Confectionery companies say not all chocolate is created equal, and research has shown sipping cocoa and eating dark chocolate in moderation can be beneficial to cardiovascular functions.

Cocoa and dark chocolate are among the most concentrated sources of flavanol antioxidants, said Dr. David Katz, associate professor of public health at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and director of the Prevention Research Center, in Derby, Conn.

Hershey funded a study at Yale University’s Prevention Research Center measuring human subjects’ blood pressure before and two hours after eating two servings (74 grams) of the company’s extra dark chocolate.

Yale University used ultrasound technology and sophisticated measurements to assess the effects of eating high-cacao-content dark chocolate, Hershey’s Extra Dark, on the arterial function of 45 moderately overweight adults.

The findings in the study that came out in July 2008 demonstrated improvements in blood pressure, as well as the ability of blood vessels to dilate and increase flow, a key indicator of cardiovascular health, after eating dark chocolate, according to Hershey research. The research showed Hershey’s Extra Dark chocolate had a positive impact on blood pressure and blood vessel function.

“The dark chocolate tested in this trial improved blood pressure and arterial function. This clearly suggests that dark chocolate isn’t just good — it’s good for you!” Katz said in a news release.

Most cocoa-containing products contain natural flavanol. Generally, the higher the concentration of cocoa, the more flavanol in a product, according to the Hershey Web site. Dark and baking chocolates tend to be much higher in flavanol content than milk chocolate, due to higher cocoa content in the product.

“Our dark chocolate is formulated with 60 percent cacao,” said Jody Cook, spokeswoman at Hershey Company.

“There are a lot of studies out there and a lot more coming out that show there are health benefits to especially dark chocolate,” Cook said.

Mars, Incorporated conducted a two-part study on the effects of cocoa flavanol in adults with type-2 diabetes, said Whitney Williams, spokeswoman for Mars.

The company found that drinking a cocoa flavanol-rich beverage, made with the company’s cocoapro cocoa, can have a positive impact on blood vessel dysfunction in adults with type-2 diabetes, she said.

The study was conducted on men and women between the ages of 50 and 80 years old with established and stably-treated type-2 diabetes, according to research provided by Mars.

“What research is showing us is that cocoa flavanol plays an interesting role in the body,” said Emily Korns, communications manager and registered dietitian for Mars Health and Nutrition.

“It actually helps to improve blood vessel function. It helps the blood vessel walls expand and lets blood flow through more freely,” Korns said.

Cocoa flavanol has a lot of health benefits in terms of heart disease and high blood pressure, and even in diabetes, Korns said.

“So whenever you include cocoa flavanol in your diet, it can have an improvement in blood vessel functions,” she said.

Dove uses a patented process called Cocoapro on its dark chocolate, Korns said. The company starts the process by choosing beans that initially have a high cocoa flavanol content, she added.

“We treat them (cocoa beans) very, very gently throughout the whole chocolate production process,” she said. “We know the end product of our Dove dark chocolate retains those cocoa flavanols that are naturally occurring anyway.”

Williams at Mars recommends trying the company’s new Dove Promises Blackberry Caramel Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate, Dove Silky Smooth Dark Chocolate Almond Hearts or Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate Hearts. Visit www.dovechocolate.com for more information.

Ron Boyadjian, co-owner of Criterion Chocolates in Eatontown, says his shop sells an array of chocolate and milk chocolate gifts for Valentine’s Day.

The shop sells all kinds of gifts including little dark chocolate hearts, heart pops, dark chocolate heart-shaped boxes and various other dark chocolate novelties.

“In 2008 dark chocolate probably gained a lot more popularity,” Boyadjian said. “It has been on the uprise for a while.”

Criterion’s dark chocolate sales have risen 35 to 40 percent in recent years, gaining most of its popularity in 2008, Boyadjian said. However, milk chocolate is still a favorite for customers buying Valentine’s Day chocolates.

“Years ago, people found dark chocolate to be more on the bitter side. Now it’s more of the mainstream since people’s tastes have changed,” he said.

SOURCE: APP.COM

Washington (dbTechno) - When you go to get dressed today, help promote heart disease awareness and overall heart health by wearing something red.

February 6, 2009 marks a big day for the American Heart Association.

This day is known as National Wear Red Day, and is an event that is celebrated all across the U.S.

This is the fifth year for this National Wear Red Day to take place, and it continues to pick up steam each year it ages.

This year more than ever it is key to help promote heart health as heart disease is the leading cause of death in women.

According to the American Heart Association, 1 out of every 3 women die from heart disease each year.

This is why it is very important to raise awareness for women in terms of knowing the risks of heart disease, and how important it is to have a healthy heart.

So what can you do in terms of wearing red today? Whatever you do, don’t be afraid to be creative and help promote heart health!

SOURCE: DBTECHNO

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A person’s fitness level in childhood seems to influence certain measures of their health as young adults, new study findings suggest.

The study followed Norwegian students and found that those who were more physically fit at age 13 were less likely to become obese or have elevated blood pressure in early adulthood.

By the age of 40, however, that effect had faded, the researchers report in the journal Pediatrics.

The findings, they say, indicate that childhood fitness may have an impact on later health, but adults still need to keep up their fitness levels as they age.

As people move into middle-age, other factors intervene to affect their health, so their fitness during their youth may become less and less important. “And this suggests that it’s important to keep up the good habits, like being active, also into middle-age,” lead researcher Dr. Elisabeth Kvaavik, of the University of Oslo in Norway, told Reuters Health.

She and her colleagues based their findings on 1,016 men and women who’d been followed since 1979, when they were 13 years old, on average. At that time, they’d been questioned about their exercise habits and had their fitness measured during testing on a stationary bike.

In general, the study found that the more fit participants were at age 13, the less likely they were to be obese or have elevated blood pressure in their 20s and early-30s.

There was no clear link between childhood exercise levels and adulthood health measures. However, Kvaavik said this is not surprising since the methods used to measure exercise levels — namely, questionnaires — are much less precise than the objective tests that measure a person’s actual cardiovascular fitness.

Fitness is not only a matter of exercise habits; genes play some role, for example. Nonetheless, since fitness is at least partly a reflection of physical activity, Kvaavik said, children who exercise regularly may help protect themselves from obesity and elevated blood pressure in early adulthood.

SOURCE: CANADA.COM

Does the thought of the ultimate fitness goal - a half marathon, full marathon or triathlon - seem more like a fantasy, or worse, a nightmare, for an average dreamer such as yourself?

Think again. Across the nation, people of every shape, size, age and fitness level are turning their fitness dreams into reality. With a little motivation and the right advice, so can you. You don’t need to be a fitness guru to get started.

“The bottom line is you get what you put into it,” said Craig Watterson, running coach for Team in Training (TNT), the fundraising arm of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “And you can start from nowhere, but once you do a marathon or a half-marathon, your life changes drastically. What you used to hold as boundaries for yourself no longer exist, and that extends to every aspect of your life.”

When Watterson joined TNT for the second time in 2006, he’d taken up smoking again, hadn’t trained and, until his boss was diagnosed with cancer, lost the motivation that propelled him in previous years. Now he’s a running coach and an Ironman Triathlon alumnus.

Your motivation may be different, but with the right guidance, your goals are just as attainable.

“You don’t have to be young or skinny or fast to do a marathon,” said Darlene Miller, national program director at Jeff Galloway Training Programs. “Galloway’s approach is to bring the marathon to the everyman.”

So now that you know you can do it, how do you start shaping those fitness dreams into a healthy reality?

Miller explained the run-walk-run method Galloway designed and trademarked in 1978. “The idea most people have is that you have to run straight through or get to the place where you run the entire event,” she said. “If you take a walk break occasionally, you’re saving strength for the longer miles… and you can run farther than you thought you could. It allows you to gradually increase your mileage, find a pace and prevent injury.”

The Galloway Run-Walk-Run is the crux of Galloway’s national training program (jeffgalloway.com/training/), but the elements of a run-walk regime are tried and true practices used by trainers nationwide. The slow-and-steady approach is also a universal tenet to endurance training programs, especially for beginners.

Whether your finish line ends at the half-marathon mark, extends to the full 26.2-mile marathon, or includes the cycle, swim and varying durations of a triathlon, experts agree the key to making the mark is all in the training. The name of the game is injury prevention, making it to the finish line and, if you’re running for a cause, making a difference.

Jennifer Grandy, national director of TNT, echoed Watterson’s advice and mirrored tenets of Galloway’s program by offering the following tips:

Now that you’ve got the tips, what are you waiting for? It’s time to hit the pavement and then pave the way for your fitness dreams.

Our next fitness trend for 2009 is “Getting back to basics.” Well it sounds a lot simpler than you may think.

Walk into any facility in the area you will see machines, machines, and more machines. Where did these machines come from? And what purpose do they serve? Well believe it or not, Nautilus machinery was once considered “intelligent exercise”. I find it quite funny that sitting in a machine which gives you a fixed path of motion (and may require a seatbelt) with which to work with could be considered “intelligent”.

Luckily present day science has shown that the benefits of machine work may in fact be counterproductive due to the dysfunction that they cause. Let’s take the leg extension for example, an extremely popular machine in many facilities, but an incredibly dangerous one. In lifestyle movement, whether it is walking, squatting, etc, the patella (knee cap) rotates on the femur (thigh bone) but in a leg extension it is reversed. There is also a reduction in hamstring activity, a necessary component in natural movement at the knee joint. There are countless other problems with the leg extension in regards to its safety, so overall we can deduct it is fairly useless.

Examples like this exist with most of your fixed movement exercises, so why use them? The answer for all your problems is getting back to the basics, or in buzz terminology, primal movement patterns. Primal patterns are movements your body performs everyday. By exercising within the primal movement patterns you will increase your strength and endurance of daily activities, in other words, training your body to be the best at what you need it to do.

You will find a few different primal patterns, but for my clients we use the following:

1. Squat

2. Lunge

3. Push

4. Press

5. Bend

6. Rotation

7. Posture

8. Gait

These movements are the basis of human bio-mechanics. By performing them in their basic form and then progressing to additional loading and movement through multiple planes, you can train your body for proper function and strength gains.

For an exerciser unfamiliar with these patterns and the exercises that correspond to them, search out a personal trainer at your local facility. Ask them if they understand functional primal patterns. If they look at you strange, move on, chances are you will be taken through another round of tedious machine work.

Owners and managers out there, are your trainers taking advantage of these functional processes? If not, shame on you and them. Our society is full of dysfunctional, over weight, inactive people who are constantly in pain from the simplest forms of exercises. Can exercises that allow them to sit really help? The answer should be obvious. In the meantime, send your trainers for some continuing education and give them the education to continue to grow. Gray Cook’s Functional Movement Screen would be a great start.

So for those of you who still spend your time sitting in a machine, wrapped in a seatbelt, and measuring your workout on the amount of “pump” you have garnered, it’s time to change things up. I guarantee you will continue to see gains all while preparing your body to be functionally preserved as long as it can.

SOURCE: HARTFORD’S FITNESS EXAMINER

Computer giant Nintendo will launch its latest fitness game next month, with the current record held by a Japanese dog.

Walk With Me has pocket walking meters to measure how active players are and allows them to set daily targets.

The game, for the portable console Nintendo DS, also lets competitors compare their performance internationally.

Currently, the record is held by a dog in Japan.

The European launch on February 20 follows the success of fitness games for the Nintendo Wii.

It has been reported that a system is currently in development which would allow players to send data from the console to medics for analysis.

Director of the National Obesity Forum Dr David Haslam said he has “misgivings” about fitness computer games.

He said: “The risk is that you’re still inside playing on your computer game, but if they’re promoted and used properly they’re OK. As long as they’re not taking away natural outdoor play.

“Nintendo put the wrong software in some of their consoles and so slim youngsters were being told they were fat. The software must be child appropriate and the activities have to be child appropriate if they are used for children.”

Walk With Me uses “fun” mini-games to encourage players to be more active, Nintendo says, and world data can be used to chart a walk through the solar system.

SOURCE: PRESS ASSOCIATION

Fitness enthusiasts will soon have help at hand. All those body-building tips they yearn for will be available in a monthly package. Muscle & Fitness, a US monthly magazine on body building and fitness, is set to hit the stands this summer. Its publisher, American Media Inc, has secured the magazine’s title rights from a local publisher who had been printing the magazine without permission.

Arnold Schwarzenneger, the Hollywood hunk, had worked with the magazine as its Editor-in-Chief for 7 years. Schwarzenneger was groomed by Joe Weider, the magazine’s founder, over 35 years ago.

The lifestyle of sports and film celebrities like Sylvester Stallone, Evander Holyfield, Dwyane Johnson is frequently featured in the magazine. In India, it has Bollwood stars Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan on its advisory board.

Muscle & Fitness is priced at $5 a issue in the US. Its promoters are also into health-related allied business like sports nutritional products, high-end protein drinks etc. In India, the magazine will be published by Health is Wealth Media Private Ltd, the Indian arm of its US publisher.

“We have managed to secure the title registration for Muscle & Fitness after a two-year legal battle with a local publisher. The publisher had been bringing out the magazine illegally after adding an extra ‘S’ to Muscle and registering the title with the Registrar of Newspapers for India (RNI),” said Raj Makhija, CEO, Health is Wealth.

“We were confident that we will publish the magazine. We had started working with celebrities, guiding them on their muscular and fitness needs. We worked with John Abraham for Dostana for three months in Miami…our protein and health drinks are used by leading cricketers. We may bring in foreign investment of up to $1 million over five years. Initially, our target is a monthly circulation of about 50,000,” added Makhija.

But with recession eating away the advertising revenues to magazines, will the venture survive? Makhija said 50 per cent of the content for the Indian edition will be produced locally to ensure relevant content and possible local advertisements. “This is a specialised magazine for people who are already into fitness and for those aspiring to take fitness religiously. It will have specialised advertising only, related to health and fitness domain, sports, and sporting events…this coupled with subscription by fitness clubs and gymnasiums should work in our favour,” he added.

Either Arnold Schwarzenneger or Sylvester Stallone is expected to come to India for the launch. sometime in July-August. The magazine will be priced at Rs 100.

Over 2-dozen foreign magazines are unable to enter India, despite getting all other necessary government clearances because their titles have been already registered with the RNI by local publishers.

SOURCE: BUSINESS STANDARD

Open any magazine or watch any news report and you’re almost guaranteed to see something about the demise of the family unit, family activities or obesity in our nation.

However complex the problems may seem, the answers are sometimes easier than we think. For example, the simple act of running presents an inexpensive, enjoyable and healthy activity that the family can participate in together.

Compared with other sports, running cuts through differences in fitness, age and gender and requires little in the way of equipment and gear. And, while not everyone wants to run a marathon or win a 5k race, running is an activity the entire family can participate in on some level.

There are more opportunities to enjoy quality running time with your family than you might imagine.

For instance, take the fun run. Fun runs, which are frequently as short as a mile, and provide opportunities to run, jog, walk or even push a stroller, are a great way of involving all family members, whatever their age or level of fitness. Fun runs are designed to promote participation rather than winning or chasing a personal best.

Many running events - everything from a 5K race to marathon distances - often host fun runs while their main event takes place. The idea is that there is something for everyone to be involved with and enjoy.

If you family isn’t running, jogging or walking yet, it’s easy to get started. There are no rules to family running, but a few precautions to ensure that everyone gets the most out of the day.

First, remember family runs are not races, If the whole family is going out together, there’s nothing more negating than a family member who can’t contain that competitive instinct. No two people will have the same ability and fitness levels, and that’s OK. Relax and enjoy your time together all while getting a little extra exercise to boot.

Keep to the slowest pace. It is important that everyone feels part of the run. Being a jack rabbit and darting off into the distance will do little for family bonding. Always stick to the pace of the slowest runner so that they don’t become discouraged or feel demoralized. If speed is your thing, do faster runs on your own and use family runs as recovery workouts between your harder efforts.

Think of the children first. Children aren’t just small adults and won’t be (nor should they be) running longer distances. Plan your routes in advance, bearing in mind the age and abilities of each child and don’t forget to take fluids and a few snacks with you just in case you need to top off energy levels en route.

Happy running!

SOURCE: NEWS-PRESS.COM

When it comes to exercise, you get out what you put in. So, when you devote a lot of work, you expect fabulous results. But, sometimes, the results of a workout are far from what was expected.

From surprise orgasms to black toes, a number of strange things can happen to the body when put through its paces. These issues often occur when the exercise is intense, when it lasts a long time and is atypical — running a marathon, for example.

Many of the problems stem from simple nutrient depletion, as the body uses up fuel to sustain a tough work out.

“When the body is stressed, it reroutes resources, such as blood flow, away from non-vital systems,” said Dr. Michelle Wolcott, assistant professor and sports medicine specialist at the University of Colorado at Boulder. “Muscles, particularly the heart and leg muscles, use up all available nutrients and oxygen.”

Because of this, loading up on electrolyte salts or carbohydrates for energy won’t solve the problem, and a person can go into a state of hyponatremia, in which the body cannot even process any nutrients.

Marathon and long distance runners seem to endure the bulk of odd side effects from physical exertion, although almost any activity done to excess can have adverse effects, from weight lifting to sports.

In general, however, weird phenomena resulting from intense exercise are out of the ordinary. It is rare that the average gym-goer would experience these problems.

“It’s a distinct minority [of people] with a personality type that is probably very different,” said Dr. Linn Goldberg, professor of medicine and head of the Division of Health Promotion and Sports Medicine at Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland.

People who are adversely affected by a hard workout also often have underlying problems, such as a history of migraines, that make them susceptible to further issues.

Experts say the best way to exercise without side effects is to do it often, build intensity slowly and maintain proper nutrition.

“A little can be good, a lot does not mean it’s better,” Goldberg said.

The following is a list of some of the strange things that happen to the body during exercise.

SOURCE: ABC FITNESS

Cut up your gym membership card, fire your personal trainer and cancel that Jenny Craig food order. If you want to get lean in 2009, perhaps you should start with a video game console.

If your New Year’s resolution is to lose weight, fitness-themed games could get you more excited than Richard Simmons at a short-shorts sale.

OK, this isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. We’ve seen dancing diversions such as Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution games for many years now, but the “exer-gaming” trend really took off with Nintendo’s Wii Fit ($89.99) when it debuted last spring, thanks to its collection of aerobic exercises, stretches, yoga lessons and minigames for the Nintendo Wii console. Included with the disc is the Wii Balance Board, which resembles a white bathroom scale that measures your weight and senses your movement when you stand on it.

More than a dozen other fitness games have launched since, all designed to trim a waistline. Even the sexy star of the reality TV show The Biggest Loser hosts her own exercise game. Majesco’s Jillian Michaels’ Fitness Ultimatum 2009 ($39.99) dishes workout regimens, expert advice and stretching cool-downs while you follow along on the Wii Balance Board. While the graphics aren’t anything to write home about, this is a good purchase for weight-conscious players who already own Wii Fit because the Wii Balance Board is required.

While not compatible with the Wii Balance Board, Ubisoft’s My Fitness Coach ($29.99) for the Nintendo Wii is like having a virtual trainer on your TV. Your coach in the game, Maya, motivates you and teaches nearly 500 unique cardio exercises, strength training, yoga and more.

The Nintendo DS version, called My Weight Loss Coach ($39.99), includes a pedometer you can clip on while walking around your home or city or on the treadmill that counts your steps and imports the data into the bottom of the portable player. You can set various goals to reach and are rewarded with amusing stick-figure animation, unlockable games and other goodies.

Video games are also helping players eat better. Atari’s What’s Cooking with Jamie Oliver ($29.99) for the Nintendo DS leverages the famous U.K. chef’s name to serve up a digital cookbook with hundreds of recipes to tackle in your kitchen.

Ubisoft’s Gourmet Chef ($29.99), on the other hand, lets you master the art of French cooking through dozens of missions. You can use the Nintendo DS stylus pen to cut, mix and cook 70 authentic meals as you cater to 20-odd types of customers (including food critics) and work your way up to become top chef at a high-end restaurant.

SOURCE: USA TODAY