Eating dark chocolate reduces stress
The source for this claim is Science Daily.
Image description: A chart. On the left hand side going down, the types of evidence (types one through to five) are listed. Each has a face showing emotion depending on how reliable the evidence is, and is coloured like traffic lights to reflect whether you can rely on it. Type 1: Red. sad/horrified. Type 2: Amber. unhappy. Type 3: Light green. Happy. Type 4: Mid green. Not sure. Type 5: Dark green. Overjoyed!
Image description: An article headline from Harper's Bazaar magazine reads: Blake Lively has a very relatable addiction.
A picture shows a box full of a variety of cakes, some of which are chocolate. A woman's face can be seen eyeing the cakes greedily over the edge of the box.
The quote underneath reads: '"I can't start the day without a hot chocolate, or finish it without a few squares of dark chocolate." she told Marie Claire in 2014. "It's good for my mood!"
Image description: An article headline from Science Daily reads: Dark chocolate consumption reduces stress and inflammation.
A picture shows a small pile of chunks of dark chocolate on a surface.
Text underneath reads: "New research shows there might be health benefits to eating certain types of dark chocolate. Findings show that consuming dark chocolate that has a high concentration of cacao has positive effects on stress levels, inflammation, mood, memory and immunity.
While it is well known that cacao is a major source of flavonoids, this is the first time the effect has been studied in human subjects to determine how it can support cognitive, endocrine and cardiovascular health."
Image description: A headline from the International Journal of Health Sciences reads: Effects of chocolate intake on Perceived Stress; a Controlled Clinical Study.
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The text reads:
"BACKGROUND Cocoa polyphenols have been shown to reduce stress in highly stressed, as well as normal healthy individuals, we wondered whether commercially available chocolate could reduce perceived stress in medical students or not, so we decided to conduct this study.
RESULTS Mean stress scores compared between the groups by ANOVA revealed statistically not significant differences before (F =0.505; P=0.606) and after chocolate consumption (F=0.188; P=0.829). Paired ‘t’ test compared stress scores means before and after chocolate supplementation within the same group and exhibited statistically significant decrease in DC (t = 2.341; p value = 0.03) and MC (t = 3.302; p value = 0.004) groups. Mean stress scores decreased, on average, by approximately 2 and 3 points in DC and MC groups, respectively, at 95% Confidence Interval. The difference was more evident and statistically significant in female students as compared to the males.
CONCLUSION Consumption of 40 g of Dark and Milk chocolate daily during a period of 2 weeks appear to be an effective way to reduce perceived stress in females."
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A headline from the Daily Mirror reads: "Chocoholics resource! Eating dark chocolate reduces stress levels and improves your memory, study reveals
A headline from The Independent reads: "Eating chocolate can reduce stress, study says"
A headline from Mail Online reads: "How a bar of dark chocolate a day could cut your stress levels"
