Microbes and Dark Chocolate, Can it Effect Your Health?

We've always been told that chocolate doesn't benefit ones health at all and that its actually very detrimental to it. New research being done on dark chocolate is showing that hungry microbes feast on dark chocolate and it helps your heart stay healthy. However, there are two kinds of microbes that eat up dark chocolate; some good and some not so good. Bifidobacterium is an example of a good one, it eats up the chocolate and it produces anti-inflammatory compounds which help the cardiovascular tissue are reduce the risk of having a stroke. The bad ones that eat chocolate like E. coli and Clostridia can cause non desirable effects like bloating, diarrhea, and gas. They tested three different cocoa powders and they found that this powder has antioxidants stored inside of it. Also, if you digest cocoa with prebiotics in it (prebiotics are good arbs found in things like raw garlic that we can't digest alone, but are good for us to eat) it significantly improves one's overall health by adding a greater number of beneficial microbes into your gut. If you consume cocoa with fiber in it, more anti-inflammatory agents will be produced as well.  You can further your overall health by eating fruits like acai and pomegranates with the chocolate. It just goes to show that your favorite sweet treat can also benefit your health, which is good to know because who would ever stop eating chocolate? This just gives us a better reason to!

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Cosmetic Treatments and Bacteria?

   3-12-14

They say that sometimes beauty comes with a price. What of this price consisted of getting an expensive treatment and obtaining a bacterial infection from it? This is what is happening to patients of cosmetic treatments around the world. When a person is trying to get perfectly plump lips or something to smooth out their wrinkles, they are getting a jelly like substance pumped under their skin. (That in itself does not sound all too healthy for you) people obtain infections from these procedures that leave them with tender bumps or even skin lesions on the face. This was supposedly caused by an allergic reaction to the jelly that is injected into the skin. However, new research proves that this filler is a perfect incubator for biofilm to form which is "impossible to treat with antibiotics" says Aldehe with the department of international health. Which is true, the more research that goes into biofilm proves that they are tough to fight off when in you. What's even worse about this problem is the fact that most surgeons claim "allergic reaction" and completely ignore the fact that bacteria is causing these problems for their patience. 1:1000 of these procedures will develop some form of bump/skin lesion. The worst case scenario is that these lesions may not be removed, but instead my leave a person with a disfigured face. Would you want to pay this price hoping to become the beauty but instead become the prey of bacteria? 

The author was extremely straightforward with this article, it was very informational and really stuck out to me as fascinating; They did great work. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140311104925.htm

30,000 year old "giant virus" found?

3/5/14

   Deep in the coldest region of Siberia buried within the ice lies a species of giant microbe almost 30,000 years old. Scientists recently stumbled across this virus in the harshest of Siberian regions. It has a distinct shape that was thought to be a part of the Pandoravirus family. However, the Pithovirus sibericum. Has no relation whatsoever to the Pandoravirus. The scientists found that this new viris contained way less genes than the Pandora and it has way more proteins that make it up in comparison to the Pandora. The only similar thing they share is that they can both replicate within amoebas. This new microbe indeed acts like a virus in the way it takes over its host and takes it as its own. This new virus is not harmful to animals or humans so far, but there’s still a veil of mystery covering this newfound giant that may make it not so gentle. This new virus is also peculiar in the sense that it shares almost no similarities to other giant viruses found before. Which makes it all the more mysterious in nature. There is also something that people should be wary about. This virus has been buried for 30 thousand years, and has been regenerated.  It also shares similar replication processes to the seemingly eradicated smallpox virus. Hopefully this won’t mean that this awful virus will come back; only time will tell what this “gentle giant” will do for the scientific community.

The author was very straightforward with this article, it provided all kinds of information about this new virus. 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140304071433.htm