It’s Christmas time, and you know what that means. Carols, lines of people at the store buying presents, Christmas trees, and food. Not just any food, of course, but delicious sweets and desserts made of chocolate. During this time of year chocolate is used more than any other, being put into cakes, pies, frozen treats, ice creams, drinks, and candies. Normally we all feel a little guilty about all this extra chocolate – after all, isn’t it bad for you? Surprising new nutritional discoveries about chocolate just may alleviate a little bit of that guilt. New research has found a few interesting things, and noted some very real health benefits associated with consumption of chocolate. Here are some of these findings, to help every dedicated chocoholic out there.

No, chocolate doesn’t contain a lot of vitamins, and it isn’t rich in minerals either. Cocoa, however, happens to contain a few singular nutrients that have positive influences on the body. Cocoa contains endorphins, which are chemical agents used as natural opiates in the body to reduce suffering from pain. Several different stimulants are also found in cocoa, which will wake you up, increase your cognitive function, and make you more alert to everything around you. Last but not least, cocoa happens to contain tryptophan. This legendary substance, blamed for causing sleepiness in turkey, is actually known to relieve stress and lower anxiety levels. It’s important to note, however, that you won’t really feel all of these effects simply by eating chocolate. Chocolate contains such small amounts of these substances that you’d have to eat a very unwise amount to really notice the benefits you’d be getting, and your stomach would probably hurt so bad you might not actually feel them.

One area where chocolate does truly excel, however, is antioxidants. For those of you who don’t know, antioxidants are what Hollywood celebrities and health nuts are absolutely going crazy over. They’re agents that get absorbed by your body and protect it from free radicals. These are harmful products that damage the body, causing everything from the development of cancer to early aging. Chocolate, fortunately, contains a lot of these antioxidants – more, actually, than most other foods, even blueberries. Dark and milk chocolates have very high ORAC values, which are measurements that determine how powerful the antioxidant value of a food is. While dark chocolate has roughly twice the amount of antioxidants as milk chocolate, a 40 gram serving of milk chocolate has about the same antioxidant content of one glass of red wine.

The most certain and significant benefit that can come from consuming chocolate has to do with your heart. The nutrients in chocolate have been shown to benefit nearly every single piece of the cardiovascular system by controlling blood flow and blood pressure. Cocoa contains substances that have been shown to aid the body in the normal production and maintenance of Nitric Oxide. This is a chemical compound that is vital in keeping healthy blood flow, and by keeping the compound in the blood, chocolate actually causes the heart to be under less stress. Chocolate also has the ability to regulate blood platelets in the bloodstream. Platelets are what cause your blood to thicken, and although necessary to keep you from bleeding to death, must be controlled and kept at a healthy level. If not, the blood will thicken, blood pressure will rise, and the heart will over time sustain serious damage, as well as placing the person in risk of developing a stroke.

While chocolate is normally viewed as being very good for you, it can actually be a healthy addition to your diet. It can help keep your heart and blood vessels in pristine condition, as well as ward off premature aging. The key to chocolate, of course, is that a little goes a long way, and while chocolate does have a few very important health benefits, it is also loaded with calories. Because of this, it is recommended that you intake chocolate between 3 to 5 times a month, to receive the most benefits while consuming the least amount of calories. Snack on chocolate wisely, and remember – it’s ok to splurge every once in a while, especially around Christmas!

Cole Carson
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/the-health-benefits-of-chocolate-286742.html

Dark chocolate is certainly not the first food that would come to mind when considering “Healthy”. However, evidence is mounting that the extremely high concentrations of Heart Healthy antioxidants found on the cocoa bean may well provide a much needed antioxidant boost to supplement our body’s defensive barriers.

An antioxidant is a molecule that is capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation process in other molecules.

Oxidation is a chemical process in which an electron is attracted from a stable substance and moves to an unrelated oxidizing agent. Oxidation reactions can be caused by “free radical” molecules, which by themselves, can cause harmful chain reactions that will damage otherwise healthy cells.

Healthy dark chocolate is an excellent source for providing your system with high concentrations of antioxidants, which can neutralize and thus limit the damaging effects of free radical molecules in your body

Let’s take a look at this cell damaging villain … the “Free Radical”.

Free radicals are not the result of disease or injury. They are created naturally in our bodies as the result certain chemical reactions, such as generating energy to feed our cells during physical exertion. They can also be imported into your system through cigarette smoke and other airborne pollutants.

Free radicals are chemically imbalanced, missing one or more electrons and thus having a ‘positive’ charge.

These radical molecules will seek to balance their charge, and will attract or ’steal’ electrons from other molecules, including the molecules that make up your body’s DNA and the mitochondria in your cells.

The mitochondria creates the energy necessary to sustain the life of the cells. Damaged mitochondria are weak and have lower energy and less resistance to disease.

The DNA structure in each of your body’s cells carries the blueprint necessary for cellular reproduction and duplication.

When the DNA is altered as a result of the free radical, the new cells that are created are imperfect and possibly malignant with the potential to form tumors or cancers.

Free Radicals are linked as a significant cause of most degenerative diseases, including heart disease, premature aging, diabetes, high blood pressure, and the creation of cancer cells and tumors.

Enter Antioxidants! Antioxidants are molecules that have available one or more FREE electrons. They therefore have a “negative” charge, and attract wandering, positively charged Free Radical, rendering them neutral and removing the threat to healthy cells. This free radical is now chemically balanced, and is no longer a threat to ’steal’ electrons from your body’s healthy cells.

So, having established the vital importance of having free radical neutralizing antioxidant molecules in your body … where do they come from?

The human body is an amazing organism. Much of what our body requires to sustain life can be generated from within. This is somewhat true for antioxidants; however, dietary supplementation is also required.

Vitamin C is a good example. Unlike most other animals, vitamin C is NOT created within the human body and must be acquired through diet.

Most people are well aware of the importance of a consistent source of vitamin C in their diet. Vitamin C is a monosaccharide antioxidant, and proper levels must be maintained either through diet or supplementation in order to maintain a healthy body.

So, what is the relationship between healthy dark chocolate and antioxidants?

Scientists have known for years that cocoa contains significantly high levels of antioxidants.

According to research cited in The New York Times, fresh cocoa beans are super-rich in the type of flavonoid called flavanols, which are very strong antioxidants. All 3 known flavanols are found in the cocoa bean at an amazing 10% antioxidant concentration level.

Another research study conducted by researchers of the Department of Food Science and Technology at Cornell University showed that flavanols in cocoa make blood platelets less likely to stick together and cause blood clots. They also prevented fatty substances in the blood stream from sticking together and clogging arteries.

So, simply eat chocolate and gain these healthy benefits? Well, it is not nearly that simple. Any product resulting from the processing of the cocoa bean can be called chocolate; however, very few of these products would realistically qualify for a clinical definition of being ‘healthy’.

An understanding of how the cocoa beans are processed and the type and quantity of additives in order to create a specific chocolate product is essential for determining potential health benefits.

The multitude of Health benefits certainly appears to justify doing some research and identifying a source for antioxidant rich, Healthy Dark Chocolate.

Timothy Prahl
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/healthy-dark-chocolate-and-antioxidants-give-your-body-a-boost-506811.html

Diet eating and weight loss control doesn’t have to end because your cravings have boiled over. Analyze your cravings, and find a new flavor to savor that helps you reach your weight loss goals.

Diet eating and weight loss control requires substantial skimping on your favorite foods. Unsatisfied cravings become monumental when dieting. Eating becomes a frenzied rush to put everything and anything that can satisfy your craving into your mouth. Diet eating for weight loss control becomes out-of-control. Self-control slowly loses its affect on weight loss control, and a burst of splurging on your favorite foods temporarily suspends your weight loss goals. Diet eating for your weight loss goal is set on the back burner until your cravings are satisfied. You don’t have to let your cravings boil over and spoil your weight loss plans. You can learn how to lose weight without ongoing relapses if you learn the secrets behind your cravings, and how to savor the flavors that you’re allowed to enjoy. Managing your cravings is the surest path to diet success.

Cravings can be emotional, environmental or physical. In the world of cravings, Chocolate cravings have a Hollywood status. The allure of chocolate is not only in its taste, but in its texture, aroma and convenience. It can be difficult to separate environmental, influential, and physiological causes of a chocolate craving. However, as any woman experiencing PMS can tell you, the craving is real, and it is powerful. Diet eating without chocolate can be tortuous.

Chocolate is limited in many weight loss programs because of its fat and sugar content. Fortunately, chocolate’s international fame was enough to produce countless versions of low-fat, low-carb, and low-sugar chocolate versions that are aimed to satisfy the cravings of diabetics and dieters around the world. Finding a comparable flavor to savor in the vast assortment of low-fat and low-carb substitutes that are on the market today is one way to control your cravings. This might take some research into what’s available that suits your taste buds, but it’s probably the easiest way to acclimate your diet eating plans to satisfy your cravings and stick with your weight loss goals.

Medical experts are still debating whether cravings stem from nutritional deficiencies. However, scientific journals are full of studies that examine chocolates’ “psychopharmacologic and chemosensory” effects. Medical studies and diet eating studies also show that a drop in blood sugar, which occurs when you skip meals, increases the craving for sweets. The Atkins Diet Weight Loss Program is formed around this concept, and the Atkins diet eating plans cater to moderating blood sugar levels.

Craving for sweets while dieting or not dieting is nothing new. Tests have shown that babies prefer sweet liquids to non-sweet liquids. Nature is even sweet-tooth oriented. Sweeter plants are less likely to be poisonous. But plants don’t need to lose weight, we do.

Diet eating and weight loss control can succeed if you take the time to analyze your cravings from all angles. Find the flavor you savor and find a healthy substitute for your diet eating plans to lose weight. A solution might be to try the Atkins diet, which specifically focuses on the physiology of craving control in your diet eating plan. Diet eating doesn’t have to be a constant battle with temptation. Find a tasty substitute and savor the flavor. Save the splurging for your new clothes when you reach your weight loss goals.

Mellisa
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/diet-eating-and-weight-loss-control-find-the-flavor-that-you-savor-464797.html

A co-worker of mine once said, “Every person should have a little bit of chocolate every day. It’s how I maintain my weight.” She said this after a group of coworkers that included myself had just finished eating lunch at a Chinese restaurant (an all you can eat buffet) and were staring at her as she was putting quarters into the candy machine for a chocolate treat. She didn’t get a lot of chocolate, just a handful of M&M’s. But the rest of us were staring at her, wondering how she could afford the calories after the huge lunch we had all indulged in.

Why were we staring at her? She was slim, trim, and looking great. The rest of us were either on a diet or thinking about going on a diet because we all had excess pounds to lose. Yet, the only person who would indulge in a little chocolate was the skinny person in our group.

I told her she had to explain to us how chocolate helped her maintain her weight because I knew that chocolate bars were a definite contributor to the extra flab I had around my stomach.

She said her mother had taught her that having a small treat every day would help her maintain a healthy weight and never feel deprived. She had been following her mother’s advice and had never had a weight problem. She said she had a little chocolate every day, but only a little - never more than a handful or M&M’s or half a candy bar. Unlike me, she didn’t try to stay away from it as long as possible and then binge on it when the cravings for it got to be too much.

Many weight loss experts are agreeing with this philosophy - that having a little room in a diet for a treat makes it much easier to eat healthy the rest of the time.

If that alone isn’t enough reason to make you feel it’s okay to have a little bit of chocolate every day (yes, I’m assuming you like chocolate because I’m a chocoholic and can’t imagine that anyone wouldn’t like to have some chocolate every day), scientific research is showing that dark chocolate has some health benefits.

Dark chocolate has been found to contain flavonoids very similar to those that are in green tea. A few of the health benefits those flavonoid antioxidants can have are: improving digestion, stimulating the kidneys, and improving circulation.

So, indulging in a little dark chocolate every day can not only have health benefits, but could actually help a person stick to their diet the rest of the day because they know they can have a little treat that will satisfy them but not sabotage their efforts to lose weight.

The key is to only have a small amount. Indulging in several candy bars a day is definitely overindulging. My mother-in-law, another person who has never been overweight, buys small snack sized packages of her favorite candy bars and has 2 every day. She says 2 are just enough to satisfy her and keep her happy without her having to worry about weight gain. I think she’s on to something. She’s in her mid-sixties and she doesn’t need to worry about dieting or losing weight. She looks great.

So, yes, I think you can eat chocolate on a diet. Eat a little, and really enjoy it!

Dorrie Ruplinger
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/can-you-eat-chocolate-on-a-diet-73284.html

Has anyone suffered stomach problems after eating diet chocolate?,

I ate a good part of a box of Thorntons Diet Chocolates and this morning suffered cramps, gas and embarrassingly sudden watery diarrhoea..not good when at work or stuck in your car as I was!

Anyone else had this effect?

You are most likely deficient in magnesium. Additionally, ANY artificial sweeteners have about 92 different side effects that will harm your body, including the effect from formaldehyde formation in your liver from the artificial sweeteners. The formaldehyde could contaminate your bile that is made in the liver. The bile goes to the gall bladder and is stored there. When fats enter the small intestines, the bile is dumped into the small intestine to emulsify it. If the bile is contaminated, the fats will not be digested properly and that can cause the kinds of problems you are having.

A very good indication of magnesium deficiency is craving chocolate.

This deficiency may be strongly related to calcium and zinc deficiencies as well. If you are not producing enough stomach acid, the chime entering your jejunum as it passes through the pyloric sphincter will have a high pH. This is where magnesium and calcium compete for absorption in the body. If it is not acid enough, the calcium, magnesium, and zinc will not be absorbed.

Most likely the cramps and diarrhea came from rotting, fermenting chime that was not broken down properly from the lack of stomach acid. Anyone eating the American diet is typically deficient in stomach acid. The drug companies made $50 billion dollars on this last year. By taking the antacids, you destroy the stomach acid and the drug companies know this. It is the biggest FARCE ever perpetrated on the American public and there is no agency trying to stop it. Simply unbelievable.

good luck to you