HEALTH EFFECTS OF CHOCOLATE

Chocolate intake may have possible beneficial or detrimental effects. Chocolate doesn’t have only bad side; it has a lot of good sides that we may not know.

There are many types of chocolate such as milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, etc but the best type of chocolate that is benefit is dark chocolate.

Dark chocolate contains less sugar than other types of chocolate. It may support cardiovascular health. Other effects under preliminary research include reduced risks of cancer, coughing and heart disease. Chocolates may lower blood pressure; improve vascular function and energy metabolism.

Some potential effects of chocolate in the body include:

1. Support of Cardiovascular Health: Limited research indicates that cocoa or dark chocolate may produce certain effects on human health. Cocoa has antioxidant activity, an effect not proved in the body.  Some studies have also observed a modest reduction in blood pressure.

Flavonoid which is present in dark chocolate help relaxes the blood pressure and help balance the hormone to be stable. Other than that, dark chocolate help decrease a high blood pressure, and also help get rid and decrease bad cholesterol. It would also stimulate the endorphin production.

Consuming milk chocolate or white chocolate, or drinking fat-containing milk with dark chocolate, appears to largely negate the health benefit.

2. Slows Down Aging: Dark chocolate has flavonoids (usually found in vegetables or fruits with dark color) that act like antioxidant to our body. Antioxidant helps slow down our body from aging.

3. Aphrodisiac: Romantic lore commonly identifies chocolate as an aphrodisiac. The reputed aphrodisiac qualities of chocolate are most often associated with the simple sensual pleasure of its consumption. A gift of chocolate is a familiar courtship ritual. Research looking at the psycho activity of chocolate reveals that methylxanthine, an active biological substance found in chocolate, competes with adenosine, a presynaptic inhibitor modulator, and blocks its receptor. This induced blockage can lead to arousal. The participants' blood pressure decreased, and they showed improvements in insulin sensitivity, meaning they were better able to metabolize glucose.

4. Stimulant: Chocolate may be a mild stimulant to humans mainly due to the presence of theobromine. It is much more potent for horses, and its use in horse racing is prohibited.

Chocolate contains a variety of substances, some of which may have an effect on body chemistry. These include: Anandamide, arginine, caffeine, dopamine, methylated xanthines, oxalic acid, phenethylamine (an endogenous alkaloid sometimes described as a 'love chemical; it is quickly metabolized by monoamine oxidase-B and does not reach the brain in significant amounts), theobromine (the primary alkaloid in cocoa solids and chocolate and partly responsible for chocolate's mood-elevating effect).

5. Mexican healers use chocolate to treat bronchitis and insect bites.

6. The carbohydrates in chocolate raise serotonin levels in the brain, resulting in a sense of well-being.

7. While the sugar in chocolate may give energy, too much of it can cause tooth decay and gum disease if eating without regular and proper teeth brushing. Sugar plays a harmful role in tooth decay by providing the bacteria in your mouth with energy. The bacteria begin to multiply faster, and plaque begins to grow in size and thickness on your teeth. Bacteria can also use sugar as a type of glue to cling to your teeth, making it difficult to get rid of with just a toothbrush.

8. Chocolate contains caffeine and too much caffeine may lead to hypertension, insomnia, anxiety, dehydration and inability to concentrate.

  

HOW TO RESCUE A DROWNING VICTIM

Stay Safe. Wear a personal flotation device if available. The most important thing to remember is not to become a victim yourself.

1. If the victim is conscious, try to reach the victim with something rigid enough to pull him or her back. An oar is a good option.

2. If nothing will reach, throw the victim a rope and encourage him or her to grab on. A life-preserver with a rope attached is a very good option.

3. If the victim is too far for a rope, then there are few additional options for untrained rescuers. If enough people are available, try making a chain by holding hands out to the victim. A rescuer may try swimming out to the victim, but follow these steps:

4. Tie a rope around the rescuer's waist before heading out to the victim and have someone on shore or on a nearby boat holding the rope.

5. Take a pole, oar, rope, or other object to reach the victim. Rescuers should not attempt to directly touch a panicking drowning victim.

6. If the victim is unconscious, take a boat to the victim or tie a rope around the rescuer's waist and let the rescuer pull the victim to shore.

7.  Once a drowning victim is safely out of the water, perform basic first aid. In cold weather, remove the victim's wet clothing - all the way. Cover the victim with a blanket and watch for symptoms of hypothermia. If the victim is not breathing, begin CPR.

Warnings
If you cannot swim, do not enter the water. Instead, there are alternative methods to rescue the victim. You can reach to them with a long pole, throw them a rope, or if some sort of boat is available, row out to them.

Only enter the water if there is nothing around that could be used to reach the victim. Being in the water with someone in a panicked state, like a drowning victim, can be fatal to both the rescuer and the drowning victim.

Do not attempt a reaching assist from a standing position or you may be pulled into the water.

If the victim is panicking, it may be safest to take a hold of him/her from behind. If you try to take hold from the front, he/she may, in panic, grab onto you too tightly, thus pulling both of you under.

SIGNS OF DROWNING

Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for is rarely seen in real life.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are in the water:

1. Head low in the water, mouth at water level

·         2. Head tilted back with mouth open

·         3. Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus

·         4. Eyes closed

·         5. Hair over forehead or eyes

·         6. Not using legs—vertical

·         7. Hyperventilating or gasping

·         8. Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway

·         9. Trying to roll over on the back 

    10. Appear to be climbing an invisible ladder

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble—they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the Instinctive Drowning Response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long—but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue. They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

“Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled before speech occurs.

Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.

Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.

Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.

From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.”