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A mere half a bar of dark chocolate each week protects the heart against inflammation and consequent heart disease. A study by the Research Laboratories of the Catholic University in Campobasso Italy, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute of Milan, found that 6.7 grams of dark chocolate each day was the idea amount to protect against inflammation.

Scientists know that heart disease is caused by inflammation, and keeping inflammation under control is a key to preventing cardiovascular disease. C-reactive protein is a marker for heart disease and is measured by a simple blood test.

Italian researchers studied 4,849 subjects in good health and free from risk factors such as cholesterol and high blood pressure. Of the group, 1,317 ate no chocolate, and 824 ate dark chocolate regularly.

“We started from the hypothesis,” said Romina di Giuseppe, lead author of the study, “that high amounts of antioxidants contained in the cocoa seeds, in particular flavonoids and other kinds of polyphenols, might have beneficial effects on the inflammatory state. Our results have been absolutely encouraging: people having moderate amounts of dark chocolate regularly have significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein in their blood. In other words, their inflammatory state is considerably reduced.”

Scientists said dark chocolate lowered the risk of cardiovascular disease one-third in women and one-fourth in men.

“We are talking of a moderate consumption,” said di Giuseppe. “The best effect is obtained by consuming an average amount of 6.7 grams of chocolate per day, corresponding to a small square of chocolate twice or three times a week. Beyond these amounts, the beneficial effect tends to disappear.”

“Maybe the time has come to reconsider the Mediterranean diet pyramid and take the dark chocolate off the basket of sweets considered to be bad for our health,” said Giovanni de Gaetano, director of the Research Laboratories of the Catholic University of Campobasso.

source:Newsmax Health

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Regular sex boosts a man’s fertility, say doctors.

In a contradiction of conventional wisdom on the subject, research has shown those who do not have sex often produce sperm of lower quality than those who do so daily.

This is thought to be because sperm’s DNA becomes more damaged the longer it remains in the body, cutting the chances of fertilisation and raising the risk of a miscarriage in the first weeks of pregnancy.

Daily clinch: The more sex you have, the better a man’s fertility becomes

The findings, presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s annual conference, will be of particular significance to couples undergoing fertility treatment.

Men are currently advised to stop having sex in the days before they provide a sperm sample for IVF treatment.

Until now, abstaining from sex in the three to seven days before treatment was thought to increase the quantity of sperm produced and improve the chances of pregnancy.

Australian researchers looking at the sperm quality of more than 40 men whose wives had either failed to get pregnant through IVF or had repeatedly miscarried found that when the men had no sex for three days, their sperm contained high levels of DNA damage.

Tested again after having sex every day for a week, the amount of damage dropped by a third.

While the amount of sperm produced had also fallen, fertility doctors said the improvement in quality would help men in their quest for fatherhood.

Researcher Dr David Greening, from the clinic Sydney IVF clinic, said: “I’m convinced ejaculating more frequently reduces sperm DNA damage in most men.”

Dr Allan Pacey, a male fertility expert from Sheffield University and secretary of the British Fertility Society, said the research appeared to suggest that sperm sitting in the body accumulates damage as it ages.

He added: “If sperm is released in a steady stream, the sperm that is ejaculated contains newer and less- damaged cells.”

source:this is london.co.uk