Chocolate to protect liver

A recent study by the European Association for the Study of the Liver presented at the International Liver Congress in Austria suggests that the consumption of dark chocolate may help in the treatment of cirrhosis of the liver; scarring of liver tissue due to alcohol or toxic drug use, which can also be caused by a viral infection.

Cirrhosis is a serious disease and once it has developed it is permanent, the goal of treatment then being management of the disease and slowing progression. Cirrhosis causes scarring that affects circulation and blood flow through the liver, leading to engorged blood vessels and capillaries and eventually to toxicity of the blood and system from lack of filtration through the liver. With time, if left untreated, cirrhosis can lead to other conditions such as kidney impairment, liver cancer and pulmonary hypertension. Clearly, cirrhosis is something that is serious, and something to be avoided.

Prevention is key and manageable. One obvious place to start is to control the amount of alcohol you consume and avoid all unnecessary drug use. Additionally, keep your immune system healthy in order to prevent viral infections that might disrupt normal liver function. And now, thanks to the Spanish researchers who conducted the experiment, you can also look to chocolate as a way to boost antioxidant activity in the liver and keep it healthy. While the research showed that dark chocolate helped to lower the hypertension in the abdomen associated with cirrhosis, pure cocoa has other incredible benefits that can help protect not only your liver but your immune system as a whole from chronic disease.

Cocoa (different fruits and seeds from the Cacao tree featured above) is one of the richest sources of antioxidants available, helping to prevent heart disease and cancer, as well as slow the aging process. These are great benefits for such a delicious food, but beware, while cocoa is great for you, the sugar that is often combined with it to make chocolate bars is not, so be sure to stick with one ounce a day.

The best way to get the health and antioxidant benefits of chocolate is through pure raw cacao, or a high potency dark chocolate bar that contains 70 to 80% cacao. This will minimize the sugar and milk solids that are often added to make chocolate more palatable. There are preferable raw options such as Gnosis chocolate bars that contain high quality organic cacao and do not contain refined sugar (or dairy or gluten) that are absolutely delicious and don’t destabilize your mood due to the absence of the sugar high that’s associated with traditional chocolate. For a less pricey option try Green and Black for high potency cacao chocolate bars. Another option is to try one of these great chocolate & fruit breakfast smoothies that will offer the benefits of cacao along with nutrients in berries and, if you are brave, cucumber and arugula.


http://barbaramendeznutrition.com/archives/chocolate-protect-liver/

Emma Morano - lives to the age of 117 years

Genetics

And there’s genetics. “We do know that the ability to make it to 110 is heritable, so you have a large increase in chance if you have several people in your family to live to a late age,” Dr. Longo said.

One of Ms. Morano’s sisters died just short of 100; another lived to 102.

Food 

3 eggs a day.

Ms. Morano has no doubts about how she made it this long: Her elixir for longevity consists of raw eggs, which she has been eating — three per day — since her teens when a doctor recommended them to counter anemia. Assuming she has been true to her word, Ms. Morano would have consumed around 100,000 eggs in her lifetime, give or take a thousand.

The day’s meals, which consist of the aforementioned
eggs, now down to two a day, 
ground meat, 
soupy pasta and 
a banana.
drank a glass of homemade grappa
enjoyed a chocolate sometimes

She also likes a bananas, ladyfingers, and brandy.  (https://www.bonappetit.com/story/oldest-person-in-world-food)

In 2013, when asked about the secret of her longevity, she said that she ate three eggs a day, drank a glass of homemade grappa, and enjoyed a chocolate sometimes, but, above all, she thought positively about the future. She was still living alone in her home on her 115th birthday. In 2016 she credited her long life to her diet of raw eggs and cookies, and to staying single.

Gerontologists agree that there is no one key to longevity. “You talk to 100 centenarians, you get 100 different stories,” said Valter D. Longo, the director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, whose studies suggest that diet is an important factor in living longer.

Good air

“The doctor told me to change air,” she said, “and I’m still here.”

While still a girl she moved with her family to Villadossola, once an important iron and steel company town. The climate — humid and cold winters — was not congenial to her constitution, so a doctor suggested she move to the nearby environs of Lake Maggiore, which straddles Italy and Switzerland. She chose Verbania, a pretty lakeshore town with a milder climate.

My Note: Villadossola - is surrounded by huge mountains on all sides. The air must be stuck and humid.

Verbania - relatively better quality air.


Water 

Is there change in water between Villadossola and Verbania? Possible, since Verbania is on a lake, the lake gets it's water from the alps.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/world/raw-eggs-and-no-husband-since-38-keep-her-young-at-115.html?_r=2

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-39610937

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Morano