All chocolate lovers will love this. Chocolate has been around for many centuries. Now, it also seems that cocoa (chocolate) has some great things in it that can help you develop a healthy heart.
I found this really neat article over at the Detroit Free News Press. Read it and then go out and enjoy that piece of dark chocolate. Your heart will thank you for it!
To Your Heart’s Health
Monique Hawkins
540-858-2885
mentormonique@gmail.com
Remember to sign up for my “You Deserve To Have A Healthy Heart” Newsletter!
P.S. For more information about Vita Che, what I call the Roto Rooter for your arteries, visit this online nutrition store at http://699456.shopvitamark.com
Posted: April 25, 2010
HEART SMART (TM)
Chocolate has been good for centuries
BY DARLENE ZIMMERMAN
HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM
http://www.freep.com/article/20100425/FEATURES02/4250321/1025/Features/Chocolate-has-been-good-for-centuries
Chocolate originated as a drink before it became the creamy, rich treat we adore today. As far back as AD 250, the Maya ground cocoa seeds into a paste and mixed it with water, chili peppers, cornmeal and other ingredients to make a frothy, spicy, chocolate drink. It wasn’t until the 1800s that chocolate was enjoyed in the form of a candy bar.
Historically, cocoa played a part in culture, currency and medicine. Only elite members of society were allowed to drink the sacred cocoa beverages. Cocoa seeds were used to buy food and clothing. And chocolate was part of a treatment regimen for anemia, poor appetite, mental fatigue, fever, dysentery and diarrhea.
Chocolate and cocoa powder come from cocoa beans that grow in pods on the tropical Theobroma cacao tree found in southeast Asia, Africa, Hawaii, Brazil and other South American countries. After cocoa beans have been fermented, dried, roasted and ground, they are pressed into cocoa powder and cocoa butter.
Cocoa powder is a concentrated source of flavonoids. Flavonoids act as antioxidants, which gobble up toxic molecules called free radicals. Free radicals can damage body cells and tissues and may lead to health problems such as cancer, cataracts, arthritis and heart disease.
Cocoa powder is sold unsweetened. The richer, darker Dutch processed cocoa powder has been treated with alkaline compounds, which helps neutralize cocoa’s natural acidity. It is slightly darker in color and milder in flavor than natural cocoa. In today’s recipe we used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa, which is a blend of cocoa powder and Dutch processed cocoa powder.
HEART SMART is a registered trademark of the Henry Ford Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute. Darlene Zimmerman, MS, RD, is program contact; for questions about today’s recipe, call her at 313-972-1920, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays.
