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CHOCOLATE IS GOOD FOR YOU

Kesta Allen

Can chocolate
help you live
longer?
 

My mother would never allow me to eat sweets and chocolate. She said that chocolates were bad for me and that they would damage my teeth. What would she say about the new research which says that chocolate is good for you?

Over the last couple of years a number of surprising claims have been made about chocolate. Chocolate improves the memory and helps children to pass exams. Can these claims be true?

Researchers have found that men who eat sweets and chocolates regularly live for almost a year longer than those men who never, or only occasionally eat them.

This new evidence comes from a study of approximately eight thousand American men over a period of eighty years. The longest living men were those who ate chocolate between once and three times a month. They cut their risk of death by a third. Men who ate chocolate and sweets once or twice a week cut their risks by a quarter. Even those men who ate chocolate more than three times a week lived longer than those who never or seldom ate sweets or chocolate.

It is believed that the answer to these findings lies in the antioxidant effect of phenols which are found in chocolate. A small piece of chocolate contains the same number of phenols as a glass of red wine. Phenols have been found to help to reduce cholesterol and may help to protect against forms of cancer.

However, before we all rush off to the sweet shop and eat all the chocolate we can buy, doctors advise against over-indulgence. Research is still going on. As with all things, the best advice is to eat all the chocolate you want to – but in moderation!

Source: New English Digest

READING COMPREHENSION ACTIVITY

AFTER READING THE ARTICLE ABOVE, DECIDE WHETHER THE FIVE SENTENCES BELOW ARE TRUE OR FALSE. THEN CHECK HERE YOUR ANSWERS. 

1.

The study has shown that chocolate helps children to pass exams.

2.

The study was conducted only with men.

3.

The best thing to do is eat chocolate at least once a week.

4.

Both red wine and chocolate contain phenols.

5.

Doctors still say we should not eat too much chocolate.

GLOSSARY

would never allow me: did not let me (no me dejaba, no me permitía)
would damage: would hurt, would inflict damage to (dañaban)
research: investigation (investigación)
claims: assertions, statements (afirmaciones)
improves: makes better (mejora)
researchers: investigators, scientists  (los científicos, los investigadores)
 found: discovered (descubierto)
 risk of death: danger o death (riesgo de muerte)
 by a third: by 30 per cent (en un 30 por ciento)

seldom: rarely (raras veces, pocas veces)
 it is believed that: scientists believe that (se cree que)
 findings: discoveries (descubrimientos)
 lies in: originates in (radica en, se origina en)
phenols: acidic organic compounds (fenoles, ácidos fénicos)
 rush off: rush away, depart or leave in a hurry  (salgamos corriendo a)
over-indulgence: the habit of over-eating or drinking  (el exceso o abuso)
 is still going on: is still continuing (todavia sigue, aún continúa)

 

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