Why dark chocolate is good ‘heart’ food

It's everyone's favourite guilty pleasure. A rich bar of chocolate — with nuts, or caramel, fruit or simply had on its own — is a comfort food and can score all the brownie points with someone special when it comes to gifting him/her.

But if chocolate is your lure, the next time you decide to have some, go dark. Scientists and researchers are increasingly looking at the health benefits of the dark variety of chocolate, espceially with regard to heart health. Here's why you can enjoy a guilt-free binge...

Health benefits:

There are several benefits to dark chocolate. Says dietician Priya Karkera, "It's a storehouse of iron, copper, magnesium as well as manganese and has been proven to help in lowering blood pressure." (She also presents some benefits, see below). While folks have been talking of its advantages for a while now, you might wonder how dark should dark chocolate be? A normal dark bar has 70% cacao, but experts are also extolling virtues of a bar with 100% cacao chocolate that offers a burst of antioxidants. It also has lower quantities of unhealthy ingredients, like fat and sugar.

Converts the 'bad' to 'good': 

Dark chocolate (with over 75 gms of cocoa) is loaded with antioxidants preventing the bad cholesterol to form plaques or blockages in the arteries of the heart. It contains 2/3 of MUFA — mono unsaturated fatty acids — which are the good fats essential for our body.

Can harden tooth enamel: 

Sure, chocolates are enemies to the dentists. However, the theobromine content in dark chocolates actually aids in hardening of the tooth enamel. And it is the sugar content in the other variety that causes all the harmful effects.

Can make you live longer: 

That's apparently true! Researchers at Harvard University studied 8,000 men for 65 years and they found that those who ate reasonable amounts of chocolate thrice a month, lived almost a year longer than those who didn't eat any. They came to the conclusion that it this could be due to the fact that cocoa has antioxidants called polyphenols, which can prevent the oxidation of bad or harmful cholesterol. Having a dark variety is even better.

Helps with stroke: 

As per a study, dark chocolate is said to lessen brain damage risk, following a stroke. Scientists found that a compound called epicatechin, found in dark chocolate, can protects the brain against strokes by shielding nerve cells.

Avoids macular degeneration: 

Dark chocolate could also help stave off age-related macular degeneration, regarded as the common cause of blindness in older people as well as those suffering from dementia.

Reduces clot risk: 

Dark chocolate is also said to act like aspirin where it thins the blood and lessens the time it takes for the blood to clot. Apparently, it is the chemical in cocoa beans responsible for this.

Is a stress buster: 

Did you know that munching on a small 20g bar of dark chocolate can help with anger management and hold off the stress? Dark chocolates are rich in Phenylethylamine (PEA) the chemical which stimulates the brain cells to release endorphins, sets in a feeling of happiness and helps to curb depression.

Lesser caffeine: 

Though it is said to contain caffeine, the percentage of this is 10 times lesser than the amount found in coffee.

Here's the truth about belly fat

You may be a peaceful person, but your fight with belly fat is constant. Belly fat makes a common appearance during festival time, wedding celebrations and vacationing. 

Today we dissect belly fat to examine the what, why and how. If you are trying to get rid of this perpetual problem then this post will help to nip the problem in the bud.

What is belly fat?

Belly Fat goes by many names - beer belly, pot belly, abdominal fat, organ fat, intra - abdominal fat or simply fat. But how is this fat different from the fat that is found in other areas of the body?

'Visceral fat, ...is located inside the peritoneal cavity, packed in between internal organs and torso, as opposed to subcutaneous fat, which is found underneath the skin, and intramuscular fat, which is found interspersed in skeletal muscle...An excess of visceral fat is known as central obesity, the "pot belly" or "beer belly" effect, in which the abdomen protrudes excessively.' - As mentioned in Wikipedia, Abdominal obesity.

Causes of stomach fat

Excess calories and hormonal changes are the reasons for stomach fat. Sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise too can cause belly fat.

Waist to hip ratio

The common misconception, that only visibly over-weight and obese people have belly fat, needs to be debunked. Belly fat can attack anyone, whether skinny or fat. What does this mean? As mentioned earlier, visceral fat is the real belly fat we are discussing here, and the real belly fat that puts you at risk of many diseases. This is due to the inflammatory properties of visceral fat as it constricts important body-regulating hormones in your abdominal region.

More than the weighing scale, a better measure of how much belly fat an individual has, is the waist to hip ratio. You'll be surprised to know that several, seemingly thin people have a poor waist to hip ratio, which puts them at risk of the same heart diseases and other ailments usually associated with obesity. So what's a good waist to hip ratio? Here's a table:

How to measure: 

Divide your waist measurement at its narrowest point by your hip measurement at its widest point.

Male Female Health Risk Based Solely on WHR

0.95 or below 0.80 or below Low risk

0.96 to 1.0 0.81 to 0.85 Moderate risk

1.0+ 0.85+ High risk

Why is belly fat worse than fat stored in any other part of the body?

This brings us to the difference between visceral and subcutaneous fat. Subcutaneous fat helps in the supply of oxygen. It acts like a cushioning effect if you fall or experience impact. It also serves as a store house of energy. Excess subcutaneous fat will give you the flabby arms, thighs etc and is easily burned off with exercise rather than diet.

Visceral fat only increases your waist line, choking and tightening your internal organs. As you will see later visceral fat is linked to cardiovascular diseases and cancer.

Thin individuals too have visceral fat; if you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there. If you plan to lose weight based only on a diet rather than exercise you have a higher deposit of internal fat around internal organs. Hence even thin people are prone to diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

Link between visceral fat and cardiovascular diseases

Visceral fat is responsible for inflammation in the body, which in turn is linked to heart diseases. 'Excess VAT is accompanied by elevated triglycerides, reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, and/or elevated fasting plasma glucose.' (Source)

These high levels are an indicator of cardiovascular diseases, but physical activity and diet can help you control the risk of heart diseases.

Link between visceral fat and cancer

Since visceral fat leads to the inflammation of the body, it is linked to cancer too, especially colon cancer. Visceral fat contains an immune cell macrophages, which produces a hormone Cytokines that causes cancer.

This hormone 'can increase oxidative stress and boost free radical production and they can disturb insulin function.' (Source) High levels of insulin can cause cancer.

Prevention of visceral fat

• Losing weight the healthy way.
• De-stressing by meditation and breathing exercises.
• Drinking plenty of water to flush out salt from the tissues so as to feel lighter and not bloated.
• Eating a proper diet by including anti-inflammatory foods like oats, wheat bran, brown rice, green vegetables, fruits, green tea, nuts, fish etc and avoid inflammatory foods like refined cereals, sweets, fried foods etc.
• Liposuction removes subcutaneous fat and not the visceral fat because it is too close to the internal organs, which would make it unsafe.

Fitness: Ways to a flat stomach

The simple science behind six pack abs is that they exist in everybody. It's just when you start putting on more body fat that these abs disappear. A combination of two major muscles transversus abdominis and rectus abdominis muscles make up what we consider to be our 'abs' zone.

These muscles are buried under the front and side of torso mucles and exist around your midsection like a girdle. Now, if you ate a healthy diet comprising of lean proteins, balanced carbs and less, yet good, fats, you would enter a zone with minimal superficial body fat, and your muscles would become visible, resulting in six pack abs.

Diet: Ways to a flat stomach

Protein: When you regularly eat healthy sources of lean proteins such as chicken, beans, fish, and soy, you find yourself losing body fat and at the same time giving shape to your body.

Stay hydrated: 

When we are well hydrated the basal metabolic rate of our body goes up; this would mean that our body is able to digest the food we eat in a proper manner, the food is used to burn sufficient calories required by the body and thus you end up with a nice flat belly to improve your figure.

Fiber: 

The main function of fiber is to clean our system deep within, help propel our bowel movements and thus form the basis of detoxification of our body. Most astonishing is the fact that when we consume fiber, our body burns ample calories in the digestion process of fiber.

Stay away from fruit juices, alcohol and fruit punches for a flat belly.

Weight-loss surgery cuts chances of liver damage

Researchers have said that bariatric surgery, which is best known for its ability to help patients lose substantial weight, can also result in significant improvement in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Researchers at the University of South Florida-Tampa found that bariatric surgery resolved liver inflammation and reversed early-stage liver fibrosis, the thickening and scarring of liver tissue, by reducing fat deposits in the liver.

Michel Murr, MD, lead researcher of the study, professor of surgery and director of Tampa General Hospital and USF Health Bariatric Center, said their findings suggest that providers should consider bariatric surgery as the treatment of choice for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in severely obese patients.

Researchers compared liver biopsies from 152 patients — one at the time of the bariatric procedure and a second an average of 29 months afterwards.

In examining pre-operative biopsies, researchers identified patients with cellular-level manifestations of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, specifically, fat deposits and inflammation of the liver. These types of liver damage can lead to liver fibrosis and cirrhosis, which can be life-threatening.

After reviewing post-operative biopsies, they found that bariatric surgery resulted in improvements for these patients. In the post-operative biopsies, researchers found that fat deposits on the liver resolved in 70 per cent of patients. Inflammation was also improved, with lobular inflammation resolved in 74 per cent of patients, chronic portal inflammation resolved in 32 percent, and steatohepatitis resolved in 88 per cent.

In addition to these improvements, 62 per cent of patients with stage two liver fibrosis had an improvement or resolution of the fibrosis. One of three patients with cirrhosis also showed improvement. Dr. Murr noted that these findings on fibrosis reversal apply only to early-stage fibrosis, and not late-stage liver disease.

5 tips to prevent diabetes

Follow these simple rules...

Regular exercise

Regular physical activity can help you prevent or manage a wide range of health problems and concerns, including stroke, metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, being active boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good," cholesterol and decreases unhealthy triglycerides. This keeps your blood flowing smoothly, which also decreases your risk of cardiovascular diseases

Avoid unhealthy food like fat food and junk food

Junk food is the type of food which has no nutritional value and is high in calories and also poses health hazards. The good taste of junk food comes from hydrogenated fats. These fats lead to obesity, atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes and heart diseases. Consumption of junk food increases the risk of diabetes to a great extent and should be avoided to the maximum..

Annual blood sugar estimation after age of 35

This would help an individual keep a check on the blood sugar count thus making him/her aware of how much to cut on food and exercise on a regular basis. This would make a person conscious of his eating habits and exercise regime by taking adequate steps to control high blood sugar levels.

Management of stress/change in lifestyle

Stress management has become extremely relevant in today's times as it the catalyst for many diseases specially diabetes. Managing stress levels among adults is extremely important and regular exercise and yoga can be the best way to do it. Life style changes such as continuous travel and irregular work hours can affect the normal functioning of the body leading to lifestyle diseases, diabetes being one of them. If diagnosed with diabetes, inspect your feet daily and seek early care if you get a foot injury. Modern Wound Dressings with antimicrobial properties like Aquacel Ag, which is made up of Patented Hydrofiber Technology with ionic silver, have played a pivotal role in treatment of chronic foot ulcers.

Maintain weight as per your height (Height in cms- 100 + your weight in kgms.)

If all the aforementioned steps are taken care of maintain correct weight should not be a problem. Obesity and diabetes go hand in hand hence maintain weight is a key part of preventing the onset of diabetes. Weight can be checked by eating right and exercising every day and also by limiting the amount of food intake. One should strictly avoid over eating as it causes problems like weight gain and obesity.

(Inputs by: Dr. Arun Bal, Founder President Of Diabetic Foot Society Of India and Diabetic Foot Surgeon Raheja Hospital,Hinduja Hospital)