Intention and Health - 'It's Good to be Good'!

Benefits of Intention!


Here is an in inspiring article written By Stephen G. Post, 'It’s Good to be Good: How Benevolent Emotions and Actions Contribute to Health'. Here's an excerpt of this excellent, deeply involved read that focuses on how good intentions nourish your health:

"...The convergence of evidence is striking in support of the hypothesis that benevolent emotions, attitudes and actions centered on the good of others are contributory to happiness, health, and even longevity in the agent of such giving.



Benevolence is chiefly about the well-being of recipients, but that said, it can be added that it nourishes the giver. The evidence that “doing unto others” is good for the giver has reached a high threshold. ".


Read the rest of this fantastic article here, as well as more wonderful articles by Stephen G. Post.

Chocolate 'Slashes Death Rate' in Heart Attack Survivors

Dark chocolate, kosher and organic, offers benefits to heart attack survivors!


The wonderful benefits of dark chocolate never cease to amaze. We'd like to share with you the latest as to how the 'Food of the Gods' 'slashes death rate in heart attack survivors'!
Heart attack survivors who eat chocolate two or more times a week cut their risk of dying from heart disease about threefold compared with those who never touch the stuff, a new study found.
Smaller quantities confer less protection but are better than none, according to the study, which appears in the September issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Earlier research had established a strong link between cocoa-based confections and lowered blood pressure or improvement in blood flow.
It also had shown that chocolate cuts the rate of heart-related mortality in healthy older men, along with post-menopausal women.
But the new study is the first to demonstrate that consuming chocolate can help ward off the grim reaper if one has suffered an acute myocardial infarction — otherwise known as a heart attack.



"It was specific to chocolate — we found no benefit to sweets in general," said Kenneth Mukamal, a researcher at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and a co-author of the study, which Imre Janszky of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm led.
"It seems that antioxidants in cocoa are a likely candidate" in explaining the life-saving properties, he told AFP in an exchange of e-mails.
Antioxidants are compounds that protect against so-called free radicals, molecules that accumulate in the body over time and can damage cells. The free radicals are thought to play a role in heart disease, cancer and the aging process.

Time to add some chocolate to your day? Indeed.

For The Kids - Bring on the Calcium (and more Chocolate Pudding!) .

Most kids may not have the taste for gourmet, dark chocolate truffles, but the do need their calcium!


From the lovely food blog, Food Blogga comes this delicously informative take on the amount of calcium that children need...and a great chocolate recipe to boot!




Here's more:

"...Here are some facts about kids, calcium, and bone health:

* Unfortunately, bone fractures are on the rise in children. Researchers believe this may be the result of decreased bone mass and reduced physical activity among today's children.

* Drinking less milk and more soda is a potentially dangerous combination for children's bones. By not drinking milk, children's bones are not absorbing the calcium necessary to build bone. Then by drinking soda, they are stripping their bones of calcium.

* Starting at age 9, kids need almost twice as much calcium as they did previously! That's because teens' and tweens' bones are growing the fastest.

* Fewer than 10% of girls and only 25% boys ages 9 to 13 are at or above their adequate intake of calcium. This lack of calcium can have a negative impact on both bones and teeth as these adolescents enter adulthood.

* 90% of adult bone mass is acquired in girls by age 18 and by 20 in boys."

What can you do about it? Read more here about what you can do to boost your kids' calcium - plus scoop us a fabuous recipe (great to use with your Dark Intentional Chocolate Pistoles). Enjoy the read!

Quite Amazing - The First US Hand Transpant Patient!

Via Physorg.com is the story of the latest feat in the medical community- the first hand transplant in the USA! 57 year old Jeff Kepner of Atlanta Georgia is the first recipient of a double hand transplant in the United States.

Here's an excerpt from the story on Physorg.com

"...Showing off his hands Thursday, Kepner said he's glad he went through the surgery. He had been ambivalent because he could manage with his prosthetics and had read that the world's first double hand transplant patient had to have the hands removed because his body rejected them.




But Valarie Kepner (Jeff Kepner's wife) was persistent. She had contacted UPMC without telling her husband. She wanted him to be able to regain some of his independence after being on her schedule for years. She gets up for work at 4:30 a.m., and that meant he had to as well.

Eventually, Kepner met with Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, the hospital's chief of plastic surgery, who helped put his mind at ease.

Lee said that for the May 4 surgery, 21 surgeons worked in teams of four: two prepared Kepner's forearms and two prepared the donor's hands. The teams worked simultaneously."

Read more about the sucessful outcome and Kepner's story here.

A List to Lift Your Spirits - 45 Ways to Improve Your Life!

A dark chocolate gourmet gift basket can indeed lift your spirits - so can this list!


From the sassy & spirited minds at SmakNews.com is this list of '45 Ways to Improve Your Life'. It was such an enticing list, so we could'nt help but share a few with you right here!

- Smile more, it doesn’t cost you money and will knock years from your face off!



- Stop thinking about your regrets and start living your life.

- Forgive and forget. Holding grudges is like having excess baggage on a flight. You only end up paying hefty fines for them. So just bin those grudges and travel light.

- Enjoy your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Make meal times sacred. Don’t talk business. Everything else is rushed enough; take your time with meals!



- Help a total stranger for no reward.

- Accept shortcomings and work around them.

- Volunteer your services to causes you believe in.

Read the rest of the lovely list here!

Healers for Your Health - Top 10 Natural Healers!

Dark, organic chocolate is very beneficial, but here's a list of more powerful foods!


From Healthmad.com is this interesting, deeper look at some of the most effective natural healers available! From dandelion to ginger, here are a few remedies are well known for their healing properties.

Have a look at a few from the list on Healthmad.com:


-The Common Dandelion:



Dandelion is a robust perennial herb used as a medicinal herb internally and externally. It contains iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, calcium, potassium and sodium. Those suffering from hepatitis can benefit from dandelion tea. Likewise, the juice extracted from the leaves is helpful for all bone disorders since the leaves contains magnesium. The tea made from the buds, flowers and fresh leaves can be very helpful in cases of urinary disorders. It is also useful in the treatment of warts. The milk from the cut end of dandelion is also useful in the treatment of warts.

Garlic



The Common Garlic is a natural antibiotic that can help prevent wound infections, relax muscle spasm, a diaphoretic, diuretic, stimulant and a expectorant. It is also thought to lessen cholesterol and can control high blood pressure. Garlic syrup is very useful medicine for asthma, coughs, hoarseness and other lungs disorders.

Find the rest of the list here!

Something to Smile About - People 'Get Happier' As They Grow Older

Dark chocolate makes us smile! here's more good news:

From the ever-marvelous BBC News, is this wonderfully encouraging story about our happiness increasing as we age - is it so? Here's an excerpt from BBC News:

".....According to University of California psychologist Dr Susan Turk Charles, this should make the UK a happier society.
By reviewing the available studies on emotions and ageing she found that mental wellbeing generally improved with age, except for people with dementia-related ill health.
Work carried out by Dr Laura Carstensen, a psychology professor at Stanford University, suggested why this might be the case.
Dr Carstensen asked volunteers ranging in age from 18 to mid-90s to take part in various experiments and keep diaries of their emotional state.



She found the older people were far less likely than the younger to experience persistent negative moods and were more resilient to hearing personal criticism.
They were also much better at controlling and balancing their emotions - a skill that appeared to improve the older they became."

Read the rest of this very interesting article here - and smile!

Incredible - Diver Rescued by Beluga Whale!

Nature's intelligence never ceases to amaze! Here's an incredible story courtesy of Telegraph.co.uk. about a Beluga whale that saved a drowning diver. Here's an excerpt that will surely warm your heart!

"...Competitors had to sink to the bottom of an aquarium's 20ft arctic pool and stay there for as long as possible amid the beluga whales at Polar Land in Harbin, north east China.
But when Yang Yun, 26, tried to head to the surface she found her legs were crippled by cramps.


Photo: Europics

"I began to choke and sank even lower and I thought that was it for me – I was dead. Until I felt this incredible force under me driving me to the surface," she explained."

Read the rest of Yang Yun's astounding experience here!

The Proof is in the (Dark Chocolate) Pudding!

According to this article on ScienceDaily.com, new research at the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE) at the University of Copenhagen reveals that dark chocolate is indeed more satisfying and filling than milk chocolate. Read about the research; sounds like a tasty experiment!

"....To compare the effects of dark and milk chocolate on both appetite and subsequent calorie intake, 16 young and healthy men of normal weight who all liked both dark and milk chocolate took part in a so-called crossover experiment. This meant that they reported for two separate sessions, the first time testing the dark chocolate, and the second time the milk chocolate...."




"...They had all fasted for 12 hours beforehand and were offered 100g of chocolate, which they consumed in the course of 15 minutes. The calorific content was virtually the same for the milk and dark chocolate.
During the following 5 hours, participants were asked to register their appetite every half hour, i.e. their hunger, satiety, craving for special foods and how they liked the chocolate."

What were the results? Very interesting indeed - read the rest of the article here.