Transcriber: Emma Gon Reviewer: Denise RQ
Now, let's try to imagine something extraordinary.
Let's try to imagine a society without heart disease,
where someone who is 80 years old
has the same blood pressure as someone who is 20;
where there is no heart attacks, no strokes.
What would a society like that look like?
Would it be a futuristic society
where all the people have robots and flying cars,
advanced medical technology such as nanomedicine and gene therapy?
This is starting to sound like a science fiction novel, isn't it?
But it's not.
Say hello to the Kuna Indians
who live off of the Caribbean coast of Panama.
These indigenous people are one of the few populations on Earth
that do not have hypertension.
And on the Kuna islands, cardiovascular diseases are almost non-existent.
And as a nice bonus, these guys also have
a much lower incidence of cancer and heart disease.
Pretty awesome stuff, right?
This begs the question, though,
what is the reason and the cause behind this?
A) Is it their genetics?
As we've just got an awesome TED presentation
that genetics could play a large role.
Is it b) their indigenous diet? OK.
Is it c) their stress-free Indian life style?
Who thinks is a)?
Who thinks is b)?
Raise your hands.
Who thinks it's c)?
Well, the answer is b), which even surprised Harvard researchers.
But what is it precisely in the Kuna diet
that causes all of these possible results?
Well, believe or not, it's cocoa.
The Kuna consume up to five cups of natural cocoa a day,
which is the highest natural cocoa intake of any population on Earth.
Although the consumption of natural cocoa is rare in our modern day society,
the Kuna are certainly not the first population
to have felt cocoa's curative properties,
as cocoa has a long and celebrated medical history.
Theobroma cacao which is the scientific name for the cocoa tree,
which is derived from Greek,
literally means cocoa, "food of the gods".
And with good reason as it has been in along celebrated history
by Mesoamerican and Southamerican Indians,
for its curative properties.
It was seen as a gift from the gods themselves,
and it was treated as a divine elixir.
Only high ranking men in these Indian communities
have the honor to drink cocoa,
such as high priests, generals, and nobility.
The only exception to this rule was if you were a human sacrifice,
a sacrifice to the gods themselves.
You had the honor of drinking
your first and only cup of cocoa right before they killed you.
Obviously, cocoa doesn't have
any long lasting, health benefits in this context,
but it is pretty good.
The Mayans went so far in their glorification of cocoa
that they had their own cocoa God.
This handsome guy right here is called Ek Chuah,
I'm probably saying it wrong, but hey, I can't speak Mayan.
They honored Ek Chuah each year
in a lavish festival with sacrifices and gifts
because they saw cocoa as a truly divine elixir.
During the conquest of the New World,
the Spanish conquistadors quickly noticed cocoa curative properties
and as such, saw its value as a trade product.
It was subsequently export to Europe
where it quickly became a favorite treat amongst the wealthy classes.
Between the 16th and 20th century,
no less than 100 medical uses were described for cocoa.
The natural cocoa I have discussed in the previous slides,
and which the Kuna drink in such large quantities,
is quite bitter and quite frankly, - I've tried it -, tastes really bad.
During the 19th century we invented the processes
to make what we now know as the modern day version of chocolate;
the stuff you buy in the supermarkets.
Sadly, these very processes destroy much of cocoa curative properties
and because of this, doctors soon forgot about cocoa as a medicine.
It wasn't until the 1990s,
when researchers regain their interest in cocoa.
Now, what does 21st century medicine have to say about cocoa?
Let us go back to the Kuna study.
The most striking feature the researchers found in the Kuna study
was that these Indians had an average blood pressure of 100/70,
which is the medical text book definition of a perfect blood pressure.
Even at the age of 65, these people maintain that perfect blood pressure.
This in itself is remarkable
as the average blood pressure, - as you can see in the chart behind me -
for a person living in the United Kingdom
is almost 140, as you could see from the red dotted line.
That's an almost 30 point difference.
At the same time, 40% of the people in the same age group
will be taking anti-hypertensive drugs
because their doctors deem their blood pressure so high
that there is a threat to their health.
But it gets even better than that.
The Harvard researchers looked at the relative risks of dying
from various diseases
and they compared the Kuna Indians living on the San Blas Islands
with their mainland cousins living in Panama City.
And what they found was truly extraordinary.
When it comes to diabetes, people living in Panama City
have an age adjusted
higher relative risk of dying of 3.7 times.
When it comes to ischemic heart disease
- which is a fancy word for a heart attack -
if you live in Panama City, you were five times more likely to die
of a heart attack than the Indians living on the San Blas Islands.
But it gets even better.
If you look at cancer, people living in Panama
have more than 15 times higher chance of dying from cancer
and although this might sound too good to be true,
stroke is almost non-existent on the San Blas Islands.
True, this is an observational study
which probably has many confounding factors,
but what we do know is
that cocoa plays a large role in attaining these results.
And it is not just the Kuna study that says
that cocoa has potentially health beneficial effects.
There is a large body of research
including several dozens clinical trials,
systematical reviews, meta analyses
and even a Cochrane review
that all indicate that cocoa has the following health benefits,
which include a significant decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure,
which reduces for example your odds of getting a stroke.
A significant decrease for insulin resistance
which is quite advantageous if you have diabetes,
or if you like drinking lots of Coca-Cola.
A significant improvement in cholesterol and lipid markers.
Cholesterol is a fancy word for the stuff that clogs your arteries
after you eat a pizza or a hamburger.
And a significant improvement in cardiovascular function,
which is great if you don't want to get a heart attack.
Furthermore, clinical trials show
that cocoa also has no significant side effects,
at least in the short term.
And there is a large body of historical and anecdotal evidence
that indicates that cocoa is a relatively safe substance.
Emperor Montezuma and his followers of approximately 50 people
would drink up to two dozen cups of cocoa a day.
That's probably an unhealthy dosage,
but it does indicates that cocoa is a relatively safe substance.
You cannot say that for aspirin.
Furthermore, cocoa is dirt cheap.
As you can see from the drawing behind me,
cocoa pods are grown in some of the poorest countries on Earth.
Cocoa is harvested by some of the poorest people on Earth,
and the Kuna who consume it in such large quantities
are one of the most socially deprived and impoverished communities in Panama.
This isn't some fancy 10,000 dollars a month medication,
this is something we can readily afford if we really want to.
But why am I standing here? Why is this important?
Because in 2010 alone,
cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cancer
killed over 23 million people; in 2010 alone.
These four factors in aggregate, as you can see from the pie chart,
account for over 44% of all deaths worldwide.
And it's not just deaths and suffering, the economic toll is also huge.
According to a study conducted by Harvard and the Word Economic Forum
these diseases caused the world economy in aggregate
over 1.4 trillion dollars each year.
Just to illustrate that,
that's the equivalent of the entire Spanish economy.
That's a lot of money.
And as bad as all of this may sound, it's only going to get worse
as global population and life expectancy increase in unison.
According to this graph, which is based on UN projections,
by 2050, more than 20% of people will be 60 years and older,
which means these chronic diseases that I've mentioned
will increase in the coming decades,
making the burden even larger that it is today.
Is cocoa a cure?
Well, it can be part of a solution.
Cocoa is definitively not a stand alone treatment.
If you have cancer, hypertension, diabetes, or heart disease,
taking cocoa alone will not cure you.
But as an addition to standard treatment protocols
or as a dietary recommendation for higher risk patient groups,
such as people with obesity, cocoa shows large potential.
What could that mean in practical terms,
if we put it in standard treatment protocols,
and if we give some people cocoa?
Well, let us just imagine if we can reduce disease burden
on a global scale by just 1%.
Not a holy grail, not some kind of breakthrough, but just 1%.
That would means saving 14 billion dollars each year in medical expenses.
Which is the equivalent of the entire Dutch budget deficit.
It would mean saving over 230,000 lives each year
which is the same as all of the citizens of Groningen,
plus a bonus of 40,000 people.
But this doesn't just consider strangers or other people,
it is also important for you,
as it is a sad and horrifying fact that in a country like Holland
you or a loved one will probably struggle
with one of the diseases I've just mentioned.
As I've discussed in the previous slides,
cocoa has a rich medical history.
21st century research shows
that is has potentially large effects on human health;
it has little to no known side effects, and lastly, it is dirt cheap.
Therefore, cocoa has the potential to improve
the quality of life of millions of people
who suffer each and every day from these horrendous diseases.
And that is a goal worth pursuing.
That's why we should start taking cocoa as medical potential seriously
for it is truly a gift from the gods.
Thank you for your attention, and let's make a difference.
(Applause)