Chocolate is Good for You

Chocolate lovers everywhere-celebrate!  Chocolate is good for you!  But, before consuming for its health benefits, be very picky.  Most commercially available chocolate has been processed in a way that destroys its healthful compounds and is mixed with damaged oils, refined sugar, and condensed or powdered milk.  Instead, look for dark chocolate with a cacao level of 70% or greater.

Due to the rich soil required to grow the cacao bean, dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants, compounds that negate free radicals that lead to premature aging and cause degenerative diseases in the human body.  In fact, cacao has a high ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) rating, outperforming green tea.

Cacao is naturally high in fatty acids.  These fatty acids are important for proper brain function, skin and hair health, and hormone regulation.  Cacao supports heart and circulatory health due to its levels of catechins and flavonols, which not only increase nitric oxide but also reduces blood clotting to allow for better blood flow.

Cacao is also high in anandamides, tryptophan, and theobromines, which supply natural energy and give a life similar to caffeine but without its highs and lows.  Cacao does contain caffeine but at a much lower level than coffee.

Natural cacao is high in vitamins and minerals including:

• Chromium
• Copper
• Iron
• Magnesium
• Zinc

Check out beneficial cacao in bars and snack foods.  Also, check out cacao in liquid form, grown without chemicals and naturally dried and processed by Genesis Today, available at your local health food store or natural foods market.

Check Your Supplement Labels

Think your supplements are good for you?  Check your supplement labels for ingredients like magnesium stearate and titanium dioxide.  These agents are added to many supplements in order to aid the manufacturing and packaging processes as they help the raw ingredients to flow better through machinery.  When added to supplements, these agents weaken the product and can actually impede the immune system.

Magnesium stearate has another name you might be more familiar with-chalk!  When chalk enters your system, it can act as a barrier to the availability of the beneficial properties of any supplement.

For more research, visit http://www.mercola.com/

Give Me Five

Five ways to avoid the flu:

• Wash hands often
• Drink plenty of clean water
• Eat lots of fresh, organic, raw fruits and vegetables and garlic (http://www.kyolic.com)
• Get plenty of rest
• Reduce contact with sick people