I remember as a child, my parents warning me about the dangers of candy and chocolate.  For obvious reasons, anything loaded with sugar cannot be good for you.  But wait, what about the dark chocolates?  Are there any health benefits to eating this delicious candy? Does the good outweigh the bad?   If so, how much is too much?

A little lesson on exactly what chocolate is:

Chocolate is made from plants, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables. These benefits are from flavonoids.   Flavonoids help protect plants from environmental toxins and help repair damage. They can be found in a variety of foods, such as fruits and vegetables. When we eat foods rich in flavonoids, it appears that we also benefit from this “antioxidant” power.   What are antioxidants?

Antioxidants are believed to help the body’s cells resist damage caused by free radicals that are formed by normal bodily processes, such as breathing, and from environmental contaminants, like cigarette smoke. If your body does not have enough antioxidants to combat the amount of oxidation that occurs, it can become damaged by free radicals. For example, an increase in oxidation can cause low-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as “bad” cholesterol, to form plaque on the artery walls.

An interesting fact about this dark chocolate is that it contains nearly 8 times more antioxidants than the number found in strawberries.

Flavanols are the main type of flavonoid found in cocoa and chocolate. In addition to having antioxidant qualities, research shows that flavanols have other potential influences on vascular health, such as lowering blood pressure, improving blood flow to the brain and heart, and making blood platelets less sticky and able to clot.

Heart Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate:

Dark chocolate is good for your heart. A small bar of it every day can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well. Two heart health benefits of dark chocolate are:

Lower Blood Pressure:  Studies have shown that consuming a small bar of dark chocolate everyday can reduce blood pressure in individuals with high blood pressure.

Lower Cholesterol: Dark chocolate has also been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) by up to 10 percent.

Other Benefits of Dark Chocolate:

It tastes good

It stimulates endorphin production, which gives a feeling of pleasure

It contains serotonin, which acts as an anti-depressant

It contains theobromine, caffeine and other substances which are stimulants

Doesn’t Chocolate Have a lot of Fat?

Here is some more good news — some of the fats in chocolate do not impact your cholesterol. The fats in chocolate are 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid:

Oleic Acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is also found in olive oil.

Stearic Acid is a saturated fat but one which research is shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol.

Palmitic Acid is also a saturated fat, one which raises cholesterol and heart disease risk.

That means only 1/3 of the fat in dark chocolate is bad for you.

Tips on eating chocolate:

Chocolate Tip 1 – Balance the Calories:

This information doesn’t mean that you should eat as much chocolate as you like. Chocolate is still a high-calorie, high-fat food. Most of the studies done used no more than 100 grams, or about 3.5 ounces, of dark chocolate a day to get the benefits.

One bar of dark chocolate has around 400 calories. If you eat half a bar of chocolate a day, you must balance those 200 calories by eating less of something else. Cut out other sweets or snacks and replace them with chocolate to keep your total calories the same.  Remember it won’t take long to pile up 3500 extra calories which = a pound of fat.

Chocolate Tip 2 – Go for Dark Chocolate not the white or milk chocolate:

Dark chocolate has far more antioxidants than milk or white chocolate. These other two chocolates cannot make any health claims. Dark chocolate has 65 percent or higher cocoa content.

Chocolate Tip 3 – Eat it plain, without caramel or nougat:

You should look for pure dark chocolate or dark chocolate with nuts, orange peel or other flavorings. Avoid anything with caramel, nougat or other fillings. These fillings are just adding sugar and fat which erase many of the benefits you get from eating the chocolate.

So enjoy your Valentine holiday and buy a bit of dark chocolate for your beloved!  You may be helping them lower their blood pressure and cholesterol!   Besides that, they are increasing those endorphin and serotonin levels – which can lead to a happier day or night!

Sources: Chocolate Manufacturers Association; Journal of the American Medical Association

“Like” us on Facebook and receive a 1/2 OFF Coupon for a Body Composition and Fitness Analysis!

Servings: 2
Preparation Time: 15 minute

Ingredients

• ¼ cup egg substitute
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp sugar substitute
• 6 oz (or 170g) low fat raspberry yogurt.
• 3 Tbsp vanilla protein powder (whey or soy).
• 1 cup fresh or frozen berries

Ingredients:

• 1 whole egg
• 3 egg whites
• 2 Tbsp reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 corn tortillas
• ¼ avocado, sliced
• ¼ c salsa, divided

Directions:

via ACE Fitness

 

When you’re trying to lose weight, cutting out breakfast may be tempting. You figure you’re saving yourself some calories and you get a couple extra minutes to snooze. But research has consistently shown that the people who successfully lose weight are the ones that wake up and eat! Furthermore, people who eat breakfast regularly have better vitamin and mineral status and eat fewer calories from fat. So it seems that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day.

Eat Early, Weigh Less Later

Why does eating breakfast help people lose weight? It defies common sense that eating all those calories in the morning instead of simply skipping them would help.

Many studies, in both adults and children, have shown that breakfast eaters tend to weigh less than breakfast skippers.

Why? One theory suggests that eating a healthy breakfast can reduce hunger throughout the day and help people make better food choices at other meals. While it might seem as though you could save calories by skipping breakfast, this is not an effective strategy. Typically, hunger gets the best of people who skip breakfast, and they eat more at lunch and throughout the day.

Another theory behind the breakfast–weight control link implies that eating breakfast is part of a healthy lifestyle that includes making wise food choices and balancing calories with exercise. For example, consider the successful weight losers followed by the National Weight Control Registry, all of whom have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least one year. Some 80% of the people in the Registry regularly eat breakfast (and also follow a calorie-controlled, low-fat diet).

It’s worth noting that most studies linking breakfast to weight control looked at a healthy breakfast containing protein and/or whole grains—not meals loaded with fat and calories.

Eating breakfast also gives you energy to do more physical activity and be more productive in everything you do, which is also vital to weight control. So make the effort to get up in the morning and fix yourself a healthy meal.

Maintaining Your Diet

Before you get too excited and go out for a Denny’s™ Grand Slam Breakfast, keep in mind that your breakfast should consist of healthy items that are in line with your current dietary weight-loss goals. Members of the National Weight Control Registry report eating cereal and fruit for breakfast. While these are certainly healthy options, eggs have also been shown to offer several benefits.

Eggs have a greater satiety value than cereal and white bread. This means that they are more satisfying in giving you that feeling of fullness, while you may actually be eating less. One of the reasons for this is that eggs are high in protein, which is known to increase satiety. Proteins also have a higher thermic effect, meaning that it takes more calories to digest them. Studies have compared an egg breakfast to a bagel breakfast of the same caloric value and weight. Researchers at Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center discovered that people who ate the eggs for breakfast ate less at lunch and less throughout the rest of the day compared to people who ate the bagels, even though they had the same amount of calories for breakfast.

In the past, eggs have had a bad rap because of their high cholesterol content. However, eggs today have lower cholesterol counts than in the past due to the healthier feeds given to chickens. Additionally, research has shown that moderate egg consumption of about 1 per day does not increase the risk of coronary heart disease in healthy individuals. If the cholesterol count is a concern, then egg whites, which are free of cholesterol yet rich in protein, are a good alternative. Eggs are also a good source of essential nutrients riboflavin, vitamin B12, phosphorus, selenium and protein.

If you aren’t too keen on eggs, try low-fat or non-fat dairy products like yogurt, which are also high in protein. High-fiber complex carbohydrates like whole-grain breads and cereals will keep you satisfied. Fiber also increases that sensation of fullness. Overall, whether you choose eggs, cereal or fruit, your breakfast should fall in line with your dietary weight-loss goals. Choose foods that fit your lifestyle and that you will enjoy.

Additional Resources

National Weight Control Registry: www.nwcr.ws
Weight Control Information Network—Weight-loss and Nutrition Myths: www.win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/myths.htm

“Like” us on Facebook and receive a 1/2 OFF Coupon for a Body Composition and Fitness Analysis!

Most Important Meal of the Day

Most people complain that breakfast is one the hardest meals to eat in a day. However, your mother was right: it is one of the most important meals.

Not only does a balanced breakfast give you energy for the rest of the day, but it helps you eat less and feel less hungry as the day goes on. It’ll prevent you from digging into the cookie jar when you get home from work, and will allow you to have a great workout at noon.

But, since time is usually an issue for most people, here are 5 of our favorite quick breakfast meals that you can make in a snap:

1) High-Fiber Protein Pancake: Most people think of butter and syrup when they picture a pancake, but this is different. Instead, mix up the following ingredients and cook them the night before so you have this healthy pancake in the morning. Just warm quickly on the stove or toaster oven and top with your favorite nut butter:

Ingredients:

•    1/2 Cup Egg Whites

•    1 scoop Vanilla Pro Power Whey Protein powder

•    1/3 Cup dry Old-fashioned Oatmeal

•    1 tsp Ground Flax Seeds

•    1/8 tsp. Baking Powder

•    Sprinkle of Cinnamon

•    Olive Oil cooking spray

Directions:

Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and place on medium heat to preheat pan.  Meanwhile, combine the egg whites and protein powder in a mixing bowl, stirring with a fork or whisk until well-blended.  Add oatmeal, flax, baking powder and cinnamon and mix vigorously for about a minute.  Check pan’s temperature by dropping a tiny amount of water on it.  If the water bubbles/sizzles immediately, the pan is ready.  Using a large spoon or small ladle, spoon a small amount of the batter into the pan, gently spreading it to a pancake shape if it’s too thick to do this on its own.  Cook on one side until bubbles begin to appear and burst on the top of the batter.  Using a spatula, carefully flip over and cook for roughly the same amount of time. Repeat until batter is gone. Serves 1.

2)    Scrambled Eggs with Avocado and Salsa: Scrambled eggs really aren’t that hard or time-consuming to make. People think you have to mix the eggs ahead of time, but you can just quickly stir them a few times while cooking and they’ll become scrambled – Amazing! We like mixing two Omega-3 Eggs with ½ cup Egg Whites and adding Spinach. Then, top with slivers of avocado and fresh salsa. It’s a quick breakfast fit for a king (or queen).

3)    Whey Protein Smoothie: When you’re in a rush you can make this smoothie the night before, or quickly in the morning. The key thing is to use a single-serve blender unit, like a Magic Bullet, so you don’t have to worry about cleaning a huge, messy blender when you’re done. We like to combine the following: 1 Cup Mootopia Skim Milk, 1 scoop Pro Power Vanilla Protein Powder, 1 Tbsp Ground Flax, 1/3 Cup frozen unsweetened Mixed Berries, ½ Cup raw Spinach (the spinach adds a neat green color to the smoothie, but it still tastes awesome! Try it!), and 1 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter.

4)    High-Protein Cereal: Face it, people love cereal because it’s easy to eat and can be healthy. But, most brands are covered with sugar and full of junk. Also, with just milk, it doesn’t really pack much metabolism-boosting protein. So, instead, try this with your normal breakfast bowl: Mix one scoop of Vanilla Pro Power Protein Powder with water or Mootopia skm milk and pour that over a bowl of your favorite low-sugar breakfast cereal; some of our favorites are Uncle Sam, Bran Flakes (add your own raisins to make it Raisin Bran), Cheerios, Puffed Rice, and Shredded Wheat.

5) Nutty, Berry, Greek Yogurt: Most people think of yogurt as just a snack item, but it can be a great breakfast food too. However, like cereal, some yogurt is really like dessert, instead of a health food. So, skip all that sugar found in most yogurts and try this: Mix 6 ounces of 2% plain Greek yogurt with 2 Tbsp of slivered almonds, 1 tsp ground flax seeds and 1/3 cup frozen, thawed, unsweetened berries.

“Like” us on Facebook and receive a 1/2 OFF Coupon for a Body Composition and Fitness Analysis!