Archive for August, 2009
Help For Your Health With Chocolate
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Lowering high blood pressure and cardiovascular risk can now be downright delicious.
Happy Heart News
Studies at the American Association for the Advancement of Science reveals that cocoa and dark chocolate contain flavonols which prevent substances in the bloodstream from oxidizing and clogging arteries, as well as helping the body process nitric oxide, a compound that promotes healthy blood flow and blood pressure.
Flavonoids are naturally-occurring plant compounds found in a wide array of foods that are recognized as having certain health benefits. Cranberries, apples, peanuts, onions, tea, dark chocolate and red wine are flavonoid-rich. Flavonoids have antioxidant powers that provide protective benefits from environmental toxins. Flavonoids in chocolate are called flavonols.
Euphoric about Flavonols
In addition to these antioxidant capabilities, the flavonols in chocolate are also thought to affect the relaxation capabilities of blood vessels. This is why a soothing and almost euphoric feeling may occur after consuming dark chocolate. Also, these same flavonols may positively affect the balance of certain hormone-like compounds called eicosanoids, which are thought to play a role in cardiovascular health. This is similar to the role a low-dose aspirin plays in promoting blood flow. This reduces the ability of the blood to clot, which also reduces the risk of stroke and heart attack.
Dr. Carl Keen, lead study author, cautions that eating chocolate bars is not supposed to be a substitute for taking a recommended daily dose of aspirin.
The Fat in Chocolate
Some people may be concerned about the fat content in chocolate. The fat in chocolate, from cocoa butter, contains what is known as oleic acid. Oleic acid is a monounsaturated fat (also found in olive oil) and is actually healthy for your heart.
This good news does not mean we should have as much chocolate as we like. Also, it is important to know what forms of chocolate would be ideal over others.
Processing
How cocoa is processed into chocolate products determines how many flavonols are lost. The processes known as fermentation, alkalizing, and roasting all have an effect on the level of flavonols that are retained.
As of now, dark chocolate appears to retain the highest level of flavonoids. So you are better off eating dark chocolate over milk chocolate.
In Conclusion
So should we eat chocolate for its health benefits or for its fabulous taste?
The test results are starting to show strong evidence to the former. Even the USDA Food Composition Laboratory is convinced. They are developing a database that will include cocoa among the flavonoid-rich plant foods.
So soon you might be hearing your physician saying that a chocolate a day will keep the doctor away. Life does not get better than that.
Debbie Adler
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/help-for-your-health-with-chocolate-51800.html
Decadent Escapes: Chocolate for Grown Ups
Posted by: | CommentsDiamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but chocolate gets along with everybody. With more research than ever pointing towards the benefits of indulging in an a bit of chocolate goodness every now and then, this is one treat that appeals to everyone; making chocolate the number one choice when it comes to edible presents.
Today’s chocolate gifts go beyond red drugstore candy hearts- there are decadent chocolate baskets and luscious chocolate assortments to please even the pickiest of receivers. In fact, with so many chocolate varieties to choose from, you may not know where to begin your hunt for the perfect morsel. Here are some ideas to keep in mind when you’re thinking about giving the glorious gift of chocolate:
Think Outside the (Candy) Box. A box of treats is always nice to receive, but if you really want to up the wow factor, go for an unexpected chocolate gift. Chocolate baskets can be filled with an assortment of delicious specialties that go well together. Like rich chocolate covered coffee beans paired with an aromatic java blend. Or, for the ultimate compliment of tastes, try a dark chocolate assortment and a basket of ripe berries. Chocolate and champagne have always made a romantic anniversary gift, but there’s no need to stick to truffles and bon bons. Why not surprise her with a selection of chocolate body paints, or a chocolate rose dusted with real 24 karat gold?
Bring Chocolate Into the Workplace. Corporate gifts are an office necessity. To really make yourself stand out in the eyes of a client, skip the stationary set or logo mug in favor of a chocolate gift that will really impress. At specialty chocolate makers and websites, you can get custom made chocolate business cards to include with your proposal, or a chocolate gift basket made entirely of treats that relate to your target recipient. (Chocolate golf clubs, perhaps?) And since there are properties found within cocoa that have been proven to elevate mood and make people happy, having a chocolate assortment available to nosh on before a big meeting may just make a potential customer more amenable to using your services.
Don’t Forget To Treat Yourself. When choosing the perfect chocolate basket to send as a present, don’t forget to send a little something to yourself. After all, chocolate has been shown to be an effective antioxidant, and induces the same chemical reaction in the brain as being in love. Not to mention the fact that a chocolate assortment is guaranteed to make you smile- and remains a much more affordable alternative to hours of therapy.
Chocolate just makes people happy. From creamy milk chocolate to rich white chocolate and decadent dark, there are dozens of ways for you to indulge in a cocoa covered smile. Just don’t forget to share.
bloomercandy
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-opportunities-articles/decadent-escapes-chocolate-for-grown-ups-621446.html
How To Eat Chocolate And Still Lose Weight
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If you want to lose weight but are a chocoholic, giving up your favorite chocolate can be the most difficult part of a diet. Many good quality chocolates are high in fat and calories and so can spoil all the good work done so far. However, there is a way that someone watching their weight CAN eat chocolate and not feel that they are blowing their diet.
The answer to this dilemma is strawberries - chocolate covered strawberries to be precise. A typical chocolate covered strawberry has less than 100 calories and is a healthy low fat delicious treat. But just because it is low on calories does not mean that it is low on taste. The combination of luscious fruit on the inside and smooth chocolate on the outside makes them an irresistible desert, perfect for special occasions, romantic dinners for two and dinner parties, offering all the taste that anyone could wish for, without the guilt.
Beautiful chocolate covered strawberries can of course be bought from specialized shops and online stores, but it is more fun to make them yourself. This also allows you to control the amount and content of the chocolate covering and so the calories.
Follow these simple steps to make perfect chocolate covered strawberries:
Fresh, best quality strawberries are essential
Wash them well and dry thoroughly.
Either milk or dark chocolate can be used to make the dipping sauce, but for the best result choose a fine good quality chocolate.
Melt the chocolate slowly in a bowl by carefully placing the bowl in a pan of boiling water. Add an equal amount of cream and gently mix in.
Dip each strawberry and leave to set on wax paper.
An alternative method is to pierce the stem end of the berry with a cocktail stick, use the stick to dip the berry and then stand it in some polystyrene. This also makes it easier to decorate after the chocolate has solidified. Try piping melted white chocolate or even dipping again in a different chocolate to provide a double layer - delicious but NOT good for calorie counting!
Keep in the fridge and ideally eat on the day they were made. They do not keep well.
Now, enjoy the contrast of taste and texture with a glass of champagne.
Tricia Craggs
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/how-to-eat-chocolate-and-still-lose-weight-117919.html
Can Eating Chocolate Reduce The Risk For Heart Disease?
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If your family history includes coronary heart disease, you are wise to look at ways to reduce your risk for heart disease. Coronary heart disease although affected by genetic makeup, is also related to your lifestyle.
Think of the more common risk factors for coronary heart disease:
* Cigarette smoking - a lifestyle choice
* Elevated cholesterol - in part, a lifestyle choice
* High blood pressure - affected by life choices
* Obesity - resulting from lifestyle choices
* Prolonged periods of inactivity - a lifestyle choice
You probably know that changes to your lifestyle can readily reduce the risk for heart disease. Such changes do not require a physician’s help, although you will want to seek your physician’s advice. Nor do actions to reduce the risks of heart disease require participation in a program.
A report in the “American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine” for March/April 2007; 1(2): 79-90 called for practical steps doctors could take to help you change your lifestyle. That report states that most individuals who change lifestyle do it without any program, and gives these examples:
* “…more than 90% of individuals who have stopped smoking have done this without a formal smoking cessation program.”
* “The majority of individuals who lose weight also do this on their own.”
You can make lifestyle changes that will reduce heart disease risks.
Reduce Heart Disease Risks with These Steps
You can reduce the risk for heart disease by making a few changes in your current lifestyle.
1. Chocolate First
Can eating chocolate reduce the risk for heart disease? You have heard reports of it on television. You may have heard it discussed at the office. Is it true?
In 1996, University of California-Davis researcher Andrew Waterhouse found that chocolate contains phenols, chemicals that might reduce heart disease risks. Waterhouse wrote about his findings in the British medical journal Lancet, telling how he had used laboratory experiments to measure the amount of phenols in such products as baker’s chocolate, cocoa powder, and milk chocolate. He found that it took less than 2 ounces of milk chocolate to provide the same amount of phenols as a 5-ounce glass of red wine, which was already known for reducing heart disease risks. He reasoned that not only can eating chocolate reduce the risk for heart disease, but that more research would show that it actually does.
In 2003, Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and his colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany published a further report on chocolate in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. Dark chocolate, they found, lowers high blood pressure and reduces that risk associated with heart disease. They had done clinical research to show the effects in humans. Milk chocolate and white chocolate did not have this effect. Milk, whether blended into the chocolate or used to wash down the chocolate, diluted the effect.
Why dark chocolate? The answer is the phenols that Waterhouse discovered in chocolate back in 1996. Cocoa phenols are known to lower blood pressure.
In addition, phenols lower the risk of heart disease by keeping fat-like substances from oxidizing in the bloodstream and clogging the arteries.
So can eating chocolate reduce the risk for heart disease?
It can reduce some risks - if it is dark chocolate - the darker the better - and is not washed down with milk. European made chocolates appear to be better than American made, since they contain more cocoa phenols.
2. Smoking
Another lifestyle change that can reduce the risk of heart disease is to stop smoking. Those who say they can’t stop smoking have not been determined or committed enough. As quoted above from the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, ” more than 90% of individuals who have stopped smoking have done this without a formal smoking cessation program.”
If you are serious about reducing heart disease risks, stop smoking.
3. Obesity
Overweight sounds nicer than obesity, but whichever way you look at it in the mirror, it is a lifestyle change you can make to reduce heart disease risks. You don’t need to join one of the many programs advertised on television, or ask your doctor for prescription medication. You need to change your way of eating and get exercise.
4. Exercise
While the industrial age, followed by the information age, brought us many benefits, they also took away the benefits of farm work. A great number of us have developed a sedentary lifestyle that increases heart disease risks. To reverse that, and reduce the risks of heart disease, we need to follow a regular exercise program.
5. Cholesterol
Your genetic makeup may predispose you to higher levels of cholesterol. To reduce this risk of heart disease, you can change your diet to one of the many that reduce cholesterol intake.
Conclusion
There are other risks for heart disease, but these are examples of those that can be reduced by making simple changes in the way you live. Can they be eradicated without medication? Sometimes they can. Can they become less of a risk for heart disease without medication? Yes. It certainly is worth making the necessary changes.
CAUTION: The author is not a medical professional, and offers the information in this article for educational purposes only. Please discuss it with your health care provider before relying on it in any way.
Anna Hart
http://www.articlesbase.com/medicine-articles/can-eating-chocolate-reduce-the-risk-for-heart-disease-127371.html
Why Tea and Chocolate are Good for your Health
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Tea and chocolate… You’re probably wondering if those two can really be good for you, aren’t you? After all, chocolate has a lot of calories and tea has caffeine.
Allow me to explain how these two can be good for you.
A Pennsylvania State-led review (done in 2002) of the available 66 published studies, supports the view that consuming flavonoid-rich tea and/or chocolate, in moderation, can be associated with the reduced risk of cardiovascular disease.
Tea, without milk or sugar, does not contain any calories and contains plenty of antioxidant flavonoids. Tea can be added to your diet without increasing your weight. A chocolate cookie that also contains fruits and nuts along with the tea (remember to practice moderation) may be a heart healthy snack.
On this planet, there isn’t just one food that can be absorbed singly and give us everything that our body needs. A balance has to be achieved amongst all kinds of food. Both, tea and chocolate, which are plant foods (let’s not forget that one!), can be included as part of a healthy diet. But chocolate has to be eaten in moderation (because of its high-calories) along with other flavonoid-rich plant foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
It is widely known that tea contains flavonoids, however, watch out for chocolate. The amount of flavonoids in commercial chocolates will vary greatly from one kind to another. Some might not contain any flavonoids while others might contain a good amount.
Note: The research in regards to flavonoids and all of their health benefits are still in progress. Hence, the amount of flavonoids chocolate contains is rarely written on the ingredients of a chocolate bar. In order to make sure that you do get chocolate that is flavonoid-rich, I suggest that you stick with chocolates that are of high quality as high quality ingredients are usually used.
Although weight gain is a possible side-effect of eating chocolate, the increase of “bad” cholesterol is not. It has been noted that the major form of fat in chocolate is stearic acid. Stearic acid is a cholesterol-neutral when it is presented in a diet in moderate amounts. So don’t worry about getting “bad” cholesterol as long as you eat good-quality chocolate in moderation!
Don’t forget, this isn’t a green light to go on a chocolate binge!
In conclusion, studies on tea and chocolate support the concept that the consumption of flavonoid-rich foods may be beneficial to your health.
Audrey Coriou
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/why-tea-and-chocolate-are-good-for-your-health-121654.html