Category: self-congratulation

Chocolate is Good For You

Seth Roberts6 Comments

I put cocoa powder in my black tea. I like the complexity it adds and believe it’s good for you. More evidence of its health benefits has just been published:

Design: Randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blind crossover trial of 45 healthy adults [mean age: 53 y; mean body mass index (in kg/m2): 30]. In phase 1, subjects were randomly assigned to consume a solid dark chocolate bar (containing 22 g cocoa powder) or a cocoa-free placebo bar (containing 0 g cocoa powder). In phase 2, subjects were randomly assigned to consume sugar-free cocoa (containing 22 g cocoa powder), sugared cocoa (containing 22 g cocoa powder), or a placebo (containing 0 g cocoa powder).

Results: Solid dark chocolate and liquid cocoa ingestion improved endothelial function (measured as flow-mediated dilatation) compared with placebo (dark chocolate: 4.3 ± 3.4% compared with —1.8 ± 3.3%; p < 0.001; sugar-free and sugared cocoa: 5.7 ± 2.6% and 2.0 ± 1.8% compared with —1.5 ± 2.8%; p < 0.001). Blood pressure decreased after the ingestion of dark chocolate and sugar-free cocoa compared with placebo (dark chocolate: systolic, —3.2 ± 5.8 mm Hg compared with 2.7 ± 6.6 mm Hg; p < 0.001; and diastolic, —1.4 ± 3.9 mm Hg compared with 2.7 ± 6.4 mm Hg; p = 0.01; sugar-free cocoa: systolic, —2.1 ± 7.0 mm Hg compared with 3.2 ± 5.6 mm Hg; p < 0.001; and diastolic: —1.2 ± 8.7 mm Hg compared with 2.8 ± 5.6 mm Hg; p = 0.014). Endothelial function improved significantly more with sugar-free than with regular cocoa (5.7 ± 2.6% compared with 2.0 ± 1.8%; p < 0.001).

Conclusions: The acute ingestion of both solid dark chocolate and liquid cocoa improved endothelial function and lowered blood pressure in overweight adults.

22 g cocoa powder = 2.5 tablespoons. If you live near Berkeley, you might want to attend the Charles Chocolates annual open house, which is this Saturday (July 12) at 2 pm. They are located in Emeryville at 6259 Hollis.

100 Pounds Lost on the Shangri-La Diet

Seth Roberts3 Comments

WheatenDad, a 70-year-old man who lives in San Carlos, California, started the Shangri-La Diet two years ago and began posting his weight on the Shangri-La Diet forums. At the time, he weighed 300 pounds (BMI = 38). Now he weighs about 200 pounds (BMI = 26). He lost about 1 pound/week for 2 years:

He did SLD by taking 3 tablespoons/day of extra-light olive oil. In February 2008 he increased it to 4 tablespoons/day. In May 2007 he started walking 1-2 miles/day, eventually increasing this to 3-4 miles/day.

SLD in Indonesian

Seth Roberts3 Comments

There is a long discussion of the Shangri-La Diet here on an Indonesian forum. I like the locations some posters give: “the hottest city in Java,” “space,” “a quiet little house,” “above the earth,” “nowhere to be found.”

Thanks to Mark Schrimsher of CalorieLab. The 2005 CalorieLab post on SLD — now an historical artifact. Why Japanese People in Japan Don’t Get that Fat.

Evidence Snobs

Seth RobertsLeave a comment

At a reunion of Reed College graduates who majored in psychology, I gave a talk about self-experimentation. One question was what I thought of Evidence-Based Medicine. I said the idea you could improve on anecdotes had merit, but that proponents of Evidence-Based Medicine have been evidence snobs (which derives from Alex Tabarrok’s credit snobs). I meant they’ve dismissed useful evidence because it didn’t reach some level of purity. Because health is important, I said, ignoring useful information, such as when coming up with nutritional recommendations, is really unfortunate.

Afterwards, four people mentioned “evidence snobs” to me. (Making it the most-mentioned thing I said.) They all liked it. Thanks, Alex.