The Chocolate Remedy

http://tinyurl.com/ybxjv6

Chocolate's Good for You - It's Official
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It is the news anyone with a sweet tooth has been waiting for - chocolate
is officially good for you.

Doctors at Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust have found eating
small bars of dark chocolate every day helps stop symptoms of chronic
fatigue syndrome (CFS).

The illness, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), leaves sufferers
with debilitating fatigue and neurological problems. People taking part in
a study at Hull Royal Infirmary found they felt better after eating
specially formulated dark chocolate each day for eight weeks. However, only
chocolate made with 85 per cent cocoa was found to have health benefits.

Professor Steve Atkin, consultant endocrinologist, conducted the study.
He said: "No one has examined the effects of chocolate on CFS before, so
this is a very exciting result for us. The participants took 45g of
specially formulated chocolate high in polyphenols for eight weeks. They
then had a two-week period of rest before taking a placebo chocolate, low
in polyphenols, for another eight weeks. After the first period they
reported feeling less fatigue and once they moved to the placebo chocolate
they began feeling more fatigue again. They didn't experience any
significant weight gain either, which is an extra positive."

Chocolate contains a complex mixture of chemicals called polyphenols, which
are also reported to reduce the risk of death from coronary heart disease,
cancer and strokes. Chocolate also increases serotonin, which regulates
mood and sleep.

Tracy Denholm, 39, of Beckside Close, west Hull, has suffered from CFS for
more than 10 years. She said: "I have really bad attacks, where I cannot
see and I cannot use my body properly, like a newborn baby. My husband Ian
is my carer and, because I cannot guarantee how well I am going to feel, I
cannot work. I am quite cynical, but it did work and I felt much more
alert. I had more energy and didn't have any attacks."

The research was funded by the Diabetes Endowment Fund charity, for which
Professor Atkin is asking for donations. The trust is now looking for
people with type two diabetes, linked to age or weight, or polycystic
ovary syndrome, where many cysts grow on a woman's ovaries, to see if
chocolate helps.

Professor Atkin said: "I have a large amount of chocolate in the department
waiting to be eaten."

Anyone who is interested, or wants to donate to the fund, should call
Professor Atkin's research team on (01482) 675387. s.alexander@hdmp.co.uk