The Lighter Side of Women's Health. Sweet Weekend Ya'll!

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This just in from the Daily Mail:  "World's first 'medicinal' chocolate: Scientists have developed a bar so healthy it could be taken as medicine." Oh sweet heaven!

As widely known, cacao contains antioxidants that might lower the risk of several diseases.  The research trend of super-foods has shed light on the new medicinal benefits that have been attributed to cocoa. The most recognized? Slowing the aging process, regulating vascular changes that lead to heart disease and minimizing the risk of developing cancer.  And then there is a myriad of side benefits:

  • Improves our mood 
  • Used as an aphrodisiac 
  • Balances Hormonal Mood Swings 
  • Creates loads of energy and combats fatigue
  • Improves skin texture
  • Lowers our blood pressure naturally 
  • Improves cognitive function and prevents Alzheimer’s
  • Reduces insulin resistance and sensitivity
  • Improves our kidney functions, promotes better digestion and stimulates our bowel 

But these health benefits are overridden by the amount of sugar and fat that go into processing a chocolate bar. In the end, our favorite dessert contains around 70% of sugar and fat.   The Daily Mail article states that "de-bittering" unsweetened cacao with microorganisms of a coca plant extract along with a herb from the Andean region of Bolivia and Peru could lower the amount of processed sugar and fat in chocolate by about half.

The responsible (genius!) for making our lives a little happier is Gregory Aharonian, who is in the process of developing Kuka Xoco.  "If the unhealthy ingredients were to be removed from chocolate, it could and should be eaten medicinally."  His goal is to produce chocolate that only contains 10% of sugar and fats, thus unleashing the true health benefits that cocoa has to offer.

Kuka Xoco is expected to be in the market next year.  If it's sweet, it's happy, right? What a way to start the weekend!

To read the original article, click HERE.

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 About the Doris A. Howell Foundation: 
The Doris A. Howell Foundation for Women’s Health Research is committed to keeping the women we love healthy, advancing women’s health through research and educating women to be catalysts for improving family health in the community.

The organization does so by funding scholarships to students researching issues affecting women’s health; providing a forum for medical experts, scientists, doctors, and researchers to convey timely information on topics relevant to women’s health and the health of their families through its Lecture and Evening Series, and by funding research initiatives that improve the health of under-served women and increase awareness and advocacy in the community. 

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Additional Sources: 
http://www.marscocoascience.com/
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/119/10/1433.full
“A Bar Of Chocolate” photo courtesy of Mister GC at free digital photos.net.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 12, 2015 at 11:28 PM

    Thanks for this amazing and tasty health tip. You may also take the help from an amazing but not that much tasty fruit named Noni fruit. It is full of medicinal values as it acts as an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and antibiotic. It helps in reducing the excessive weight and also maintain glowing and flawless skin. The women should have the habit of taking Noni juice in their regular diet as women's choice noni juice is easily available that also helps in having regular and painless menstrual cycles.

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