There is LOTS of research on chocolate! And some studies show things like people who eat more chocolate have less heart disease, live longer, or they might even win more Nobel Prizes! But these studies can’t show that chocolate the cause. More likely regular chocolate consumption is a marker of wealth and wellbeing.

But mostly these are studies not on eating chocolate itself, but on high doses of compounds found in chocolate. Like theobromine –  this compound has been shown to lower blood pressure, but even if you are eating dark chocolate, you would need to eat about 100g of chocolate to get an active dose – that’s a lot of chocolate and the sugar, fat and calories would likely outweigh any of the benefits from theobromine or other potentially beneficial compounds like antioxidants.  

Chocolate can be high in sugars, calories and saturated fats – excess consumption of which can increase risks for conditions like heart disease. But, unless you are allergic to chocolate, or you hate it, there isn’t any reason to avoid it entirely. Nothing is off the table in a healthy balanced diet. For healthy eating it is recommended that we eat mostly fresh whole foods from the core food groups, but this doesn’t mean we need to abstain from other foods entirely.

Food isn’t just fuel. Food is part of our joy, celebrations, and culture. Not every food choice needs to be maximised and optimised for nutrition, food is much more complex than that. 

So, what about you? Do you eat chocolate regularly? In your opinion, does chocolate make people happier?

Read more at: https://hmri.org.au/news-article/chocolate-good-or-bad-you#:~:text=Chocolate%20can%20be%20high%20in,in%20a%20healthy%20balanced%20diet.

An organizational career path (also known as a career ladder or vertical career plan) is a career path that you create with your direct manager. The goal is to climb a career ladder within a company. 

A personal career path is one that you create for yourself. It’s based on a self-assessment of your skills, interests, hobbies, values, and passions. A personal career path can lay the foundation of your career without being restricted to one organization. 

If you’re ready to create your career path, start by making a list of the skills you’re good at, followed by your interests and hobbies. Then write down the things that matter most to you. 

Companies use career paths as a way to increase employee retention and engagement. Employees are more likely to stay with a company when a well-defined career path is in place. Employees are also motivated to grow within a company when there’s a well-understood career path. This, in turn, helps the company reach its short-term and long-term goals with less turnover.  

A study done by Glassdoor found that having a lack of career growth leads to employee turnover. Employees who don’t receive a pay increase or change in title after a few years are more likely to resign. Companies that offer that career growth are much more attractive to employees. This is especially true now that the workforce is shifting to more remote work. 

What about you? Do you prefer to have a career path within an organization, or would you rather do it independently?

Read more at: https://www.betterup.com/blog/career-path

Listening to (or making) music increases blood flow to brain regions that generate and control emotions.² The limbic system, which is involved in processing emotions and controlling memory, “lights” up when our ears perceive music.³

The chills you feel when you hear a particularly moving piece of music may be the result of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that triggers sensations of pleasure and well-being. 

Music is complex; it involves pitch, timbre, rhythm, dynamics and so much more. Decoding music is quite a task for the brain, as it must “integrate the sequentially ordered sounds into a coherent musical perception,” according to an article published in the Journal of Biology.⁸

The mental processes involved in knitting individual sounds together into the overall perception of a song is quite similar to the process the brain goes through in reading, which involves first recognizing individual letters and sounds and then ultimately gleaning meaning from sentences and paragraphs. Working memory is involved in both processes, and scientists believe there’s a great deal of overlap between working memory for musical stimuli and for verbal stimuli.⁹

It may take scientists years to fully untangle music’s actions in the brain. Thankfully, we can enjoy music’s benefits without fully understanding the science.

Do you agree with the author? How do you feel when you listen to music?

Read more at: https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why_and_how_music_moves_us#:~:text=Music%20and%20Mood&text=The%20limbic%20system%2C%20which%20is,when%20our%20ears%20perceive%20music.&text=The%20chills%20you%20feel%20when,of%20pleasure%20and%20well%2Dbeing.