Easter Morsels

	For years dentists have been saying "Chocolate is bad for your teeth", but new research shows that chocolate may actually have benefits for your teeth. A study carried out by researchers at Osaka University in Japan has found that part of the cocoa bean - the outer husk - may actually have an antibacterial effect on the mouth and can aid in fighting plaque.
The study was carried out on rats, which were fed a high sugar diet. One group of rats was given an extract of cocoa bean husk via their drinking water. After three months, the rats that were not drinking the cocoa bean husk had on average 14 cavities each, while the rats that had consumed the cocoa bean husk had only six cavities on average.

The researchers are planning to test their findings on humans, and predict that it may be possible in the future to add the cocoa bean husk to mouthwash or toothpaste.

The outer husk of the cocoa bean is generally not used in chocolate production, but even still the researchers found that chocolate is less harmful to teeth than many other sweet foods because of the antibacterial effects of the cocoa beans.

Dental experts advise that while cocoa beans may have some benefits for the teeth, the best way to keep your mouth healthy is with good oral hygiene practices, balanced meals and regular visits to your dentist.

Remember, chocolate contains lots of sugar and is high in fat. If you wish to indulge in an Easter egg, go ahead and enjoy it, but try to limit chocolate to small quantities as a treat.

Mmmm Easter's on its way.  Shops are selling hot cross buns, easter eggs, chocolate bunnies in all shapes and sizes are tempting you. You might be lucky enough to get given some eggs or a delicious little bunny. What do you do? Should you eat all your chocolate Easter eggs all in one go or is it better to spread out your calories by eating it in small parts?

Answer: You would need to eat 3500 calories to gain half a kg, so even if you ate your Easter treat all at once (Cadbury’s creme egg contains 163 calories and a 100g milk chocolate Easter egg has around 520 calories) you wouldn’t actually gain half a kg that day because it takes the body a few days to either metabolise calories or store them as fat. So, go ahead and indulge if you wish. However, if you are counting calories and are concerned about your daily calorie intake, we would recommend eating your egg in several sittings. This way, you’re more likely to burn off a smaller amount of calories when you exercise than if you eat the whole lot and have to burn off two or three times as many calories in one exercise session. One option is to try one or two Cadbury mini creme eggs (12g), as they weigh in at only 50 calories each.