~ chocolate

(Jan 16/09) I was thinking to myself yesterday, as I was pondering what delightful thing I could put on my list to add to this blog.... I was thinking that everything that I think of to write about seems to be food, lol. I was eating a piece of lovely dark bittersweet 70% chocolate as I was jotting down a couple of ideas. I like having a couple of squares of dark chocolate a day. It's especially good paired with a nice orange. Not only does it taste good, but you're getting some vitamin C with your chocolate. It's very good for you. Really it is:

"Other wonderful scientists of the world gave us 2 new studies promoting yet again the delectable virtues of dark chocolate.... Yale Prevention Research Center fed 45 healthy adults various cocoa preparations along with a placebo daily over 6 weeks. Those consuming the highest percentage cocoa dark chocolate experienced significant improvement in the function of their endothelial cells. Endothelial cells are the vitally important cells that line your arteries and function as the “CEOs” of blood flow. The better your endothelial cell function, the better your blood flow. Given dark chocolate’s propensity to enhance blood vessel function, it wasn’t surprising when scientists at the recent annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science reported a marked increase in brain circulation in study subjects fed flavonal-rich cocoa preparations. Flavonals are super potent antioxidant plant chemicals that are felt to be the active ingredient in dark chocolate’s health-boosting power."
~ http://exercisetv.tv/lifestyle/author/akulze/