PART 3 Why should consumers trust the tantalizing data on chocolate if they're all coming from industry-funded research?
Thats a valid question, acknowledges nutrionalist John W. Erdman of the University of Illinois at UrbananChampaign who cochaired the AAAS symposium on chocolate. Though he believes people should be skeptical, he also points out that these studies would never get off the ground without candy-industry financing. Erdman likens the situation to Quaker Oats funding of researc...
Read More
Test-tube studies by German scientists recently showed that chocolates tetramers were the top performers among this group in curbing the type of oxidation that free radicals can wreak in blood vessel walls. Thats potentially important, Schmitz notes, because such naturally occuring radicals can inflame vessels, a process that fosters a dangerous, rupturing of atherosclerotic plaque. Chocolates tetramers and larger procuanidins also help relax the inner surface of blood vessels, according to stud...
Read More
