Chocolate may reverse age-related memory loss

A new study suggests that high concentrations of an antioxidant found in chocolate, flavanols, can reverse age-related memory loss in older adults.

The problem: In order to ingest the same amount of flavanols used in the study, you’d need to eat more than 20 chocolate bars a day.

Flavanols are removed from many chocolates by a process called “dutching.”

The study was financed by the chocolate industry, so take it with a grain of cocoa.

Interestingly, the study found that flavanols did not seem to affect the part of the brain impaired by Alzheimer’s. This backed up the theory that age-related memory loss is something distinctly different from Alzheimer’s.

According to the NYT, even if you ate dark chocolate, which contains a higher concentration of flavanols as compared to regular chocolate, you’d still have to eat 300g of dark chocolate a day, which is equal to seven average sized candy bars.

I know the Ghirardelli chocolate I use for baking is 100g per bar, so you’d still need to eat 3 of those per day, which is quite a lot. Especially when you take into account that you’d be eating 27g of saturated fat, or 129% of your recommended daily maximum.

Another odd thing the study found: exercise didn’t seem to help memory improvement (though they think it’s possible that in older brains you need a larger amount, or more vigorous, exercise in order to produce a memory benefit).

Flavanols apparently keep blood vessels from hardening, and they also play an anti-inflammatory role. Apparently, a number of small studies have linked flavanols to lower risks of heart disease, hypertension, stroke, and diabetes.

Though, you might want to watch the 25 chocolate bar a day diet if you’re worried about diabetes.

Seven Tips For Online Cruising That Could Mean The Difference Between Life And Death

The internet is a scary place — that’s a scientific fact. Too often we’ve reported on online hookups that go from hot to hellish, and they have even resulted in death. And while these extremes are rare, there are a number of other bad outcomes that can and do happen when people decide to have a quick tryst from a website or app.

The safest thing to do is just avoid it altogether, but it seems clear that semi-anonymous hook-ups aren’t disappearing any time too soon. So with that in mind, here are six tips for staying safe and sane when you get the urge for digital cruising:

1. Shed the shame

The number one problem when it comes to hooking up online is the shame factor. All too often guys compartmentalize their lives so that acting out on lust and desire is relegated to that “dirty little secret” part of the self. Just look at how many “headless torso” profiles are out there. Try putting your best face forward. We are who we are, and sexual desire is a part of being human. When you’re out in the open, you’ll tend to make better decisions that more accurately reflect the whole you, and in turn put yourself in safer situations.

2. Communicate

This can be tough. Spontaneity can be very sexy, and being asked “so what are you into?” can be a bit of a drag. But look at the situation objectively — you’re about to meet someone you don’t know and get very intimate very quickly. You’ll do yourself a favor by opening up lines of communication. “I only play safe.” “I’m positive.” “Do you have any toys?” “When were you last tested?” These are all entirely appropriate questions during the chatting stage, and how the other person reacts to honest talk may speak volumes about whether you actually want to meet in the flesh.

3. Try the truth(ish)

There is nothing worse than showing up for a hookup and having to do a double-take when the guy who answers the door looks absolutely nothing like his photos. Look, anyone who’s playing the field online is going to engage in some amount of deception. We try to present the best possible image of ourselves, it only makes sense. But be reasonable. A photo from eleven months ago when you were ten pounds lighter? Go for it. Saying you’re 29 when you’re 31? Unnecessary, but hey we aren’t going to judge. Using a photo taken during the last millennium? Please.

4. Meet in public

Not enough guys actually do this one, and we get that it’s a bit harder when it’s 2 a.m. (which isn’t a great idea to begin with), but meeting in public will do more than just give you an “out” if you need one. When you meet in public, it’ll feel very “real.” And that’s a good thing, because it is real.

5. Talk first

A 10-minute conversation will tell you so much about a person, and you owe it to yourself to make sure that you aren’t dealing with someone crazy. It doesn’t have to be a deep conversation, but just by chatting a bit you’ll pick up on body language, chemistry and overall sanity. Your pants can wait a few minutes to come off.

6. Don’t be afraid to bail

If something feels wrong, trust your instincts. Let your analytical mind be louder than your horniness. Bailing can be super awkward (less so if you meet in public), but there is absolutely no need to feel obligated when negotiating hooking up. The sex may be casual, but the decision to have it certainly isn’t. A simple, “I’m sorry, but I need to leave” will do. You don’t owe this person anything.

7. Stock up

This is so easy. Just bring condoms with you, and never rely on the other person to supply them. When things escalate and you realize they don’t have any on hand, you won’t ever have to have that “should I or shouldn’t I?” moment.

Nut consumption reduces risk of death: Research also shows people who eat nuts weigh less

According to the largest study of its kind, people who ate a daily handful of nuts were 20 percent less likely to die from any cause over a 30-year period than those who didn’t consume nuts, say scientists from the Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Their report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, contains further good news: The regular nut-eaters were found to be more slender than those who didn’t eat nuts, a finding that should alleviate fears that eating a lot of nuts will lead to overweight.

The report also looked at the protective effect on specific causes of death.

“The most obvious benefit was a reduction of 29 percent in deaths from heart disease — the major killer of people in America,” said Charles S. Fuchs, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Treatment Center at Dana-Farber, who is the senior author of the report and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

“But we also saw a significant reduction — 11 percent — in the risk of dying from cancer,” added Fuchs, who is also affiliated with the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women’s.

Whether any specific type or types of nuts were crucial to the protective effect could not be determined. However, the reduction in mortality was similar both for peanuts (a legume, or ground nut) and for tree nuts — walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, macadamias, pecans, pistachios, and pine nuts.

Several previous studies had found an association between increasing nut consumption and a lower risk of diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, gallstones, and diverticulitis. Higher nut consumption also has been linked to reductions in cholesterol levels, oxidative stress, inflammation, adiposity, and insulin resistance. Some small studies have linked an increase of nuts in the diet to lower total mortality in specific populations. But no previous research studies had looked in such detail at various levels of nut consumption and their effects on overall mortality in a large population that was followed for more than 30 years.

For the new research, the scientists were able to tap databases from two well-known, ongoing observational studies that collect data on diet and other lifestyle factors and various health outcomes. The Nurses’ Health Study provided data on 76,464 women between 1980 and 2010, and the Health Professionals’ Follow-Up Study yielded data on 42,498 men from 1986 to 2010. Participants in the studies filled out detailed food questionnaires every two to four years. With each questionnaire, participants were asked to estimate how often they consumed nuts in a serving size of one ounce. A typical small packet of peanuts from a vending machine contains one ounce.

Sophisticated data analysis methods were used to rule out other factors that might have accounted for the mortality benefits. For example, the researchers found that individuals who ate more nuts were leaner, less likely to smoke, and more likely to exercise, use multivitamin supplements, consume more fruits and vegetables, and drink more alcohol. However, analysis was able to isolate the association between nuts and mortality independently of these other factors.

“In all these analyses, the more nuts people ate, the less likely they were to die over the 30-year follow-up period,” explained Ying Bao of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, first author of the report. Those who ate nuts less than once a week had a 7 percent reduction in mortality; once a week, 11 percent reduction; two to four times per week, 13 percent reduction; five to six times per week, 15 percent reduction; and seven or more times a week, a 20 percent reduction in death rate.

The authors noted that this large study cannot definitively prove cause and effect; nonetheless, the findings are strongly consistent with “a wealth of existing observational and clinical trial data to support health benefits of nut consumption on many chronic diseases.” In fact, based on previous studies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded in 2003 that eating 1½ ounces per day of most nuts “may reduce the risk of heart disease.”

OOPS! Wrong kind of nuts!