Drunken Crayfish

Do you know that?

Potteloereke beer offered by Sint Canarus brewery is a bottle-refermented Belgian dark ale. This dark-mahogany brew has an 8% alcohol volume.

Potteloereke beer has a pleasant aroma with notes of ripe fruit and roasted malt. We are sure you will be charmed by its plum/ raisin/ scorched sugar/ burnt toast flavour!

Homebrewery Sint Canarus is the biggest brewery between Deinze and Gent and one of the smallest breweries in the world. Besides Potteloereke, it offers also such beers as Sint Canarus Tripel, Willy Kriegelbier and Maagd von Gottem.

Cheers!

World: Hopsteiner expect reduction in world?s overall alpha usage in the coming years

The size of crop 2008 (113,124.9 metric tonnes of hops or 9,750 metric tonnes of alpha) demonstrated the production potential of the world?s existing hop acreage. In 2009 there were no significant acreage changes. Despite the large hail storm in the Hallertau that destroyed approximately 5,000 tonnes of hops, crop 2009 produced 111,386 tonnes of hops worldwide, an all-time record of 10,000 tonnes of alpha acids, Hopsteiner, one of the world?s leading hops producers, said in a report.

After a decline in world beer production in 2009, beer sales in 2010 have been flat. Declines in the West and East European beer markets, and to a lesser degree in North America, were offset by growth in Asia and South America. Nevertheless, with more breweries using pre-isomerized hop products and the continuous increase in sales of less hopped beers, particularly in markets with volume increases, the world?s alpha demand dropped further.

Based on the high pre-contract rates in Germany and USA and with many breweries suddenly over-contracted, spot market activity after crop 2009 was very limited. Growing regions which rely heavily on the spot market had large unsold positions as the crop 2010 harvest began.

Growers in the US and China reacted quickly to the situation by making significant acreage reductions in 2009 and 2010. In the US, where growers exchanged 2009 and 2010 contracts for future business there were 21% fewer acres strung for harvest in 2010 as compared with 2009. This brought producing acres in the US back to the crop 2007 level, albeit with a higher-yielding variety mix. In China, which is solely a spot market for domestic hops, the acreage reduction was more than 25%. In the European growing countries no noteworthy reductions were achieved, despite similar offers being made to European growers as were accepted by US growers.

Growing conditions throughout the world were not ideal in 2010. A cold and wet spring caused delays in many growing regions and the summer did not bring the required heat units. The Hallertau experienced another hailstorm in May 2010 which destroyed approximately 2,500 tonnes of hops.

With a similar acreage compared to 2007, the 2010 crop is estimated to produce approximately 97,500 tonnes of hops or 8,400 tonnes of alpha. Despite imperfect growing conditions, the quality of crop 2010 hops was normal to good. Alpha concentrations were generally within the long term average but weight yields were below the long term results. This is a trend that extended to many crops around the world in 2010. Fortunately long-term contracts are in place for hops which help to shield users from the price spikes experienced in other crops. Crop 2010 production again demonstrates the increased potency of new varieties, with an increase of the world wide average alpha content from 7.6% in 2007 to 8.6% in 2010, Hopsteiner said.

For the coming years Hopsteiner estimate slight improvements in beer sales, reaching approximately 1,811 mln hl for 2010 and 1,814 mln hl for 2011, mainly due to growing markets in Asia and South America. Traditional European beer markets are expected to continue their decline for the foreseeable future, due to changes in consumer behavior and a drop in the population. This has the effect of accelerating the reduction in the world?s overall alpha dosage. As a result, Hopsteiner estimate a reduction in the world alpha acid demand of approximately 5% from 7,260 to 6,890 metric tonnes. This means that crop 2010 will result in an overproduction of approximately 1,500 metric tonnes of alpha acid.

Health benefits of drinking beer

Studies have revealed that beer can produce a lot of health benefits. Whether you prefer ales, lagers, stout, bitter or wheat beers, studies show that one drink a day for women or up to two drinks a day for men will reduce your chances of strokes, heart and vascular disease.

What?s interesting is that it was proven (New England Journal of Medicine ? Nov. 1999) that those who drank one beer a week compared to those who drank one beer a day experienced no variance in reducing stroke risks. It is said that light to moderate drinkers will decrease their chances of suffering a stroke by 20%.

A researcher at the Texas Southwestern Medical Center (May 1999) reported that those who consume moderate amounts of beer (one to two a day at the most) have a 30-40% lower rate of coronary heart disease compared to those who don?t drink. Beer contains a similar amount of ?polyphenols? (antioxidants) as red wine and 4-5 times as many polyphenols as white wine.

Alcohol has also been attributed of its ability to increase the amount of good cholesterol (HDL) into the bloodstream as well as help to decrease blood clots.

Beer also contains vitamin B6, which prevents the build-up of amino acid called homocysteine that has been linked to heart disease. Those of us who have high levels of homocysteine are usually more prone to an early onset of heart and vascular disease. A new study performed at the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute in Utrecht indicates that those who drink beer had no increase in their homocysteine level but those who drank wine or liquor had an increase of up to 10%. Also noted was the fact that those who drank beer experienced a 30% increase in vitamin B6 in their blood plasma, thereby proving that beer (in moderation) is actually healthier to drink than wine and other liquor.

Cheers!

Ladies, gentlemen and beer

Women do not react to alcoholic beverages in the same way as men, Beer&Health informs.

The quantity of alcohol that enters the blood depends on body weight and sex. Even if a man and a woman are the same weight and drink the same amount of alcohol, the alcoholaemia (the percentage of alcohol in the blood) is higher in the woman than in the man. This is the consequence of the difference in musculature and of the effectiveness of the enzyme that is responsible for the metabolism of the alcohol, both factors being lower in women. The hormonal difference is also involved. An example: a 70 kg man taking 20 g alcohol produces the same alcoholaemia as a 50 kg woman taking 10 g alcohol (both 0.4 promille).

Women can drink 1 to 2 beers a day and men can drink 2 to 4 beers a day. ?One beer? is taken to mean a standard glass of 0.30 to 0.33 litre beer.

The effect of non-alcoholic beer on your heart

Drinking non-alcoholic beer may provide some of the same cardiovascular benefits seen with moderate alcohol consumption in previous studies, a research from Germany suggests. In a new study, non-alcoholic beer had a powerful short-term effect on two processes believed to be involved in heart disease, Reuters Health reports.

“Because of the negative implications of alcohol use and abuse, drinking de-alcoholized beverages may offer an alternative to alcoholic beverage consumption without losing beneficial effects,” Dr. Steffen Bassus of Deutsche Klinik fuer Diagnostik in Wiesbaden said.

Many studies have shown that moderate drinking is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. Some researchers have suggested that the beneficial effects of moderate drinking come not only from alcohol itself, but from other substances found in alcoholic beverages. Red wine, for example, contains a compound called resveratrol, which is believed to be heart-healthy.

Bassus and his team set out to see whether some of beer’s beneficial effects stem from substances other than alcohol.

The researchers examined the effects of three beverages: normal beer, non-alcoholic beer and alcohol mixed with water. The participants, 12 healthy men 19 to 36 years old, consumed 3 litres of one of the beverages over the course of 3 hours. Blood samples were taken before, during and after the drinking sessions. Eventually, the men consumed all three types of beverages on separate days.

The non-alcoholic beer inhibited the formation of thrombin, a key factor in blood clotting. The findings appear in the May issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Although reduced thrombin production can sometimes be harmful because it makes it difficult to stop bleeding, it can also have the effect of reducing the risk of blood clots, Bassus said.

One limitation of the study is that it only examined the short-term effect of non-alcoholic beer, the investigators point out. More research is needed to see whether the long-term use of non-alcoholic beer is beneficial, according to the report.

Chocolate history in brief. Part 1

Chocolate is probably best known in solid or bar form, but it wasn?t always this way. In fact, for more than 90% of its history, chocolate was consumed only as a beverage.

The first conclusive evidence of chocolate consumption dates from the Classic Period of the Ancient Maya of Mexico and Central America (250-900 CE). The Maya made it into a spicy drink that they used in ceremonies.

Among the ancient Maya, chocolate was enjoyed by rich and poor alike. A particular favorite of Maya kings and priests, chocolate played a special part in royal and religious ceremonies. When ancient Maya aristocrats served chocolate drinks, they used lavishly decorated vessels made by specially trained artists. On storage jars and drinking vessels intended for the elite, artists painted religious and courtly scenes. Some vessels show images of gods and animals, or even kings drinking chocolate.

In the palaces of Maya kings, the frothy chocolate drink was a treasured treat. And at sacred altars, Maya priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the gods. Priests also prepared chocolate as a drink for special religious ceremonies.

The Maya were part of a trade network that included cacao and extended well beyond the territory they occupied (Maya lands covered parts of southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and western Honduras). Long after the height of their political power, during the later Maya Post Classic Period (AD 900-1519), the ancient Maya supplied cacao to other Middle American people, such as the Aztecs (AD 1428-1521) of central Mexico, where the climate was too cool and dry to grow cacao.

Cacao became an important product of the vast trade empire of the Aztec people ? not only as a luxury drink, but as money, an offering to the gods, and tribute to rulers. In fact, the seeds were so valuable that dishonest merchants are believed to have made clay counterfeits. Aztec rulers also required ordinary citizens and conquered peoples to pay a tax or tribute to them. Because cacao was so valuable, conquered peoples who lived in cacao-growing areas often paid tribute with cacao seeds. Why was cacao so valuable to the Aztecs? In part, its value lay in the fact that the Aztecs couldn?t grow it themselves and that they had to trade for it over long distances. In Maya lands south of their own, Aztec traders filled woven backpacks with cacao, then hauled this precious cargo on foot to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, today the site of Mexico city.

Like the Maya, the Aztec also used cacao to create a beverage. But other than the Aztec elite – rulers, priests, decorated warriors, and honored merchants ? few had the means to savor the precious drink.

“I have received delegations of working men who, apparently speaking with the utmost sincerity, have declared that they would regard it as a genuine hardship to be deprived of their beer.”

Woodrow Wilson

Do you know that?

De Ryck Brewery was founded by Gustaaf De Ryck in Herzele, Belgium, in 1886.

His De Gouden Arend Brewery (The Golden Eagle) was shut down during World War 1 as the brewing kettles were confiscated.

The De Ryck family reopened its family business under the name De Ryck Brewery in 1920. In the same year, the company?s flagship beer Special De Ryck was launched.

Today, the brewery offers a wide range of excellent beers, among which the four brews under the Arend brand: Arend Blond, Arend Dubbel, Arend Trippel, and Arend Winter.

Let?s taste the latter ? winter is coming and Arend Winter is just what you need when the thermometer goes down.

Arend Winter (6.3 vol. % alc.) is an amber-coloured Belgian high fermented Ale. It has a spicy flavour due to the authentic way of brewing with pure hops and malt.

Arend Winter has a subtler mouthfeel and is less stronger as compared to other winter beers.

The beer is available both in bottles and in kegs.

Arend Winter – the most agreeable companion on cold winter evenings!

EU: A look into the EU?s beer drinking culture

Beer continues to be an important industry in Europe but, like many consumer goods, it has not been unaffected by the recession. Many of Europe?s beer markets have experienced declines in the last 24 months and in the UK, pubs continue to close at an alarming rate, SABMiller said in a report published on November, 12.

However, beer still plays a crucial part in many Europeans? lives – in friendships, communities and sociability; although the role it plays varies from country to country with each nation displaying its own unique and varied beer drinking culture.

The findings of the company?s research into beer drinking culture around Europe include:

- Britain is the biggest round-buying nation, with 82% of people saying that they buy beer in rounds – three times more than in Germany, where drinkers prefer to pay for their own drinks individually;

- British bosses are amongst the most sociable in Europe – and the most generous, whereas French bosses are the least likely to ever go out for a beer with their teams;

- British women are big believers in equality – more than half think that men and women should split the beer tab on a date;

Prague, Amsterdam and Berlin have been named the top European destinations for a beer.

The report, ?Whose Round?’ which was researched across 12 European countries, found that 20% of all respondents named Prague as their top city for a beer, although Brits chose London, followed by Dublin, as their beer-drinking destination of choice.

Prague was chosen as the top city by respondents from five countries and was particularly popular with beer drinkers from its Eastern European neighbours. Second placed Amsterdam trailed with 13% of the vote. London was fifth overall, proving most popular with Romanian, Czech and Dutch drinkers – as well as Brits.

As well as the British; Dutch, Germans and French beer drinkers all showed their national pride by voting their own capital the top place for a pint. Propping up the bottom of the league table were Bucharest, Bratislava and Warsaw, landing only 1% of the vote each.

?Your Round?’ surveyed a range of beer drinking cultural trends across Europe, including which countries are most likely to socialise after work – and which have the most generous bosses; which nation of men are most likely to expect a woman to pay her way on a date; and the celebrities that Europeans would most like to go for a beer with.

Great Britain, Romania and Italy have the most generous bosses when it comes to buying beer whilst French bosses are the most misérables. The Dutch are the least likely to go out drinking with colleagues (34%) but when they do, they have the most generous bosses, with 37% saying that their boss will sometimes or always stand a round.

Brits’ choice of celebrity beer drinking buddies were Cheryl Cole and Stephen Fry, whilst Barack Obama and Angelina Jolie were the most popular across Europe.

Trappist beers. Part 2

Early in the twentieth century and right through the 1950s, many brewers wanted to take advantage of the Trappist denomination and reputation for their products. Therefore, they produced beers and called them ?Trappists?. The Trappist monks logically started legal proceedings to protect the name, Trappistbeer.net informs.

Since the judgment of the court of Gent, on February 28th, 1962 ?? the word Trappist is used commonly to indicate a beer brewed and sold by monks pertaining to the order of the Trappists or by people who would have obtained an authorization of this kind? is thus called Trappist a beer manufactured by Cistercian monks and not a beer in the Trappist style which will be rather called beer of abbey.?

It does, nonetheless, remain that despite the legal definition of what is a ?Trappist beer?, it is never defined in a sufficiently strict way to cover all situations. This is why the International Trappist Association specified complementary criteria making it possible to define an Authentic Trappist Product.

Applied to beer, the “authentic trappist product” hexagonal logo means that:

The beers shall be produced by a production unit situated inside the monastery or its immediate vicinity.

Through its extent, physical configuration, organization, use and management, the entire business equipment required shall demonstrate both an indisputable link of subordination to the accredited monastery and a business culture that fits in with monastic life.

The work shall be carried out by the monks or nuns themselves and/or laypersons from the accredited monastery or a business entrusted with the production, packaging and marketing, provided that this business is dependent on the accredited monastery and operates under the latter’s supervision in terms of production and administrative management methods, quality, publicity and financing.

The proceeds shall be outside the scope of any independent profit motive and be intended for material, intellectual and spiritual needs, the maintenance of the buildings, their fittings and the environment of the accredited monastery, whereby any surplus arising from healthy and careful management is used for charity or social work or the needs of other Trappist monasteries.

How to store beer

Beer connoisseurs can spend more for a six pack of beer than a bottle of wine. That is why storing beer properly is so important!

Step 1: Beer, can or bottle, should always be stored in an upright position.

Step 2: Allowing beer to lie on its side for any length of time exposes the container to more oxygen which results in loss of flavor.

Step 3: Beer should not be moved from one location in the refrigerator to another since the slightest temperature change will affect the flavor.

Step 4: The colder the beer, the less flavorful it will be. Beer is served at room temperature in many countries.

Step 5: Draft beer is not subject to pasteurization process resulting in a better tasting beer as compared with cans and bottles.

Cheers!

Types of beer bottles

Beer bottles come in many shapes and sizes. Many factors contribute to the packaging of beer. Using brown or green-tinted glass ensures the product is protected from sunlight, which can cause a breakdown of the contents. Aesthetic appeal trumps content in the case of clear beer bottles, which are chosen for their attractiveness and edge in marketability. Shape plays an important part, and size determines ultimate use -whether the buyer is consuming the product in its entirety or buying a quantity for gradual use, EHow reports.

Stubby

Shorter than the typical beer bottle and with virtually no neck, the stubby takes up less room in packaging, making for compact storage and delivery. It is sturdier than the average beer bottle, comes with thicker glass, and is typically tinted brown or green. Stubby beer bottles are prevalent in Europe and used to be popular in Canada from the 1960s to the mid 1980s, according to a History of the Stubby. The stubby bottle enjoys a nostalgic reputation in Canada and has even become a collectors item. Very few American beers are bottled in the stubby.

Growler

The growler typically holds half a gallon of draft beer, but also comes in a liter and quart size. It is intended for take-out, and customers can bring in their personal growlers for refill from their favorite tap. One of the advantages of buying beer this way is that it is generally cheaper. Remember that when you’re closing a multi-use bottle, you must be careful not to compromise the carbonation. Growlers are usually tinted a dark color. Robert Simonson notes in the “New York Times” that, as legend tells it, the name “growler” comes from the sound made by the release of carbon dioxide back when take-out beer was carried in pails.

Long Neck

The long neck bottle is prevalent in most countries. Long neck beer bottles are the most prevalent type used in America. Tall and slim with a long neck, these bottles are known as the ISB, or Industry Standard Bottle, according to the Beer Club. Sizes of long neck bottles are generally uniform, and they can be recycled and reused many times. Long neck beer bottles come in clear glass and tinted, but they are more highly represented by clear glass than other types of bottles. The long neck is easy to hold, and holding the neck rather than the body keeps the beer colder for longer periods of time.

Beer + Chocolate = Love

Porters and stouts
There are three general categories of beers to pair with assorted chocolates. Dark beers, such as porters and stouts, are made from caramelized barley and toasted malts offering really deep earthy tones. They’re a perfect pairing with any chocolate, especially a caramel truffle, chocolate with caramel and nuts or caramel-infused dark milk chocolate bar, experts advise.

Fruity, spicy beers
These are Belgian-style ale beers that go great with nearly any chocolate because they are made from barley that is roasted until the nutty, cocoa chocolate tones start coming out.

The yeast the Belgian brewers use has a lot of underlying fruit tones, especially Trappist-style dubbels (double), so you might pick up some chocolate, caramel, toast, dried fruit or clove spice, experts said. For a double wow, combine any berry-flavored truffle or chocolate bar with dried berries and amber ale.

Maltier golden beers
Pale malty beers and white ales tend to pair beautifully with malt-flavor truffles, gourmet malt balls and chocolate and nut combinations.

A word about black chocolate stouts – which are an excellent pairing with a chocolate dessert. Black chocolate stout is made with black chocolate and roasted malts (not chocolate candy), so it imparts powdered cocoa and creamy, dark, bittersweet chocolate flavors.

Read the label
Skip white chocolate, since it lacks cocoa solids. Milk chocolates, which have more sugar than dark and milk solids, take away from the flavor of beer, but a good 41 percent cacao dark milk chocolate pairs well with bock or a double bock. A dark milk chocolate with nuts and a bock beer – just wait for the magic, experts said.

Essentially, you want to pair any beer with good-quality dark chocolate containing 52 percent to 72 percent cocoa mass to get that intense chocolatey flavor.

I drink when I have occasion, and sometimes when I have no occasion.

Miguel de Cervantes

Do you know that?

La Wépionnaise® is an amber-coloured beer produced in Wépion, the Belgian strawberry capital. This unique strawberry beer is fermented once again in bottle and has all the bitterness of a real beer.

Ideally served at a temperature of 5°C, La Wépionnaise® is preprandial, digestive and very refreshing.

La Wépionnaise® is different from a gueuze or from any other fruity white beer.

Enjoy!

EU: Beer output drops to 363.7 mln hl in 2009

EU-27 beer output amounted to 363.7 mln hl in 2009, down from 379.6 mln hl produced in 2008, The Brewers of Europe said in this year?s edition of their Beer Statistics report.

The 2010 edition covers the years since the association?s last edition in 2003. The largest output over the reporting period (2003 ? 2009) was achieved in 2007 ? 385.8 mln hl.

Germany was EU?s largest beer producer, with 98.1 mln hl brewed in 2009. The UK was ranked second, with 45.1 mln hl. Poland (with 36 mln hl) was the third-largest beer producing country in the EU.

The EU-27 continues drinking less beer, with total consumption declining from about 378 mln hl in 2006 and 2007 to 373.2 mln hl in 2008 and 354.8 mln hl last year.

Average consumption per capita declined to 75.3 litres from 79.0 litres in 2008. The Czech Republic has kept the leading position (159.3 litres consumed by average resident), followed by Germany (109.6 litres), and Austria (106.2 litres).

Trappist beers. Part 1

Like many other religious orders, the Trappist monks brewed beer in order to provide for their needs, and earn the income necessary for the current operations of the abbey and acts of charity, Trappistbeer.net informs.

Many of us know the famous Belgian and Trappist breweries very well, but did you know that, during the 100 last years, several other Trappist breweries existed in Europe? These breweries all are closed today. Luckily, we have records of the existence of many of these, as well as proofs of their former brewing activities.

So, what is a Trappist beer exactly ? Although the question seems to be very simple, the answer is not so obvious, and deserves some further explanation: the definition of what is a ?Trappist beer? evolved with time, in order to specify it and to better protect the name…

Currently, 7 Trappist beers exist in the whole world. They all carry the ?Authentic Trappist Product? logo, which verifies their authentic Trappist origin, and their respect to precise rules defined by the international Trappist association. These are the beers of the following abbeys:

• Achel
• Chimay
• Orval
• Rochefort
• Westmalle
• Westvleteren

The beers of Tilburg (La Trappe) carried the Trappist logo until 1999, when the monks themselves decided to remove it from their labels. After long negotiations, they finally gained the right to wear the logo again. An official press release was published on October 7th, 2005.

In the next BelgianShop Newsletter, we will discover why this name was so coveted by non-religious brewers, and what the monks did to protect it…

Time has come to sip on winter beer

According to the famous beer hunter Michael Jackson, brewing special seasonal beers predates modern history and has its origin in the pagan celebrations of winter solstice.

Later, as monasteries often functioned as the local brewery, some monks made the first holiday commemorative beers to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Winter beers are as much a state of mind as a style, but beers best for fending off the cold of a long winter night – such as old ales, strong ales, barley wines and strong lagers – are often associated with winter.

Although there are varying styles, most winter seasonals tend to be malt forward brews with an higher than average ABV.

Some brews are high enough in alcohol to warrant a cellaring period to mellow, before sampling. So be weary of what you?re purchasing and the best serving conditions for your new brew, experts recommend.

You may also find that many wintertime brews pair well with deserts and richer, sweeter types of foods which is another consideration when making your selections.

Cheers!

Scientists claim: Wings and beer are the perfect food for better sex and longer life!

According to a recent publication on www.thespoof.com Scientists at Kansas State University revealed the findings of a three year study that involved over ten thousand participants and a whole lot of chicken wings – 750 tons to be exact!

The results were astounding and has caused ripples throughout the fast food industry and medical profession.

The study proved that eating chicken wings and drinking beer not only prolonged life, but also made the test subjects extremely happy, less likely to divorce, and in some instances – smarter!

Mild-spicy wings were more likely to lead to better sex and throw in some blue cheese and participants had a healthier heart.

Professor Frank Perdue had this to say about the results, “We are extremely pleased with the results from this study. Our faculty has shifted into a new area of research due to the wonderful study results. We are anticipating a higher demand for this food, so our agriculture Department has started genetic work on producing a chicken with 10 legs and 16 wings!”

Eat chocolate and never get tired

Consumption of flavanol-rich chocolate may ease the symptoms of chronic fatigue, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Hull in England.

Results of a small double-blind, randomized, pilot crossover study with ten individuals indicate that daily consumption of a high cocoa liquor / polyphenol rich chocolate significantly improved symptoms of chronic fatigue after eight weeks, compared with a cocoa liquor free / low polyphenol chocolate.

?As both types of chocolate were iso-calorific and had similar glycemic indices and loads, it is likely that the improvement was due to the high polyphenol content within the active chocolate, rather than a difference in of the micro or macronutrient the composition of the two chocolates,? the researchers wrote in Nutrition Journal.

?The significance of the results is particularly surprising because of the small number of subjects in the study,? they added.

Chronic fatigue has been associated with a range of biological systems amongst which oxidative stress is one of them. According to the Hull-based researchers, the benefits of chocolate may be due to the flavonoids protecting cells like neuronal cells from oxidative stress. They note however that additional studies need to explore this mechanism further.

The health benefits of polyphenols from cocoa have been gathering increasing column inches in the national media. To date studies have reported potential benefits for cardiovascular health, skin health, and even brain health.

Study details

Six women and four men with an average age of 52 and chronic fatigue, as measured using the Chalder Fatigue Scale, were assigned to receive eight weeks of either the high or low chocolate, followed by two weeks of washout and cross over on to the other intervention.

Results showed a significant improvement in Chalder Fatigue Scale scores following the high polyphenol chocolate intervention, whereas a deterioration was observed in the low-polyphenol chocolate intervention.

?Since there was a consistent improvement of symptoms with high cocoa phenol chocolate and deterioration with iso-calorific chocolate, a placebo effect is unlikely,? stated the researchers.

?Moreover, the taste panel of healthy people before the study could not differentiate the taste between high cocoa and iso-calorific chocolate.

?In summary, this study suggests that consuming high cocoa polyphenol rich chocolate 15g three times daily has a beneficial effect in improving fatigue and residual function in subjects with chronic fatigue syndrome over a period of 8 weeks compared to simulated iso-calorific cocoa mass free/ low polyphenol chocolate,? they concluded.