Why You SHOULD Eat Chocolate
Wednesday, February 3rd 2010 @ 9:02 PM
By JJ Flizanes
So why am I recommending that chocolate be considered over other dessert choices?
Chocolate has antioxidants: I have to first explain to you what an antioxidant is and why it’s a good thing. Imagine your body is like your car—the engine makes it run. The engine produces the energy for the car to run just like your body produces energy for you to run. There is a bi-product of the engine when it is creating energy and that is the exhaust. Your body also produces “exhaust” called free radicals—they are a natural bi-product of your body. Free radicals can be neutralized by antioxidants. Back in the day when we ate a Paleolithic Diet (from the earth: meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds), we got plenty of antioxidants in our diet. Now, we eat more processed foods, we have toxins in our air and products and our stress levels are so high that we create even more free radicals than before with less antioxidants in our daily diets. Free radicals cause oxidation in the body which is like rust for your car—it speeds aging.
Have you heard that joke that chocolate is a vegetable? It’s not so far-fetched. Chocolate comes from the cocoa bean and because it’s a plant, it has phytonutrients, which are a “plant based nutrient”. Cocoa beans most important phytonutrients are several classes of polyphenols, which is a group of chemical substances that act as building blocks. These polyphenols are largely recognized as some of the most powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds.
Polyphenols are found in a variety of fruits and vegetables ranging from onions to apples, green tea, grapes and the cocoa bean. Tests showed the chocolate measured significantly higher than green tea and red wine in antioxidant content. That’s great news! Chocolate is good for you!
Chocolate is gluten free: As you will learn later, most of us have a mild to severe allergic reaction to gluten, which is wheat, barley and rye. Most pastries are made with wheat four. Cakes, cookies, pies are usually made with wheat flour so it makes eating dessert very risky for causing inflammation and holding on to a few extra pounds of water. Some molds for chocolate could contain gluten but at least the ingredients are gluten free—it’s a much safer choice.
Chocolate is an aphrodisiac: Now what more could you want?! The Mayans and Aztecs were the first to recognize the potency of chocolate, celebrating the harvest of the cacao bean with festivals of wild orgies. The Aztec ruler, Montezuma, reportedly drank 50 cups of chocolate each day to better serve his harem of 600 women. It’s been scientifically studied and found that chocolate contains PEA, or Phenylethylamine, which is the very same molecule that courses through the veins of people in love! It’s fascinating! Chocolate can promote intimacy and love—can’t beat that!
Not all chocolate is equal however and I want to empower you with the differences so you don’t think you are getting good quality antioxidants from a bad piece of chocolate!
JJ Flizanes, Director of Invisible Fitness, named best personal trainer in Los Angeles for 2007 by Elite Traveler Magazine, has appeared on NBC, KTLA, CBS and Fox 11. JJ’s mission is to help women feel gorgeous and confident in a bathing suit without starving or killing themselves in the gym. www.6weekbeachbody.com and www.invisiblefitness.com