More Benefits! Dark Chocolate's Potential Effect on Chronic Fatigue Patients...

Dark chocolate's ever increasing potential benefits!


From the ever-informative ProHealth.com is this informative article about the potential benefits of dark chocolate on chronic fatigue patients...let's have a look at all the benefits! Here's an excerpt from this great article:

"...One study found that a substance in cocoa helps the body process nitric oxide (NO), a compound critical for healthy blood flow and blood pressure. Another study showed that flavonols in cocoa prevent fat-like substances in the bloodstream from oxidizing and clogging the arteries, and make blood platelets less likely to stick together and cause clots. Flavonoids are plant compounds with potent antioxidant properties; so far, scientists have found more than 4,000 kinds. Cocoa beans contain large quantities of flavonoids, and so do red wine, tea, cranberries, peanuts, strawberries, apples and many other fruits and vegetables.(2) The flavonoids in chocolate are called flavonols.



Generally, science has found that dark chocolate is higher in flavonoids than milk chocolate.(3) The way that cocoa powder and chocolate syrups are manufactured removes most flavonoids. "

Find the rest of this very intriguing, in-depth article here on ProHealth.com.

Happy Holidays! Can Myrrh Lower High Cholesterol?

Dark chocolate can lower LDL cholesterol, but myrrh? Interesting!

Happy Holidays!

From Health.com is this interesting article about the possible benefits of myrrhand lowering high blood pressure.Here's more from this intriguing article:

"...The resin of trees in the Middle East — known as myrrh — may help lower “bad” cholesterol, new research suggests.




The study author explained that myrrh resin could be used in conjunction with other plant materials to boost heart health, although it’s not clear yet how people might consume it, and more research is needed."

Read the rest of this article here on Health.com!

Reduce Waste This Holiday Season - A Few Tips!

From the great site, YourDailyThread.com is this wonderful, insightful article about how to create a greener holiday season! Here's more from the article:

"...Reduce Your Waste Post-Consumer and Tree Free Paper: Now when you can't send an e-card (grandparents that don't email or you appreciate the art of hand writing a card) using cards printed with soy or water based ink (that are low VOC) and printed on post consumer recycled paper or non tree paper choices such as cotton, hemp and others are the way to go. Here are a few companies that meet our criteria.

Copper Willow: A women-owned venture in Culver City, California that takes great care to not only create beautiful holiday cards but takes great environmental care with everything they craft. They also use antique printing machines and calligraphy and specialize in custom creations. www.copperwillow.com

Verde Paperie: This online L.A.-based boutique carries adorable boxed sets from designers and artists. Each item has a description to qualify its "greenness." www.verdepaperie.com



Green Field Paper Company: This San Diego based company specializes in tree free paper options such as hemp, java or even denim. They can do bulk orders as well. www.greenfieldpapercompany.com.

DIY Tip: If you receive paper holiday cards there are some crafty options for next year such as creating placemats for the table or holiday collages. You can always recycle or compost them rather then tossing them in the trash too."

Go to YourDailyThread.com to read the wonderful bunch of useful tips to make your holiday season a greener one!

Dark Chocolate - Indulge for Good Health!

Reap the benefits of delicious dark chocolate!

From Health Magazine, here is a wonderful article about the mood boosting, heart helping benefits of chocolate! Here's a bit more, from Health.com:

Heart helper
".. A study in the Journal of Nutrition found that people who ate dark chocolate had less of a protein that indicates inflammation, which can lead to a heart attack....

Mood Buster
There’s a good reason we crave chocolate when we’re down. Its tryptophan ups mood-lifting serotonin in the brain, says Leah Sherman, a naturopathic physician in Portland, Oregon. One study found that even the taste, texture, and smell make us happy."




Find out about more delicious benefits that dark chocolate has to offer here on Health.com!

3 Wonderful New Benefits of Dark Chocolate!

Love your dark chocolate more than ever! Here are three more exciting benefits...

From RealAge.com comes this very interesting article containing three more enticing, wonderful benefits that dark chocolate has to offer! Here's an excerpt:

"..Chocolate makes you smarter.

Ample research suggests that the flavonols in dark chocolate increase cerebral blood flow, which in turn may trigger the creation of new blood vessels and brain cells.



And a new study showed that older adults performed better on cognitive tests after eating small portions of the sweet stuff. Talk about a nourished noggin! (Here's why opting for semisweet or unsweetened chocolate may be even better for your brain.)"
Read the other two benefits here.

If Dark Chocolate is 'The Food of the Gods', What is the 'Fruit of the Gods'?

We know that gourmet dark chocolate is hailed as the "food of the gods", but what is the "fruit of the gods"? Pomegranates!

From redOrbit.com is this delicious article about the superpowers of the fruit that is now being hailed for it's wonderful nutritional benefits - the pomegranate! Like dark chocolate, it has incredible health properties and a long history. Read more from the article:

"...The pomegranate, with its edible seeds inside juicy sacs, is high in vitamin C and potassium, low in calories (80 per serving, which is just under one-third of a medium fruit), and a good source of fiber. Pomegranates are especially high in polyphenols, a form of antioxidant purported to help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. In fact, pomegranate juice, which contains health-boosting tannins, anthocyanins, and ellagic acid, has higher antioxidant activity than green tea and red wine.
According to the American Dietetic Association, studies involving mice and humans show that eating pomegranates may help prevent clogged arteries. In addition, a recent study from Jonsson Cancer Center at UCLA found that levels of PSA (prostate specific antigen), a protein marker for prostate cancer, increased 35% slower in men with recurrent prostate cancer who drank 8 ounces of pomegranate juice daily after surgery or radiation. (The study also found that it took 54 months to double PSA levels, compared to 15 months in men who did not drink the juice.) Increasing the time it takes for a man's PSA levels to double may postpone cancer recurrences and reduce his need to have other cancer treatment procedures, such as surgery or radiation, in the future.



Pomegranate juice also appears to suppress the growth of cancer cells and cause prostate cancer cells to die. It is believed that the antioxidants in the juice - particularly ellagic acid - are behind this beneficial effect. There are also some very early research being conducted to find out how pomegranate juice may be used to treat breast cancer and osteoarthritis."

Read the rest of this article here!

Dark Chocolate Added Daily Means a Happy Heart!

Savor a half a bar of organic, gourmet dark chocolate per week for heart health...

From ScienceDaily.com comes this great bit of news about adding dark chocolate to your daily routine to keep risk of heart attack at bay. Here's more from the article:

"...A new effect, demonstrated for the first time in a population study by the Research Laboratories of the Catholic University in Campobasso, in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute of Milan.
The findings, published in the last issue of the Journal of Nutrition, official journal of the American Society of Nutrition, come from one of the largest epidemiological studies ever conducted in Europe, the Moli-sani Project, which has enrolled 20,000 inhabitants of the Molise region so far. By studying the participants recruited, researchers focused on the complex mechanism of inflammation.



Photo from OhSheGlows.com

It is known how a chronic inflammatory state represents a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease, from myocardial infarction to stroke, just to mention the major diseases. Keeping the inflammation process under control has become a major issue for prevention programs and C reactive protein turned out to be one of the most promising markers, detectable by a simple blood test.
The Italian team related the levels of this protein in the blood of examined people with their usual chocolate intake. Out of 11,000, researchers identified 4,849 subjects in good health and free of risk factors (normal cholesterol, blood pressure and other parameters). Among them, 1,317 did not use to eat any chocolate, while 824 used to have chocolate regularly, but just the dark one."

Read the rest of this article here on ScienceDaily.

Dark Chocolate Each Day - An Alternative to Asprin?

A bite of gourmet dark chocolate could help your blood flow!

Could dark chocolate have the same effects on thinning the blood as asprin? Here's a great article from BBC News about a recent study by Johns Hopkins University in Chicago. Here's more from the article:


"....Researchers carried out tests on 139 "chocoholics" who were disqualified from another study because they could not give up their habit. Previous research has suggested that chocolate is good for the heart. The study, by Johns Hopkins University, featured at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago.

The Johns Hopkins team started out examining the effects of aspirin on platelets, the tiny solid particles in blood that clump together to form a clot.

However, 139 people who signed up for the study were disqualified because they were unable to give up eating chocolate as required. Researchers have known for almost two decades that dark chocolate can lower blood pressure and has other beneficial effects on blood flow.
But the "chocoholic" group gave the Johns Hopkins team an ideal chance to probe why this might be a little further by carrying out a biochemical analysis.

They carried out tests comparing how long it took platelets taken from the "chocoholics" and others who had not eaten chocolate to clump together when they were run through a mechanical blood vessel system.



Platelets from those who stayed away from chocolate clotted faster, at 123 seconds, compared with 130 seconds for the chocolate group. Researcher Professor Diane Becker said: "What these chocolate 'offenders' taught us is that the chemical in cocoa beans has a biochemical effect similar to aspirin in reducing platelet clumping, which can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack."

Read the rest of this fascinating study here.