Chocolate & Stress

This is a sequel to one of my previous posts:
http://garthkroeker.blogspot.com/2008/10/chocolate.html

A recent study looked at various hormonal and metabolic changes associated with consuming chocolate. In this case, 30 people were given 40 g of dark chocolate daily for 2 weeks. The authors conclude that the chocolate consumption was responsible for reducing metabolic changes associated with stress, including cortisol and catecholamine excretion.

Weaknesses of the study include its brief, non-randomized, non-blinded nature (mind you, many of us would not easily be fooled by a placebo chocolate substitute!). And I see that the study is associated with the "Nestle Research Centre" in Switzerland. While I am pleased to know that a large chocolate company has a "research centre," I do have to wonder if there could be a higher risk of bias at play.

Here's a link to the abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19810704

In the meantime, there is a variety of evidence out there that chocolate consumption in moderation is good for your health, in a variety of ways.

However, one concerning issue I just learned about has to do with lead contamination in cocoa and chocolate products. Lead is a heavy metal poison which should not have any presence in the diet. It can have widespread toxicity, particularly affecting the nervous system, through either acute or chronic exposure. The issue of lead in chocolate is discussed in mainstream research, such as by Rankin & Flegal (references:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16757407, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16203244). Based on some of this research, it may be true that raw, unprocessed cocoa nibs have no significant lead contamination, rather the lead in some cocoa and chocolate products may be the result of industrial processing.

Hopefully, manufacturers can address this issue, so that we can be reassured about safety, and so that we can get on with the enjoyment of one of life's great pleasures, knowing that it, in moderation, may also be good for psychological and medical health.

Why Cats Paint

Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics by Heather Busch & Burton Silver.

I find this book a masterpiece of humour, a wonderful parody of art criticism, and also a simple entertainment for those of us who enjoy pets.

Have a look at the customer review comments from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0898156122/qid=1005224759

More evidence about the impact of nutrition on mood

An important paper was just published by Akbaraly et al. in The British Journal of Psychiatry, in which 3486 people were followed prospectively for 5 years, with an analysis of nutritional habits and depression symptoms. Here's a link to the abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19880930


The data showed that individuals consuming a diet rich in "processed foods" (such as sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains, and high-fat dairy products) had a much higher rate of depression compared to those consuming a diet heavily loaded with vegetables, fruits, and fish.

The analysis controlled for confounding factors such as gender, age, caloric intake, marital status, employment grade, education, smoking, physical activity, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. A component of the analysis also strongly suggests that the association is not due to reverse causation, of depression leading to worse nutrition. Rather, the analysis strongly suggests that poor diet is a component of causation: that is, poor diet directly increases the risk of becoming depressed, or of having worse depressive symptoms.

Those in the third of people with diets highest in processed foods had a 58% higher chance of having clinical depression compared to the third of people with the healthiest diets.

So, once again, more evidence-based advice to eat healthily in order to protect your mental health:
-more vegetables, fruits, and fish
-less sweets, fried foods, white flour, whole milk, ice cream, etc.

Memory Games

Here are a few links to some free memory games. They may be directed towards children, but I think people of any age could find them useful or fun exercises to improve attention & memory (or even better: you can devise your own memory games, to play with a friend, away from a computer screen):

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/chmemory.html
http://www.kidsmemory.com/memory_face_off/face_up_memory_game.php
http://www.kidsmemory.com/light_it_up/light_it_up_memory_game.php
http://www.kidsmemory.com/number_scrambler/index.php
http://users.netrover.com/~kingskids/memory.htm

Rhythm Practice

There's a lot out there about various exercises or games you can do to keep your brain sharp.

I would like to compile a list of things for sharpening your mind that I think are interesting, which you can do at little or no financial cost.

I think that music practice can take many forms, many of which are not only intellectually stimulating, but also possibly quite meditative: a way to let go of worries or agitation.

Here are a few sites where you can do some rhythm practice (i.e. reading rhythms or imitating them). The difficulty is quite variable, from beginner to advanced:

http/www.emusictheory.com/practice/rhythmPerf.html
http://www.tedvieira.com/onlinelessons/sightreading101/values/reading.html
http://www.rhythmpatterns.com/