“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” is a novel by Roald Dahl that tells the tale of young Charlie Bucket as he explores Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory. Charlie emerges as heir to the delicious enterprise -- saving his whole family from misfortune and bad health. Chocolate can do that.
We’re talking about dark, dark chocolate and cocoa extract, which contain a super-dose of heart-loving, cancer-fighting flavanols. According to the National Cancer Institute, when you ingest cocoa extract, you trigger dilation of your blood vessels, increase blood flow and lower blood pressure. Insulin sensitivity increases, cognition improves, and inflammation is tamped down. Plus, healthy cells are protected from stress that leads to DNA damage.
Just how does that translate to better heart health? Well, according to research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, ingesting cocoa extracts reduced the incidence of cardiovascular death by 27% for folks in the Cocoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study.
Participants consumed cocoa extract that delivered 500 milligrams a day of the flavanols epicatechin and catechin, plus procyanidins and xanthines. Epicatechin is also in brewed green tea, cherries and fava beans (although in much lower concentration). Catechin is also in red wine, broad beans, black grapes, apricots and strawberries. Procyanidins are found in blueberries, cranberries and black currents, and xanthines are in caffeine. So enjoy an ounce of 70% (or higher) cacao chocolate and other sources of those flavonols every day, and ask your doctor about the benefits of taking cacao extract.
New colonoscopy preps make the whole process easier
Around 20 years ago, Katie Couric went on TV while she underwent a colonoscopy. In 2019, Will Smith posted a video blog of his first-time experience at age 50. Bravo for them! They encouraged folks to get this lifesaving exam.
Around 16 million colonoscopies are performed in the U.S. annually. That may sound like a lot, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that three out of every 10 adults age 50 to 75 are not up-to-date with colorectal cancer screening, and almost 20% of folks in that age group have never been screened for colorectal cancer. FYI: In 2019, there were 145,000 new cases of colon cancer in the U.S.
So why don’t folks get colonoscopies? Many are turned off by the prep process. The good news is there are now options -- from the traditional 1 gallon jug of citrus-flavored liquid to smaller individual bottles of liquid and even prep pills. For the pills, you take a total of 24: 12 the day before (two every 20 minutes with 8 ounces of water) and ditto the day of. All preps have a strict protocol of what you eat/drink leading up to your exam, but many folks find the newer versions more palatable.
The goal of the prep is to make sure the doctor can clearly see any precancerous or cancerous polyps and remove them. So, get your first screening at age 45 if you have no risk factors for colon cancer. Then repeat as recommended, depending on what is found and your risk factors.
