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Funding Research: Chocolate or CHD?

Wednesday, August 03, 2011

By Amy Basken

I love chocolate. Dove Dark Chocolate Promises. Well, and M&M’s, too. This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me.

Any woman I know would agree that chocolate is wonderful—it reduces stress, renews energy, and may even be an aphrodisiac. Many women will also agree that chocolate may save lives—particularly those of our spouses. Thus, in our house, the tradition of chocolate for Valentine’s Day has morphed to the giving of a bag of Dove Chocolate once every 28 days.

Now, I also love the National Institutes of Health (NIH), please don’t get me wrong. But a recent article in the NIH monthly newsletter disputing the benefits of chocolate ends:

Meanwhile, NIH will continue to fund studies into the health effects of chocolate, and many other foods. Wouldn't it be sweet if the research proved that chocolate is definitely good for us?

Really? I have months and years of research to tell you that there are very real health benefits to chocolate.

Wouldn’t we be better off dedicating more money to researching congenital heart disease—finding yet undiscovered information which will save lives, improve outcomes and reduce costs of one of the greatest public health burdens?

Oh, this stresses me out. I need chocolate.

Find the article here: http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/Aug2011/Feature1  

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