How Can Chocolate Be Good For You?

Oct. 15, 2009 - PRLog -- Cacao, or chocolate, originated with the Olmec Indians in 1500 B.C. Mayans and Aztecs used cacao in a royal chocolate drink called Xocolatl.  Aztec Emperor Montezuma called it, "The divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue.”  He stated, “A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food."  Hernan Cortez, an early explorer, introduced Xocolatl to King Charles V of Spain in 1520..  Xocolatl progressed to a favored beverage of the European elite.  Unfortunately, most chocolate available in stores today is processed chocolate that is laden with fat, wax, fillers, preservatives and sugar.



According to Dr. Steve Warren, M.D., medical director of Odyssey Healthcare and Hospice said that, “Eating the right amount of the right type of chocolate daily will improve the quality of our lives and might extend the quantity of our life.”



Eliot A. Brinton, M.D., director of the Metabolism Section of Cardiovascular Genetics and Associate Professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine said, “I think that there is a potential benefit from consuming chocolate on a regular basis.  Chocolate appears to have a favorable effect on various aspects of cholesterol, the lipid panel, blood pressure, blood sugar, the artery wall, oxidation and inflammation.”



Dark chocolate also contains large amounts of antioxidants.  An antioxidant is a chemical that prevents the oxidation of other chemicals. An example of oxidation is a banana turning brown when left on the counter top.  In the body, antioxidants counteract the damaging effects of free radicals.  Scientific research has implicated free radical damage in many chronic and lifestyle diseases.  Dark chocolate has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine and up to three times the amount found in green tea.



The antioxidants in any food are measured by its capacity to absorb free radicals. ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) values as determined by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture measure the capacity of a food to absorb oxygen free radicals. The USDA website recommends a Daily Antioxidant Intake Range of 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC. However, recent studies have suggested that more active lifestyles require higher levels of antioxidants.

http://www.explorefreedom.com/pacificnwgroup/

“Chocolate is just one of those feel-good foods that people like to eat.  If we could educate people about how they can use chocolate as a health benefit, that would be wonderful,” said Dr. Jeff Bennett, N.D, Ph.D.

Xoçai™ is produced with two of the world’s most powerful super foods – unprocessed cocoa powder and the açai berry.  Grown wild in the Amazon forest of Brazil, Açaí berries are the most potent antioxidants of any known fruit or vegetable.  Açaí berries contain amino acids, essential fatty acids (Omega 3, 6, and 9), and higher amounts of antioxidants than any other fruit. The açaí berry has over 14 times more antioxidants than raw spinach.



The name Xoçai consists of the first two letters of the Aztec word, “Xocolatl,” the ancient American chocolate beverage, and the last three letters of “Açai.”  One ounce of Xoçai taken three times per day exceeds the high end of the USDA’s Antioxidant Recommended Daily Intake of 5,000 ORAC. Xoçai products contain completely natural, unprocessed chocolate, which retains 100 percent of its antioxidant and nutritional value, unlike any other dark chocolate on the market today!  These products deliver the full antioxidant capacity of dark chocolate without the fat, wax, fillers, preservatives and high sugar content normally associated with chocolate.

Learn more at http://www.explorefreedom.com/pacificnwgroup/


Xoçai is produced with rich Belgian unprocessed cocoa powder that is high in antioxidants due to it’s cold-pressed processing. Xoçai delivers the optimum amount of the antioxidants found in the all-natural cocoa powder.