chocolate!

Mmmm so today is going to be a good topic,, something I enjoy very much and I think a lot of people can relate to this.  CHOCOLATE!  It is my favorite treat and my biggest weakness, everyone who knows m at all knows that I can always go for chocolate and although I like to think I have pretty good self control over most other food in my life where generally I will eat slowly and enjoy each bite I take, chocolate is the exception, I will eat it until my tummy hurts, so I have recently switched over to high quality dark chocolate which is more expensive (which is a deterrent to buying it) but I am admittedly a milk chocolate gal,  so the switch itself has slowed down my intake.  Before I get into that, this week has been a crazy feeling week for me. 

Ever since I got back from my reading week I have really changed my diet around a lot and I have been trying new foods to really start changing my diet to be the healthy person I make myself appear to be.  I am a recovering calorie counter, trying to get to a good feeling, instead of a goal weight.  I am not even very good at counting calories so it never really worked for me. 

I graduate next spring from my program here at university, currently I study biological science and I minor in nutrition and nutraceutical sciences.  When I graduate next year, I plan on taking classes online through the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition to become a Registered Holistic Nutritionist.  I am really excited about this and it has lead me to finding all new websites and blogs which I now follow leading me to live a better life, and inspiring me to be a nutritionist.  I so look forward to taking this program because my ultimate goal would to be a full time holistic nutritionist, until then, just school and on the side blogging!  I hope to start a real blog when I am registered and start consulting!

Back to the chocolate thing, lucky for me my boyfriend thinks dark chocolate is the best, I got him this lovely box for Valentine’s Day, which was only dark chocolate, and it was so yummy, it really opened my eyes to it.  So, I decided to post about why chocolate is healthy if incorporated properly into the diet. 

Chocolate if full of wonderful minerals which our body needs to have in order to have proper function including; copper, magnesium, calcium, iron, and potassium.  Copper is important for skins healthy collagen to form, and it is also linked for forming a healthy heart in the early stages of life.  Magnesium is very important as it is predicted that most people are deficient in it, fatigue leg cramps and headaches can be symptoms!  It is also thought to reduce risk for many diseases that are overwhelming our population, including type 2 diabetes.

Potassium is needed for proper nerve function as well as maintaining out blood pressure.   Iron and calcium are both very important, calcium for our bone health among other things, and iron for our blood cell formation. 

Chocolate also contains many antioxidants, which are critical is preventing cellular damage!  It is thought that an ounce of cark pure chocolate contains more antioxidants than blueberries and green tea!  These antioxidants are also capable of maintaining blood sugar levels, which is important, especially with people developing type 2 diabetes more and more often. 

How is it that chocolate has been related to such bad things? High in sugar and fat? Well it is true that chocolate is not good, all the time every day at every meal, but in moderation along with everything else in our lives, chocolate can have benefits.  I talk about the importance of a plant based diet because it is natural and healthy and we can get all of our nutrients, well cocoa is a plant, therefore chocolate would constitute as being part of a plant based diet.  This is something people forget about, but this does not mean that we can forget about moderation.  No one stops eating fruit due to high sugar content, but even those should be in moderation too.  Too much of anything is not good for you!

Anyways, adding a bit of cocoa to many of your meals instead of milk chocolate to make those cookies a little more nutritious.  Of course there are many recipes that I love, including the raw brownie, and this super woman smoothie!  (I must mention, the site that I got the super women smoothie from, I love! Check it out!).