Good News for Valentine's Day - Chocolate might be good for you!

0:03 Calorocas, shock media. Hello Jenny Mack with five good news stories. Happy Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day is an opportunity to show affection or celebrate romance with cards, flowers, and candy. Research shows that being touched or touching someone can activate areas of the brain that control empathy, emotions, and certain social behaviors. Health experts believe the touch helps communicate a sense of connection and strengthens positive emotions that enhance family, friendly, and romantic relationships. Research also shows that these positive aspects of relationships contribute to and may even form a foundation for good physical health. But don't worry about your pets. There's no need to give your dog a card or candy, according to these centers for disease control and prevention. Studies show to the bond between people and their pets is linked to health benefits such as lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, and decrease feelings of loneliness and anxiety. Does pet your dog or cat or whatever else you got, maybe of one of those service alligators. No, don't pet him, that's dangerous. Good news. Chocolate may or may not be healthy.

1:07 Many modern studies have shown an association between the consumption of pure cocoa and modern reductions in risk for a range of cardiovascular illnesses and even for diabetes. Research done in two thousand and nine on the Kuna, people who live on islands off the coast of Panama lead some credence to the results. Doctor Norman Hollenberg of the Harvard Medical School found that the Kuna, who drink up to ten cups of gravy thick homegrown hot cocoa a day, live longer and have lower rates of high pretension, heart disease and stroke than most Western populations. The study allows that maybe other factors contribute. The precise line where chocolate morse from a sugary indulgence to a food that you know might be healthy is subject of a debate, but it's fair to say that seventy two percent, a level match by most commercially available dark chocolate, is a good place to start.

1:51 Back in twenty twenty, a one hundred and four year old US marine veteran he had never celebrated Valentine's Day, they got a sudden daylyge of love letters pouring to his mailbox. William White, known as Major Bill, was awarded a Purple Heart after he fought at ewo Jima during World War Two. He served a total of thirty five years active duty. He was living in an assisted living facility in Stockton, California. One of his fellow residents launched a social media campaign called Operation Valentine, which recruited friends, family members, and strangers to send Valentine's Day cards to White, hoping to get one hundred mailed. White said, even when his wife of forty two years was alive, they never exchanged cards or celebrated the holiday. So imagine his surprise when he was flooded with more than seventy thousand love letters, the greeting cards, and well wishes from all fifty states. White told Reuters back in twenty two, it's just too fantastic. It's something I've never heard of. Seeing all of a sudden here, it's like a ton of bricks. I'm sort of speechless. Major Bill White passed away in twenty twenty two, aged one hundred and six. Good news, we've still got some time to figure it out.

2:54 The bad news is NASA thinks an asteroid could hit Earth on Valentine's Day. No, not this year. Could happen in twenty forty six. NASA's Planetary Defense Coordation Office says it's been tracking an asteroid that has a very small chance of hitting the Earth on February fourteenth, twenty forty six. For now, they think it'll pass us by at a distance of one point one million miles. The asteroid is named twenty twenty three d w and congratulations to the world's most romantic village. Who is it? It's the community of Lover in Wiltshire, England. People flock there to use the post office and get things stamped February fourteenth. The official post office closed a few years ago, but a team of volunteers stamped cards with Lovers special postmark before they're sent all around the world. Residents of the village also hang heard shape bunting wreaths and balloons on their garden fences and front doors. One local couple seventy one year old Jill and her husband Fred, he's seventy two. They like the name of the village and the idea of being lovers from Lover the five Good News Stories for Today. If you enjoy the program, a friend about it. They might like it to have a great Valentine's Day. And I hope somebody gives you a hug.