Clear Thinking, Better Memory, Mood and Stable Blood Sugar with New Chocolate

#a world that works for everyone

Time to change your ideas about chocolate? 

Certain types of cocoa and chocolate that are low in sugar and high in flavanoids seem to have remarkable health benefits  and can improve memory, focus, moods and cognition ,help stabilize blood sugar. improve blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular disease…..

Cocoa drinking Kunas started the chocolate investigation

Off the coast of Panama on the San Blas islands a group of native people-Kuna tribe drink  40-45 ozs of raw unprocessed cocoa beverage each day.  Despite their poverty level, lack of modern medical care and very simple hygiene…..the Kunas enjoy the world’s lowest rates of cardiovascular disease , reduced cancer levels, normal blood pressure and have almost no metabolic- blood sugar problems. (1)

They make their daily cocoa drink  by boiling a banana in water with a large amount of raw unprocessed cocoa powder for a long period of time. The startling health differences between the Kunas who drink their daily cocoa and their relatives who do not use the cocoa-led Harvard researchers to analyse  hundreds of research papers on cocoa flavanoids.

Memory,cognition and blood sugar metabolism -improved by high quality flavanoids from raw cocoa  

In 2011 the Harvard team published  a very large meta analysis of hundreds of research articles  which examined the health benefits of cocoa. (2) This year a smaller double blind study was published. Conducted on 90 elderly individuals over an 8 week period  it was determined that consuming 993 mgs of flavanoids from high quality raw cocoa per day improves cognitive function, lowers blood pressure and improves insulin sensitivity. (3) Perhaps something as simple as a strong, raw cocoa drink can help to preserve cognitive function for people struggling with early stages of Alzheimer's, dementia or memory problems. 

Along with researches around the world large candy companies like Mars and Hershey are are also investigating how to improve the quality of their chocolate products to bring improved benefits. 

Only raw unprocessed cocoa has remarkable properties 

Inside the cacao pod are the cacao beans. Roast these beans, grind them up, drain off the cocoa butter fat and solids and what is left behind is cocoa powder.  Raw unprocessed cocoa powder contains the highest amount of biologically active compounds called flavanoids which provide the greatest health benefits.  Almost all fruits and vegetables contain flavanoids which is why these foods are so healthy for us. 

Raw unprocessed cocoa powder tastes bitter.... but adding a lot of sugar  stresses  your body’s blood sugar metabolism and can lead to weight gain and high cholesterol.  Healthy raw unprocessed chocolate that brings these benefits with high flavanol content will never taste like the chocolate candy from your local store. 

A process known as alkalinization reduces cocoa's bitter taste, makes the cocoa blend easily with sugar and improves its taste when it is cooked or baked. With this procedure raw cocoa is washed with sodium or potassium bicarbonate (baking soda). 
Unfortunately alkalinization washes out the flavanols-the most active health building ingredients in raw cocoa. 

Where to find high flavanoid raw unprocessed cocoa 

Cocoavia , a subsidiary of Mars is one company that uses a patented high flavanoid producing process for their cocoa powders and candies. Cocoavia and other companies have isolated the flavanoids in capsule and tablet form. Local health food stores and online stores like Amazon offer a variety of raw cocoa powders and raw cocoa products.


How much do you need?

The ideal daily amount would be about 1000 mgs of raw cocoa flavanols. 

Look for sweetening ingredients  like stevia, maca, monk fruit, morinda fruit or yacon. These natural sweetners will not affect your blood sugar levels. 

New chocolate :

These are two chocolate bars that I like: 

The Ultra Calm Bar: Dark chocolate mixed with coconut, rice protein, rosemary extract and L-theanine and an amino acid from sunflower provides a profound sense of relaxation, well being and a lovely feeling of calmness within about 30 minutes after eating.(4) 

Improve memory, focus and mental clarity with Karma Melowl Bar: Dark chocolate mixed with lion’s mane mushroom extract, ginko, turmeric and bacopa (ayurvedic herb). (5) 

Another way to increase the flavanoid content is to mix raw cocoa with cranberry, acai, pomegranate, rosemary etc. The naturally high flavanoid levels of these fruits and herbs can also enhance the flavanoid content in raw cocoa products.  

What if chocolate is not right for you?

Some people are allergic to chocolate. Young people may feel it makes their skin break out. Because it has a natural amount of caffeine it even can keep some people awake at night. So if you want to give raw unprocessed cocoa start out by eating it earlier in the day-not at bedtime. 

Just as the world’s ideas about chocolate are changing….

You can change your health and vitality- whether or not you eat raw cocoa products.

Take a few minutes each day to sit in silence away from the cares of your day, breathe deeply and repeat this healing treatment:

Every aspect of me is aligned with the Wholeness of all Life and Healing. New vibrancy, balance and radiant health are restored and renewed in me. I heal fully and permanently now. Every day I am guided to easily make healthy food choices and it becomes more enjoyable to move my 

body as I become more fit. 

Repeat this to yourself in quiet moments once or twice a day for one month. It usually takes about this long for positive healing changes to occur from this practice. 

References:
1.Cocoa and the Kuna indians
2,Flavanoid rich cocoa consumption affects multiple cardiovascular risk factors
3.Improved cognitive function from cocoa flavanol consumption
4.The Ultra Calm Bar
5.The Karma Melowl Bar

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Are Red Wine, Chocolate and Grapes Good for You?

Are Red Wine, Chocolate and Grapes Good for You?

#a world that works for everyone

Does reading about healthy eating ever seem confusing? 

Red wine, chocolate and grapes are foods that are said to help us look younger, stave off aging and prevent heart disease. True or false? Resveratrol-a phytonutritent in red wine, dark chocolate,  grapes, berries, various herbs and peanuts has been associated with increased longevity and reduced rates of cancer and heart disease.1 Yet a recent study declared that consuming resveratrol  has little or no benefit in preventing heart disease, reducing the rate of cancer or preventing strokes.2

Evaluating a single nutrient’s benefit is challenging when subjects in the test pool are not following the same strictly controlled diet ….I believe  the jury is still out on possible benefits of resveratrol.

What's the real story? 

All natural foods contain phytonutrients which enhance our body’s ability to neutralize toxic chemicals called “free radicals” that promote aging and fermentation  and increase the build up of artery clogging plaque.3

Rather than focusing on one phytonutrient like reseveratrol. Let’s take a look at the other benefits of these foods……

What's so great about grapes? 

Grapes and grape juice contain abundant levels of Vitamins C & A, B vitamins and folic acid and the minerals manganese, potassium, copper, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, iron and selenium.

These nutrients can reduce high blood pressure, boost your immune response and help with depression and maintain healthy blood. Nitric oxide in grapes helps to prevent plaque formation in the arteries and reducing blood clots and inflammation in the cardiovascular system. Saponin another compound in grapes  helps to improves cholesterol levels and reduces inflammation in heart disease. A surprising benefit of grapes is that they have unusual antimicrobial properties that can neutralize negative bacteria in the stomach and intestines like E. coli, Salmonella and H. pylori.

What about red wine?

To a lesser extent wine has the same benefits as eating fresh grapes. Wine helps many people feel relaxed and happy which also relaxes the cardiovascular system. It can get tricky when people feel  like they need to have alcohol in large quantities or on a daily basis. No matter how many phytonutrients we find in red wine- too much alcohol can play havoc with healthy blood sugar metabolism and lead to addiction problems.

Is chocolate really that cool? 

Many studies have indicated that dark chocolate can lower the rate of heart disease and even reduce the risk of any disease.

At first the phytonuteint-flavonol was considered to be responsible for these benefits but new research has found an unlikely cause for chocolate’s health building effects.

Fiber not flavonols:

Natural, raw unsweetened cocoa is not easily digested. As it passes into the stomach and small intestines it interacts with our healthy intestinal bacteria and produces an anti-inflammatory response. As the cocoa fiber comes in contact with our naturally occurring intestinal bacteria  a natural fermentation process begins which releases compounds that break down cholesterol and improve our blood lipid levels.

Our very healthy intestinal bacteria –called lactobacillus responds to the cocoa fiber with a dramatic increase in it's numbers. This enhances our overall immune response. When our healthy bacteria levels are high they can decrease the presence and number of potentially negative disease producing bacteria that also live in the gut.

Say what? That’s right -pure natural unsweetened cocoa without sugar, extra fat or enhanced flavorings improves our immune response, lowers cholesterol and reduces inflammation in the body. 4

Sadly the delicious chocolate we all know and love is high in fat and sugar with extra flavorings. None of the things that make it taste so good increase these desirable health benefits.

In the same way that modest amounts of red wine  can help people feel happy and more relaxed eating modest amounts of chocolate can produce similar effects and when people feel happy and relaxed it improves cardiovascular health makes and makes us feel good.

Can you learn to like unsweetened cocoa nibs mixed into your breakfast cereal or your green salad? What about eating 4-5 ozs of grapes so that you get the added benefit of the  fiber and increased antioxidants instead of drinking a small glass of red wine.

I did ask Siri what she thinks.  Are red wine, chocolate and grapes good for me?

Siri said: 

“Please stop pairing red wind and chocolate…dry red wine and chocolate do not go well together. …

Resveratrol found in red wine , chocolate and grapes may not improve your health…..

Chocolate covered grape truffles will definitely make a spectacular finish to any meal……..” 

Oh dear even Siri isn't sure about this.....

What about just eating more fruits and vegetables? 

Yes- healthy amounts of fruits and vegetables reduce the risk of strokes In a deep analysis of 20 studies published in the past 19 years  which evaluated  760,629 people  and 16,981 strokes it was established that stroke risk decreased by 32% with every 200 grams /1 cup of fruit consumed each day and there was an 11% decrease with every 200 grams/1 cup of vegetables eaten each day.5

All I’m saying is -If you want to eat chocolate and red wine think about having them with some grapes or water cress or spinach, chard, apples, strawberries, banana, papaya etc. These fruits and vegetables are also very high in the health protecting phytonutrients.

I enjoy hearing about your healing adventures and respond to all communication so let me hear from you by posting your comments or emailing me direct.

References:

1.  Diets Rich in Resveratrol Fail to Reduce Death, Heart Disease or Cancer

2.  Red Wine, Antioxidants and Resveratrol-Good for Your Heart?

3. Phytonutrient Intake by Adults in the US

4. Gut Bacteria Play a Role in Why Dark Chocolate Is So Good for You

5.Fruits and Vegetables Consumption and Risk of Stroke

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