybean, corn, sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oils) are high in omega-6's and are used in a majority of fast foods, snack foods, cookies, crackers and sweets. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, soybean oil alone is now so ubiquitous in fast foods and processed foods that an astounding 20 percent of the calories in the American diet are estimated to come from this single source.
· Omega-3's are found in the fat of cold water fish, such as salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, black cod and bluefish; other seafood including algae and krill; and some plant sources, especially walnuts and flax seeds.
Because it prevents infection from spreading to nearby tissues and organs, inflammation is a crucial process. However, too much inflammation has the opposite effect - and can easily harm neighboring structures. This is frequently the case in liver disease where hepatitis (liver inflammation) damages nearby liver cells.
Omega-3 fatty acids extinguish the flames of inflammation and omega-6 fatty acids fan those flames. To keep liver inflammation at bay and prevent that inflammation from damaging the liver, those with liver disease are likely to benefit from boosting their dietary intake of omega-3's, while simultaneously curbing foods full of omega-6 fatty acids.
Whats the the hell is a peens.... i thinkn its aball peen hammer of some sort,or am i thinkn its something to to with the gear shift of my car?With all the chocolate covered body parts and stuff,ya think we all were in a chocolate factory.
Hmmm... chocolate covered peens, now that sounds interesting.
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And what the heck do these new stars by our names mean, lol ????
Well hello Mikesimon! Last I was here for a bit you were MIA for awhile. Good to see you!
And your news is even better! As I am a chocolate addict for yrs, no other sweets, just chocolate. Nothing covered, no nuts, fruits, candies, just the hard stuff, straight chocolate.
My BP has always run low too.
I'm in on this one!
Ladies.....I am lost on the chocolate 'peeps'? I saw the peep show pic, I know what peeps are, what the heck do you mean 'peeps' are for guys and 'peens are for girls? (now using my imagination I have come up with an idea??)
Yahhh chocolate! Too bad I've gained 10 lbs and put it away for awhile!
yippie....yahooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!
1 square is not enough ...no one can eat just one !
CocoPure babeee..... Yahoo, I ALWAYS knew that my chocolate was going to be good for me and now I have the science to prove it! Yeehaw!!
Susan400
Somewhere there is an Englishman sitting at his computer having a breakdown about now, wondering what goes on with us crazy Americans ;)
But JD what can we call the version for girls - I don't want any chocolate covered peeps..........(cannot print here what I want to say for fear I will be banned).......cholcate covered %#$#@!#@'s????
Oooo… peeps are awfully special all by themselves… and we can have them with chocolate too? Now that’s decadence, JD :).
I hear its great on peeps ;^)
Neither comes close to the high concentration of flavanol antioxidants in raw cocoa/cacao beans - 10 grams of flavanols per 100 grams.
ORAC Score - A Measure of Antioxidant Quality
The current standard for testing and measuring the antioxidant properties of various foods is called the ORAC Score. ORAC is an abbreviation for "Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity" - which is a measure of the amount of free radicals that can be neutralized by a certain mass of a food substance (usually cited as "per gram" or "per 100 grams" of the food substance).
The higher the ORAC score, the higher the concentration of antioxidants present in the food. (Source: US Department of Agriculture / Journal of the American Chemical Society.)
Free radicals are molecules that are missing one or more electrons and are therefore chemically imbalanced with a positive electrical charge. They are created in several kinds of chemical reactions which take place in our bodies, such as when we burn energy by working our muscles. To balance their charge, these radical molecules will seek to attract or "steal" electrons from other molecules - including the molecules which make up the DNA in your body's cells which is the blueprint for producing new cells, and the mitochondria in your cells which create the energy to sustain the cells.
Cells with damaged mitochondria are weak and have lower energy and less resistance to disease. When the DNA of a cell is damaged by the action of free radicals, the result is the creation of imperfect new cells - or even malignant new cells which form tumors and cancers.
Free radicals are the cause of most degenerative diseases, premature aging, and the creation of cancer cells.
Antioxidants are molecules which have one or more extra electrons and are chemically imbalanced with a negative electrical charge, so they can attract and "donate" an electron to a positively-charged free radical molecule, which balances its electrical charge and thus neutralizes it. So that "thieving" radical molecule which is now electrically balanced no longer needs to "steal" electrons from the molecules which form our body's cells.
And it tastes good too ........by the way.
Cocoa - The Super Healthy Fruit
You may be surprised to learn that cocoa is actually a FRUIT - and even more surprised to learn that it is actually one of the most healthy fruits commonly eaten by man!
Recent research studies have shown a link between cocoa and cardiovascular health, with reduced risk of blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks.
Cornell University food scientists discovered that cocoa powder has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine, and up to three times the antioxidants found in green tea.
Raw cocoa has the highest antioxidant value of all the natural foods in the world!
The ORAC score per 100 grams of unprocessed raw cacao is 28,000, compared to 18,500 for Acai Berries, 1,540 for Strawberries, and only 1,260 for raw Spinach. The ORAC score for a typical manufactured Dark Chocolate is an impressive 13,120 - although one unique, organic, and non-roasted brand of Dark Chocolate has a much higher ORAC score. But for Milk Chocolate the ORAC score is much lower at 6,740.
Cocoa also appears to have anti-aging and anti-inflammatory properties. And cocoa is a good source of the minerals magnesium, sulphur, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium, and manganese; plus some of the B Vitamins.
http://www.astrologyzine.com/healthy-chocolate.shtml
........and not in my hands ;)
I definitely want to let it melt in my mouth!
I wish medhelp had a way to correct misspelled posts. The above is supposed to say now, not, not. And although I caught it and hit stop!! it was too late.
Yum, not that's my kind of preventive medicine.
Brent. lol....on all 3 comments!
I'm not reading merrybes (sorry:)...I want to stay with the 'it's good for me thought'.
NyDeb! Yes, that's exactly what I thought they were! Hah!