It’s Friday. Time to start unwinding and perhaps enjoy a treat or two. I’m reading an article now on the benefits of dark chocolate, yet another reminder that I haven’t had any of this delicious antioxidant in the past week. I made a mental note recently to consume dark chocolate regularly, but I keep forgetting to do so. Fortunately, my antioxidant supplement, Neways Revenol, now includes cocoa bean extract in the formula, so I’m not totally missing out on the health benefits of dark chocolate.

Recent research on chocolate and stroke risk includes two large studies which suggest that dark chocolate helps lower the risk of stroke. In the first study, 44,489 people ate one serving of dark chocolate per week. Tough work, but somebody had to do it. Anyway, the researchers found that these people were 22% less likely to have a stroke than people who did not eat chocolate.

The second study covered 1,169 people who ate 50g of chocolate once a week. The chocolate-eaters were found to be 46% less likely to die after a stroke compared to people who did not consume chocolate.

Other studies have shown that consuming a small portion of dark chocolate every day can reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure. Chocolate is also said to reduce LDL cholesterol. This dark confection contains serotonin too, which acts as an anti-depressant.

Before you celebrate this good news by wolfing down a whole box of chocolates, here’s a cautionary word from researcher Sarah Sahib of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario: “More research is needed to determine whether chocolate truly lowers stroke risk, or whether healthier people are simply more likely to eat chocolate than others.”

If dark chocolate isn’t your thing or if you’re concerned about putting on weight, an antioxidant supplement containing cocoa bean extract, like Neways Revenol, might suit you better.

Posted: March 5th, 2010 under Antioxidants, Diet, Health Supplements.
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Being healthy doesn’t necessarily mean having to deny yourself tasty treats. I always have dark chocolate in the fridge, which I enjoy a small portion of every few days. Recent research has got me thinking that perhaps I should be consuming more of the stuff, for my health’s sake.

At a recent conference, the head of Angiogenesis Foundation, William Li, said that dark chocolate and red grapes join blueberries, garlic, soya bean and tea as ingredients that starve cancer while nourishing bodies. The foundation works at identifying foods containing natural chemicals that choke off blood supplies to tumors, starving them to death.

It pitted some foods against approved drugs and found that soya bean, parsley, red grapes, berries and other comestibles (foods containing essential nutrients which help to maintain life) were either as effective or more potent in battling cancer cells. Eaten together, the foods were even more effective in fighting cancer.

If you’ve never tried it before, red wine and dark chocolate go really well together. Why not treat yourself to this powerful cancer-fighting combination tonight? If you’re not much of a drinker, like me, try to keep your fridge stocked with red grapes. After indulging in a handful or two, treat yourself to a piece of really dark chocolate. Mmmm. Now that’s what I call good medicine!

Posted: February 17th, 2010 under Alternative Remedies, Antioxidants, Cancer, Diet.
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Christmas is over but we’re still in the midst of the holiday season with all its parties and festive gorging – um, I mean eating. Another week to go of playing hide and seek with calories. I just survived several parties and I’m happy to say that I got to enjoy various Christmas delicacies without putting on any weight. How did I do it? Little did I know that I had been practising mindful eating, a weight management
approach which I’ve only just heard about.

According to a recent article in the Washington Post, mindful eating is a spin-off from a lifestyle practice called mindfulness, which is about slowing down to savour life’s details, noticing small things and appreciating every sensation. Mindful eating is not a diet. Instead, it focuses on the way you eat, rather than what you eat. So, instead of eating haphazardly and mindlessly at meals, shovelling food into your mouth, you:

- Decide in advance how much to eat, and what to eat. Rather than piling food on your plate, be selective about what you choose to put into your body. Brian Wansink, author of the book “Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think”, goes further by suggesting that you make half that amount vegetables and fruit, the other half protein and starch. Psychologist Susan Albers advises that before taking anything, you should ask yourself whether you really want to eat that item. Would you really enjoy it? Are you really so hungry? Take only what you really, really want.

- Before you start eating, pause and soak in all the sights, sounds and scents of the gathering. If it’s a holiday party, enjoy the atmosphere. Train yourself to use all your senses to relish the food.

- Take your time to savour your food. Appreciate how every morsel smells and tastes. Notice the temperature and texture. Put your cutlery down while you slowly chew each bite, enjoying every moment.

- After you’ve fully savoured each bite and swallowed, then pick up your cutlery again and enjoy another bite.

- Try to be the last to finish eating. Eat slowly. Don’t rush the experience.

- By the end of the meal, you will not only be full, but truly satisfied.

Some tricks to help you remove obstacles to healthy eating include not arriving at a meal hungry, as that may cause you to wolf down more than you should. Another one is using small plates rather than large dinner plates. Your food portions will then seem more substantial. Using tall, thin glasses instead of short, squat ones will also help control your fluid intake without reducing the pleasure. Thin glasses hold less liquid. If your host presses you to take a second helping, take a teaspoonful rather than a full serving. This way, you satisfy your host without sacrificing your waistline.

Eat mindfully, and you’ll probably enjoy your meals and the company more than ever before, and without weight gain too.

Posted: December 28th, 2009 under Diet, weight loss.
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