D.+Chocolate...a+sin?

**CHOCOLATE **

**Discuss: Do you agree or disagree? Why? **

a. Chocolate is very, very unhealthy.

b. I could eat chocolate (or other junk food) every day of the week. c. The foods that you eat play a large part in your physical and mental health. d. Scientists don’t know what they are talking about! One study recommends a particular lifestyle, and then another study says it’s not healthy. e. Chocolate is a comforting food that helps me relax and unwind. **Read the text **

__**Chocolate Lovers Rejoice! **__ Move over books and tapes that claim to boost brain power. A new study suggests that simply eating milk chocolate boosts brain function instead! Dr. Bryan Raudenbush from Wheeling Jesuit University said, "Chocolate contains many substances that act as stimulants. These substances by themselves have been known to increase alertness and attention. What we have found is that by consuming chocolate you can get the stimulating effects, which then leads to increased mental performance." On four separate occasions, Raudenbush and his colleagues had a group of volunteers consume 85 grams of milk chocolate, 85 grams of dark chocolate, 85 grams of carob, and as the control condition, nothing. Computer-based tests were then conducted after 15-minutes. The tests were designed to assess cognitive performance, including memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem solving. For those who had eaten milk chocolate, the average scores for verbal and visual memory were significantly higher than all the other conditions. Milk and dark chocolate gave the volunteers better reaction times. One suggestion for the improved scores, based on previous research, is that some nutrients in food aid in glucose release and increased blood flow. This may augment cognitive performance.

At the very least, chocolate lovers: rejoice!

**1. Vocabulary match: **Individually or in pairs/groups, match the words in column A (from the article) with the best choice in column B.

a. substance q. administer

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">b.stimulant r. thing

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">c.consume s. celebrate

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">d.conduct t. sugar

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">e.cognitive u. healthful ingredient

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">f.attention v. brain

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">g.nutrient w. concentration

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">h.glucose x. eat

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">i.augment y. improve

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">j.rejoice z. tonic

**<span style="color: #741616; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">2. Fill in the Blanks: Fill in the blank with the correct word. ** //**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">consume, glucose, cognitive, stimulants, rejoice **// //**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">conducted ,augment, substances, nutrients, attention **// <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">a. Chocolate may contain many that boost brain power.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">b. in chocolate increase alertness and attention <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">c. Volunteers several kinds of chocolate in the experiment. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">d. Computer-based tests were then after 15-minutes. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">e. The tests were designed to assess performance <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">f. The experiment tested memory, span, reaction time, and problem solving. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">g. Some in food aid in increased blood flow. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">h. Some food also helps the release of. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">i. Eating chocolate may cognitive performance. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">j. At the very least, chocolate lovers: ! __**<span style="color: #851414; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 200%;">Chocolate is good for your heart **__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">A study carried out in Germany has found that chocolate may be good for your heart. This is fantastic news for all chocolate lovers. The extensive research was conducted over eight years. The research team followed the chocolate-eating habits and health of almost 20,000 people. They compared how much chocolate was in their diet to the number of heart attacks and strokes people had. Lead researcher Brian Buijsse said: "The good news is that chocolate is not as bad as we used to think, and may even lower the risk of heart disease and stroke.” Mr Buijsse said his team found that dark chocolate was the healthiest kind to eat: "Dark chocolate <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">exhibits the greatest effects, milk chocolate fewer, and white chocolate no effects," he said. The German study showed that people who ate the most chocolate (at least one bar per week) reduced their risk of having a heart attack by 27 per cent. The risk of suffering a stroke was cut by as much as 48 per cent. Nutrition experts believe that natural compounds in chocolate called flavonols are good for our heart. Flavonols also help reduce blood pressure. They are found in cocoa beans so dark chocolate (which has more cocoa) contains more of them than milk chocolate (which has more fat). Buijsse warns people not to suddenly eat lots of chocolate: "Eating higher amounts will most likely result in weight gain. If people start eating small amounts of chocolate, it should replace something else, preferably other high-calorie sweets or snacks."  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Chocolate is good for your heart
 * <span style="color: #741616; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Listen as you read- media type="file" key="100402-chocolate.mp3" width="240" height="20" **

// – 2nd April, 2010 //
 * <span style="color: #741616; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Let's talk about chocolate [[file:'chocolate' discussion.docx]] **

__**<span style="color: #741616; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">JUST FOR A LAUGH **__
 * <span style="background-color: #f3dddd; color: #741616; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The housewife answered a knock on the door and found a total stranger standing on the doorstep.'Excuse me for disturbing you, ma'am,' he said politely, ' but I pass your house every morning on my way to work, and I've noticed that every day you appear to be hitting your son on the head with a loaf of bread!' 'That's right.' 'Every day you wallop him on the head with a loaf of bread, and yet this morning you were hitting him with a chocolate cake....?' 'Well, today is his birthday!' ||