lassesen 12:00 am on November 25, 2012  

Honestly! Chocolate!!!

By chocolate I means dark/bitter chocolate (85%). The dosages need to be at least 50-100 g per day (~ 2 oz) to replicate studies where they resulted in improvement and some patients being able to return to work. Note 85% chocolate has as much sugar in it as an apple, so the sugar hit is low. You may find that after a day or two, it is no longer a “treat” but something that you have to work on consuming the required dosage.

What does chocolate do? According to pub med studies:

  • changes metabolism at 40g/day
  • after 2 weeks, microfloras(gut bacteria is changed
  • reduce inflammation cytokines such as TNF, IL-10, as well as IgE
  • improves blood flow in the brain
  • reduces coagulation
  • reduces nitric oxide(NO) release – which various researchers deem very important (Martin Pall and others)
  • alters lactate, citrate, succinate, trans-aconitate, urea, proline, adrenaline, DOPA, 3-methoxy-tyrosine, methylamines, p-cresol sulfate, hippurate, etc .

And last, in terms of it’s impact on CFS patients, it improves symptoms with 20% of the patients in the study being able to return to work! Read the study yourself:

Thozhukat Sathyapalan, Stephen Beckett, Alan S Rigby, Duane D Mellor, Stephen L Atkin High cocoa polyphenol rich chocolate may reduce the burden of the symptoms in chronic fatigue syndrome Nutrition Journal

Sources:

  • One source is Trader Joe’s grocery stores — they have their own brand selling at < $2 for 75 grams.
  • Or online: (I’ve identified single (cheapest) orders that is just right for a single course)