Dark Chocolate and Antioxidants
Do you remember playing PAC Man video games as a kid? You might remember the irritating sound effects and little yellow balls that eat anything in their path? Those little yellow balls remind me of antioxidants. Antioxidants eat free radicals in your body.
According to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, “Free radicals are highly unstable molecules that are naturally formed when you exercise and when your body converts food into energy. Your body can also be exposed to free radicals from a variety of environmental sources, such as cigarette smoke, air pollution, and sunlight. Free radicals can cause ‘oxidative stress,’ a process that can trigger cell damage. Oxidative stress is thought to play a role in a variety of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and eye diseases such as cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.”
So it’s vitally important that we consume antioxidants on a daily basis. Did you know that dark chocolate is high in antioxidants? An article posted on beatcancer.org, “Top 7 Dark Chocolate Health Benefits,” February 14, 2014, says, “Cocoa and dark chocolate contain a wide variety of powerful antioxidants, way more than most other foods. Raw, unprocessed cocoa beans are among the highest scoring foods in terms of ORAC values. Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) is a measure of the antioxidant activity of foods. Dark bittersweet chocolate, as opposed to milk chocolate or white chocolate, containing cacao levels of 60% -90%, is much richer in antioxidant flavanols.”
The chocolate I’m featuring today has won many international awards and is produced in its highest raw form and is absolutely delicious! It’s from Chocomashpi.com. Mashphi is a family farm which provides jobs to local people and is a river valley community in Ecuador. Go to their site to find out more about their farm and amazing products. My favorite is the Calamondin Orange Chocolate Bar. To get a copy of my new book, Give Me Some Chocolate…I’m Stressed! go to www.DesiPayne.com/shop
Stress Less! Desi
Your Stress Less Coach