It’s that time again! A quick little series of news briefs for your reading pleasure, some AskDrErnst-tinted current health events, an alternative health take on the happenings of the day. It’s the State of Health Today! Let’s jump right in.

We knew how good dark chocolate can be… but did we know it was THIS good?

A couple of new studies on the benefits of dark chocolate has been released by Loma Linda University–which coincidentally (or not coincidentally at all) is a community full of Seventh Day Adventists and the highest concentration of people over the age of 100 in the United States–have found even more reasons to love this stuff.

We’ve long known cocoa to be a great source of antioxidants and good fats–both of which come with a range of health benefits–but for the first time, researchers have studied the effects of cocoa on our brains. The findings are brilliant. Lead researcher, Dr. Lee S. Berk, said: “These studies show us that the higher the concentration of cacao, the more positive the impact on cognition, memory, mood, immunity and other beneficial effects.”

For you to enjoy these benefits, however, your chocolate has to be a MINIMUM of 70% cocoa. Sorry, but a Hershey bar won’t do the trick.

Traditional cancer researchers stumble on the benefits of fasting

In an effort to make chemotherapy more effective (a noble, but misguided endeavor), researchers have discovered that fasting actually really helps.

University of Southern California researchers have released their findings, stating that fasting for even just three days basically rebuilds and regenerates the entire immune system.

They found that fasting “flips a regenerative switch,” activating stem cells, which in turn create a whole new set of white blood cells.

Add that to autophagy, healing a leaky gut, rebuilding the microbiome, losing weight, resetting your psychological relationship to food and even the spiritual components of fasting, and it’s starting to look like one of the very best things you can do for your health.

CBD found effective for treating anxiety

The research in favor of the medicinal properties of cannabis just keeps growing. We’ve already got strong evidence that it relieves the symptoms of Parkinson’s, epilepsy, schizophrenia, psychosis and more. Adding anxiety to that list–an affliction that affects more than 40 million Americans–will add a powerful new reason to remove legal and social barriers to using this plant for medicinal purposes.

Studies involving anxiety are still preliminary, and clinical trials are still needed to be more certain of the effectiveness of cannabis, but those are undoubtedly forthcoming as the industry is proving to be highly lucrative in U.S. states where marijuana has been deemed legal (profitability always speeds up research–for better or worse).

Still, many are turning to CBD oil to treat their anxiety as it is a marijuana plant extract that doesn’t contain THC–the compound that causes the “high” from using marijuana. Essentially, you can get the health benefits without the mind-altering side effects. Let’s just give up this silly crusade and let our people be healthier already.

Toxicity making BIG headlines

The information in this Forbes article entitled ’11Toxic Chemicals Affecting Brain Development in Children’ isn’t new to me or my regular readers. In fact, the Forbes article might as well be a copy of my eBook, Toxic Top 10 (go ahead and download it for free, right now).

Personally, I don’t care. I’m just glad that a publication with as much reach as Forbes is talking about such an important topic. It adds credibility and urgency to the problem of toxicity in the modern world. And we need all of that we can get.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this seventh installment of “The State of Health Today”! Sometimes there are so many interesting things to share that you’ve got to put several together. Feel free to share this with anyone you suspect would be interested or assisted by this information. And stay tuned for Part 8–at some undecided point in the future.