Welcome, my name is Dr. Warrick Bishop. I'm a cardiologist, an author and a keynote speaker. I'm CEO of the Healthy Heart Network. I'm all about trying to help people live as well as possible for as long as possible. Heart disease is huge in Australia. Every 20 minutes someone suffers a heart attack. Most of these could probably have been avoided if only we knew what to do. This podcast is all about helping you understand blood pressure, weight, cholesterol for better health. If you enjoy this podcast, I would be honoured for a five-star review. You can share it with your family and friends. It may well save someone you love. Hi, my name is Dr. Warrick Bishop and welcome to my podcast and videocast station. I've got a bittersweet one for you today. I'm going to read a couple of articles that have come past me via Medscape. The first one by Jonathan Stemple in January 24, 2023. And this is an interesting piece about heavy metals in dark chocolate. And the heading is Consumer Reports Urges Dark Chocolate Makers to Reduce Lead. and cadmium levels. Well, Consumer Reports on Monday urged four chocolate producers to commit by Valentine's Day to reduce the amounts of lead and cadmium in their dark chocolate products after testing revealed harmful levels of the heavy metals. In letters to Hershey, Mondelez International, Theo Chocolate and Trader Joe's Consumer Reports said long-term exposure to the metals can result in nervous system problems, immune system suppression and kidney damage. It said the danger was greater for pregnant women and young children because of the risk of developmental problems. The letters were accompanied by nearly 55,000 petition signatures. Last month, and remember this article was written in January. 2023, Consumer Reports said 23 out of 28 dark chocolate bars it tested included potentially harmful levels of lead, cadmium or both for people eat more than one ounce of chocolate a day. Now I don't think one ounce of chocolate is a great deal. Five had elevated levels of both metals, two from Theo and one each from Hershey owned Lily's. Mondelez owned Green and Black's and Trader Joe's. Consumer Reports said many consumers eat dark chocolate for its potential health benefits and relatively low sugar levels, but there's nothing healthy about ingesting heavy metals. The chocolate makers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The National Confectioners Association, a trade group, said the California health guidelines that Consumer Reports used and considered the most protective available are not food safety standards and that chocolate remains safe to eat. A bit of pushback. Trader Joe's has been sued at least nine times by consumers over its dark chocolate since Consumer Reports released its study, Hershey's and Mondelez. have also been sued over the magazine's findings and have other chocolate makers, including Godova and Lindt. Reporting by Jonathan Stemple, I would be cautioning you to go slowly on your dark chocolate tonight before bed. So let me share another bittersweet. What about artificial sweeteners? Article is written by Megan Brooks, December 2022. I'm going to read it because it's a simple little read. And it's called, Can a Common Artificial Sweetener Fuel Anxiety? Aspartame, an artificial sweetener commonly found in diet, drinks and food, may raise the risk of anxiety, early research suggests. In a new preclinical study, investigators observed that mice that drank water-containing aspartame exhibited pronounced anxiety-like behaviours in a variety of maze tests. The behaviour occurred at aspartamine doses equivalent to or less than 15% of the maximum daily human intake recommended by the US food. and Drug Administration Board. A quote, it was such a robust anxiety-like tray that I don't think any of us were anticipating we would see. It was completely unexpected. Usually you see subtle changes, said the lead author of the study. Well, what goes on? When consumed, aspartame becomes aspartic acid, felonine and methanol. all of which can have potent effects on the central nervous system, the researchers point out. Exposing the mice to aspartame also produced changes in the expression of genes, regulating excitation, inhibition, balance in the amygdala, a brain region that regulates anxiety and fear. Giving the mice diazepam, which is used to treat general anxiety disorder, alleviated the anxiety behaviour in the animals after they were given the aspartame. In quotes, the anxiety, its response to diazepam and the changes in the amygdala gene expression are not limited to the aspartame exposed individuals but also appear in up to two generations descending from the aspartame exposed males, the researchers report, which is staggering and is suggesting that This exposure to aspartame in an adult male brain can subsequently impact two generations who aren't exposed but carry some of those changes. I wonder if this sort of thing is happening in humans. Extrapolation of the findings to humans suggests that aspartame consumption at doses below the FDA recommended maximum daily intake may produce neurobehavioural changes in aspartame consuming individuals and their descendants. Thus human population at risk of aspartame's potential mental health effects may be larger than current expectations which only include aspartame. consuming individuals. So having a multi-generational effect by this artificial sweetener is a rather gobsmacking effect. Clearly not far from harmless and the investigators plan to publish further data on the study and how it affects not just anxiety but also memory in mice. Who would have thought that an artificial sweetener may not only affect the individual who takes it, but could have an effect on two generations subsequently. Anyway, that's the end of my little bittersweet podcast today. I hope you found it informative. It might reduce your chocolate consumption and it might steer you away from aspartame as an artificial sweetener. I am, for now though, going to wish you the very best. I do hope you live as well as possible for as long as possible. As always, I'm very grateful you've taken the time to listen. Until next time, bye for now. Join the Healthy Heart Network and become part of our growing community. If you're interested in your heart health and risk of heart attack, then join the Healthy Heart Network. for only $5 as a lifetime member. This represents $55 worth of value. We offer and help people understand their present state of heart health, what their current level of risk is and the positive steps they can take to improve their risk of heart attack in the future. Go to www.healthyheartnetwork.com.au and click the join the family button.
