Daily Archives: February 3, 2016

Why Dark Chocolate? (Query Letter)

Ashton Harris
1910 Granville Towers Ln W
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
chaston@live.unc.edu
January 31,2016

Dear Mrs. Boyd:

I am a current freshman studying Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Currently, I am working on an article discussing the health benefits of dark chocolate consumption. I admire your journal and realize the prestige that it offers. That being said, I am hoping that you will find a place for my article in your nutritional journal.

In today’s culture, the majority of American citizens would agree with the statement, “dark chocolate is good for you.” But what does this mean? What defines “good?” Why is dark chocolate, say, better than other forms of chocolate? In order to find the answers to these questions, we will need to investigate the actual contents of dark chocolate and the effects that they have on bodily function. In order to do so, studies will be investigated and background information regarding the make up of dark chocolate will be addressed. With this in mind, I will aim to prove just why dark chocolate is in fact “better for you.” In my article, I will explain the physiological effects related to the consumption of dark and whether or not these will benefit or harm the human body. If dark chocolate harms the body, it should be avoided; on the other hand, if the treat actually improves the physiology of the body, I will address the proper portions for consumption.

I believe this topic to be extremely important in American culture because of the fairly recent fascination with nutrition. Think about it, how many people do you know that own a FitBit? How many constantly check to see the number of steps they have reached or how many stairs they have climbed? Sure, one could argue that this may have to do with an interest in technological advancements, but if that is true, wouldn’t nearly everyone have a hoverboard? Here’s the thing, unlike the hoverboard craze, nutrition does not “attach” itself to any age group. Instead, nutrition is universal. You could see a sixteen year old and a seventy-year-old American citizen both wearing the same FitBit, performing the same function. With this in mind, if any food, especially if it is as satisfying as dark chocolate, is claimed as “healthy,” chances are everyone will be talking about this sooner than later. And in fact, that has been the case with dark chocolate.

The health benefits of dark chocolate are all rooted in a high concentration of cacao in comparison to other forms of chocolate. In lay mans terms, the higher the percentage of cacao the more natural the chocolate. When milk chocolate is made, cacao is manipulated structurally and chemically in order to create a higher percentage of cocoa, which is probably the more familiar form of chocolate. The reason more people know about cocoa over cacao can be related to a recent study performed by ProQuest. In a randomized study of one hundred people, eighty-four people claimed that they prefer milk chocolate over dark chocolate while the remaining sixteen favored dark chocolate. When those who preferred milk chocolate were asked why, the majority stated that, “milk chocolate is sweeter than dark chocolate;” the basis of this statement deals with the amounts of cacao in each sample. Bitter taste parallels to cacao while a sweeter taste relates to amounts of cocoa.

Overall, I will show that dark chocolate improves the physiological functions of the blood stream and the vascular systems. In order to do so, I will relate the effects of dark chocolate to the percentages of cacao. I will be aiming to prove to the reader that dark chocolate is in fact good for you. After stating my claim and supporting it with an abundance of evidence, I will then educate the reader on portion control, in regards to the consumption of dark chocolate. Though dark chocolate will improve vascular function, an abundance of this sweet treat could reverse effects by introducing too much of one thing into the human body. In fact, dark chocolate is sometimes described as an accessory rather than a main course. It is important for the reader to realize that I am not encouraging complete reliance on dark chocolate’s effects, but rather consuming the treat in regards to its intended purpose and function.

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,
Ashton Harris

Why is U.S. healthcare so expensive as compared to Europe?-Query Letter by Keenan Cromshaw

February 1st, 2016

Keenan Cromshaw
450 Ehringhaus Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27514

Medical Communications Group
Ms. Sarah Boyd
24950 Country Club Drive, Suite 200
North Olmsted, Ohio 44070

 Dear Ms. Boyd,

I am pleased to submit to you a paper about a question many of us ask: How and why is U.S. healthcare so expensive as compared to European healthcare. My name is Keenan Cromshaw and I am a freshman at the University of North Carolina at Chapel hill currently working towards a biology degree with aspirations to go to medical school and become an emergency room physician. I believe that this paper would greatly help to enrich Medical Economics and their viewers as it is both a topic that pertains to your journal and is a very relevant and important topic that is being discussed today. We frequently hear about the high costs of insurance premiums, medicines you buy, the debt after surgery, etc. and reducing these costs would help out Americans everywhere mentally, physically, and financially.

My paper will discuss the many aspects of this complex problem and how we can stop it. The main points highlighted will be first how the U.S. has a much higher rate of obesity and conditions related to obesity (like diabetes) as compared to every other European nation leading to much greater medical costs. Next, I will discuss how United States taxpayers and health insurance premium purchasers pay an extremely large amount of money for the phenomenon known as “defensive medicine”, which is essentially medical practitioners who order unnecessary tests, procedures, and treatments plans due to a variety of reasons. After this, the point will be made that the U.S. spends more per capita on research, development, and purchasing of prescription drugs than their European counterparts due to a variety of reasons such as how more medicine is prescribed per capita than Europeans. Lastly, I will discuss how the U.S. has both a higher rate of ownership and usage of advanced diagnostic technologies such as MRI’s, CT scans, mammography tests, etc., which drives up medical costs. Furthermore, statistics will be shown that indicate the U.S. has a much higher number of expensive surgeries than Europe- often deemed as unnecessary. The remainder of the article will discuss how we can stop these problems in order to help everyone in the United States reduce healthcare costs and increased medical efficacy and efficiency.

Once again I believe this paper will greatly help to augment and bring attention to an important and growing issue. Thank you for your consideration!

Sincerely,
Keenan Cromshaw
(910)-471-1799