Don’t be afraid of Chocolate over the Holidays!

 If you’ve been looking for an excuse to hit that vending machine and grab a candy bar which  has chocolate in it….now it’s actually healthy,

chocolate? Hurray! WRONG.

 Well, mostly wrong: what’s healthy is the cacao bean, minimally processed. This amazing, hedonistic bean is one of the world’s longest-revered foods (think ‘time of the Aztecs’ old) and has in recent years been shown to be a veritable powerhouse of cognitive enhancement, mood and bliss-enhancement (thanks in part to the Theobromine in cacao), antioxidants, flavonoids, catechins and many other brain & body-enhancing elements. In fact, chocolate has been very recently cited by some top health professionals and researchers to be THE single most exciting health food, and as more research continues to pour in, the more true this appears to be.

How is this possible, something that only recently was thought of as an unhealthy, dangerous, guilty indulgence…a sign of dietary decadence, now being hailed as beneficial to everything from brain health to skin elasticity to cardiovascular health to anti-cancer and pretty much everything in between?

It’s simple: chocolate does not equal cacao bean, nor vice-versa; most candy and chocolate bars contain not only low levels of cacao bean compared to other unhealthy ingredients such as sugars, milk fat, artificial flavorings and so on, but the quality and processing of the cacao used in these products is often of low health benefits due to everything from alkalization (e.g. “Dutch process cocoa”) to refining and processing and over-roasting the healthy elements right out of the beans.

So if you want the real stuff, the best bet is to either use 100% organic non-alkalized cocoa powder from a high-quality maker who minimally processes the cocoa to ensure that the health properties are retained, or, second best, choose only high cacao percentage dark chocolate bars (typically at least 75% cacao content or higher, but we suggest 85% or higher), also from a high-quality provider. And, of course, a small piece only!…but that’s much easier to control thwn with milk chocolate…

Here at BrainReady, we’ve found it easiest to just mix a large spoonful of 100% organic cocoa powder with a bit of espresso, organic unsweetened soy milk and some cinnamon, even a sprinkle of cayenne red pepper…yes, cayenne pepper!) in the morning (and sometimes again in the afternoon) to make a drink not unlike what the ancient Aztecs used to make: it’s one tasty, brain & body-fueling drink that gives you your pure cacao bean dose without the sugars and milk fat, you get your protein from the soy milk, brain-enhancing (and blood sugar-stabilizing) cinnamon, a little brain-enhancing caffeine from the espresso and theobromine (plus more) from the chocolate, and a digestion, brain-enhancing and respiratory-enhancing kick from the cayenne pepper. No sweetener needed (sweet is overrated these days…but we’ll save that topic for another BrainReady feature).

In summary, yes: chocolate is a brain health food. Or more specifically, the cacao bean is a true brain health and body health food. And worth considering adding to your diet (barring any allergies to chocolate or contraindications, of course). Continue Reading »

Tags: antioxidants, BRAIN HEALTH, chocolate, health foods

          As important as it is to get fat off your plate, it’s just as important to pile on the vegetables and other healthful plants foods. Their fiber helps cut breast cancer risk by naturally decreasing estrogen levels. Plants foods are also rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C, and other vitamins which protect cells against damage. Unlike animal products, most plants foods have little fat and do not store up large amounts of pesticide residue.

       A brisk morning walk- or any other regular exercise- also helps cut breast cancer risk.

       Of course, the good fats ( omega 3 and 6), known as essential fatty acids are vital to one’s health. Their paramount importance comes from the facts that they constitute the membranes of every cell in the body, therefore the ones allowing nutrients into the cells(to be processed) and toxins out of the cells ( to the eliminated).

The major organ helping fats metabolism is the liver, therefore ensuring that the liver always works well one can reduce breast cancer risks.  Continue Reading »

Tags: CANCER, nutrition

Click here to hear what I learned last wk-end while attending THE HEALTHY BRAIN CONFERENCE:

http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/W8vVM0ss

DHA, an omega - 3 essential fatty acid, is the primary building block for:

* Healthy brain development

* Central nervous system

* Vision

. The human body cannot manufacture DHA, so it must be obtained through diet or supplementation.  It is found primarily in fish oils, but unless you eat fish 3-5X/wk, I suggest including a good DHA formula in your supplementation regime.( drop me a line/comment below  if you don’t have a reliable DHA source, and I’ll help you)

Scientific studies suggests that fish oils can improve I.Q levels, and positively affect behaviour associated with ADD/ADHD, depression & anxiety, memory loss, stroke prevention, overall health etc. Continue Reading »