Chocolate and dogs

If you have a pet dog and you love chocolates, I am sure you have heard that chocolate is harmful for your dog. I heard about it too and had initially thought it was just some unproven myth. Then I thought it was because of all the sugar which could be bad for dogs.

Finally, I did some research and found out that the compounds within the chocolate is poisonous for dogs. In other words, it is like giving your dog poison if your feed your dog chocolate! Chocolates and dogs don’t mix.

It seems that chocolate contains theobromine. This compound is found in cocoa beans, cocoa bean hulls, cola and tea. A 4.5oz of milk chocolate has 240mg of theobromine while baking chocolate has up to 450mg of theobromine per ounce. Dark chocolate also contain more theobromine than milk chocolate.

So, how poisonous is theobromine? Well, it is lethal to dogs if the dosage exceeds 300 mg for every 2.2 pounds of body weight. This means, if your dog weighs 22 pounds, a mere 15g of baking chocolate could cause severe poisoning or it could even kill it. It is because dogs can’t metabolize theobromine so the compound remain in their bloodstream for up to 20 hours. The effects it gave the dog includes seizures, internal bleeding, heart attacks and possibly death.

If your dog inadvertently ate some chocolates, you will need to note if it brought about any toxic effects. The signs of poisoning are like humans, vomiting and diarrhea. However, if the dog had eaten a huge amount of chocolate, it could lead to cardiac arrhythmias and seizures. The only way to treat a dog suffering from chocolate poisoning is to bring it to the vet within the first two hours. Then the vet will induce vomiting so that it throws up the remaining chocolate.

Those of you who have been giving your dogs chocolate must feel guilty but if it does not affect your dog now, you are lucky so stop doing it! I know it is very difficult especially when faced with puppy dog expressions but you must be firm. All dogs love sweet stuffs and that includes chocolate! So, why not try an alternative such as carob the healthy chocolate substitute?

Also note that chocolate is not only poison for dogs but also for horses, parrots, small rodents and even cats. So, the next time you are thinking of sharing your chocolate, don’t even think about a single bite for your pet. It is not worth the heartache and suffering you will put your pet through!

Chocolate is good for you!

Well, I remember doing the research on chocolates for my website and found out quite a lot about its pros which more than outweigh its cons but the latest news about it really takes the cake!

Another study has confirmed that dark chocolate bars reduce cholesterol levels and improve blood pressure! This is thanks to the plant sterols and cocoa flavanols that dark chocolate bars contained.

The study was conducted by researchers from University of Illinois and Mars they have found that the daily consumption of dark chocolate bars improves blood pressure and regulates cholesterol levels. It seemed that the study was conducted on around 50 men and women with high cholesterol levels.

They get to eat flavanol-rich dark chocolate bars every day for a week, combined with a balanced, low fat diet…yummy…I don’t mind becoming one of them though! It seems that a healthy chocolate diet do help after all!

Anyway the result of this experiment showed that their bad cholesterol has decreased by 5.3% while their total cholesterol went down by 2%. Additionally, their blood pressure reduced by 5% after two months.

So, all those diet freaks intent on telling us chocolate lovers to stay away from chocolates, chew on this instead! Eating dark chocolates everyday  is actually good for you! Well, according to the study,anyway.

Is chocolate healthy?

According to countless research, the ultimate decision is still a ‘Yes, but…’ and there is a string of conditions attached to discuss the health benefits of chocolate which remained quite unconfirmed.

Sure, there has been loads of research, studies and tests which revealed that dark chocolate may be beneficial to health and could possibly lower cholesterol level, has antioxidant capacities, reduces blood pressure and boosts brain function. So, are these claims true? Just like any chocoholic, I sure wish they are!

Wishful wishing aside, I did some research and here are what the various research, studies and tests claimed that dark chocolate does to the average human.

1. Dark chocolate contains lost of flavonoids which are known as flavonols. These can be found in cacao seeds (the raw form of chocolate before all that processing…). It is not any man-made chemical but is a natural compound that works as an antioxidant which prevent damage to the body’s cells and tissues. Do note that only dark chocolate seemed to have more of this compound as the process of making milk chocolate may have removed most of the flavonols.

2. Dark chocolate has cholesterol…but before you drop that chocolate bar in horror, it contains good cholesterol- inducing compounds. To put it simply, it contain a few other compounds which fights off bad cholesterol (LDL) and raise good cholesterol levels (HDL). The chocolate and cocoa butter contain palmitic acid, stearic acid and oleic acid. Stearic acid is a neutral fat and oleic acid is a mono-unsaturated fat which can also be found in olive oil. Remember the craze of consuming olive oil for health? Well, replace it with chocolate. If olive oil can lower cholesterol, so can cocoa and dark chocolate!

3. The next time you feel your pressure going up, reach for that bar of dark chocolate and it may just help you lower your pressure. And I meant that literally. The miraculous flavonols I mentioned above do help in regulating blood flow and blood pressure so eating chocolate not only relaxes you but literally lower your blood pressure.

4. After lowering your pressure, the hard-working flavonols also worked to prevent blood clots and acts like a low-dose aspirin to help your blood flow. This will reduce heart attack and stroke risks.

5. So, what is it that you are eating when you bite into that bar of chocolate? Plenty of nutrients, that’s what! Milk chocolate contains the recommended daily values of protein, riboflavin, calcium and iron. If it is a chocolate bar with almonds, peanuts or any other nut, there will be more nutrients.

 

6. Is chocolate an aphrodisiac? Scientifically, it may be true because chocolate contains serotonin, especially phenethylamine, which can act as a mild sexual stimulant. However, no studies or tests can conclusively prove that. But we all know chocolates as gifts (especially on first dates and birthdays) do work sometimes, especially if the girl absolutely loves chocolate!

7. Oh happy days are here when you have a cupboard full of chocolates. This is more true than you know it because the carbohydrates (quick, those who have sworn off carbohydrates, close your eyes, you didn’t read this sentence!) in chocolate raise serotonin levels in the brain which releases a chemical called endorphins which gives you that dizzy happy feeling. I can personally attest to how happy chocolate has made me!

So, there you are, seven health benefits of chocolate. Of course, there are also research, studies and tests stating that chocolate could also be bad for health but I will not dwell on that for now. It is not something a chocoholic, who eats chocolate everyday, would want to know!

The only bad thing I would admit about chocolate is that over-consumption will lead to extra pounds, extra inches and eventually obesity.This is due to the high sugar content (albeit carbohydrates) in most chocolates so unless you exercise self-control and portion-control or negate the effects by exercising more, please do not over-consume chocolates! There is such a thing as too much of a good thing!