Dark Chocolate - A Delicious Wholesome Treat

Let’s face it, almost everyone loves chocolate, I not making an exception! However, not so many people love dark chocolate, which unfortunately is the healthier one out of the two kinds. The reason is simple: there is more cocoa in dark chocolate than milk chocolate. It is the cocoa that gives chocolate all its healthful goodness (and its bitter taste).

In addition to body protecting antioxidants, the health benefits of dark chocolate include improving cardiovascular health especially by lowering blood pressure. This is so even when the fat in dark chocolate is mostly saturated. To my surprise, the saturated fat in cocoa, being a plant-based fat, changes into a monounsaturated fat in the liver and therefore is not bad for the body.

Dark chocolate also helps body cells better control blood sugar and surprisingly, dark chocolate has a low glycemic index that doesn’t create a spike in blood sugar levels the same way sugar normally does. Dark chocolate also contains plenty of minerals, such as copper, potassium and magnesium that are essential to the body’s functions. And yes, dark chocolate does contain substances that make you feel good and happy!

At first, I wasn’t a big fan of dark chocolate. I thought “what’s the use of having chocolate (and eating the calories) if it is not good enough”. Well, now that I have tried it many, many times, I have started loving dark chocolate as much as milk chocolate. There are many delicious kinds out there, my favorite being one that has mint flavor in it. Experiment!

Therefore, go ahead, have some chocolate, even every day! The higher the cocoa percentage, the better. Just remember that dark chocolate is not a low-calorie food…

 

Nutritional facts per 40 gram serving of chocolate containing 60-69% cocoa solids: 21 g carbs, 2.5 g protein, 15.3 g fat, 3.2 g fiber, 232 kcal

Love and health,

Anna-Kaisa

Sources: AllChocolate, Chocolate and Health: http://www.allchocolate.com/health/basics/

Fat in cocoa: Yale-New Haven Hospital “Chocolate: Food of the Gods” : http://www.ynhh.org/about-us/chocolate.aspx

Nutritional info: National Agricultural Library, National Nutrient Database: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/list

Blue-super-berries

Blueberries have often been said to be a superfood because of their plentiful antioxidants. Indeed, blueberries do have loads of antioxidants that have numerous positive health effects on the body. World's Healthiest Foods -website has compiled an impressive list of those health effects, including cardiovascular benefits, positive impact on blood sugar and eyesight, improved memory and anti-cancer effects. The health effects were reached after eating 2 cups of blueberries daily, but I believe that eating blueberries every now and then will also benefit your body. In addition, blueberries contain many vitamins and minerals that are essential to the body.



I am a big fan of blueberries because they are a delicious way to eat healthy. My favorite way to enjoy blueberries is to eat them straight out of the shrub in the forest, but as that is possible for me only in Finland in August, I like to add store bought ones to oatmeal or a smoothie.

Health effects and taste aside, my favorite thing about blueberries is how they color my teeth, lips and fingers red and blue! Unfortunately, this quality is not found in the blueberries that are sold in stores in America, which might be a good thing in the end...





Since blueberries are really delicious and very healthy, why don't you try having some fresh blueberries as a snack every now and then? These little rascals sure enjoyed theirs!




I hope you enjoyed the blog,

Anna-Kaisa





Nutritional information: 14.5 g carbohydrates, 0.7 g protein, 0.3 g fat, 2.4 g fiber, 57 kcal / 100 g (1 cup is about 150g).


Sources:
Nutritional information: Nutrient database http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/2266
Health benefits: World's Healthiest Foods http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=8

Effects of low-carb diets on blood cholesterol levels

Hi all,

I had a long holiday in Finland this summer and just a few days before leaving the country I noticed a very interesting piece of news in the local newspaper. The story was about how the cholesterol levels in Finland have suddenly increased after a couple of decades' decrease. Researchers believe that the reason for the new development is the popularity of low-carb diets, in which protein and fat make up most of the diet.

Carbohydrates are the main energy source of the body. Protein and fat have to be processed by the body before they can be used as energy, thus expending more energy. The idea behind a low-carb diet is that when carbohydrates are avoided, body has to work harder to produce its fuel and thus, more calories are burned. The article states that the reason why people avoid carbohydrates is that they feel lighter and more alert, and they have even been able to lose weight.

Unfortunately low-carb diets are not perfect:  as fat - especially animal fat - is used in abundance, cholesterol levels increase giving rise to cardiovascular disease. In Finland, where cardiovascular disease is a national problem, low-carb diets are not ideal for the national health - researchers believe that heart attacks will become more common in the coming years because of these diets. I believe that because Finnish people like to eat a lot of meat contributes to the problem as the fats eaten are most likely animal fats that tend to increase cholesterol in blood.

In my opinion, leaving out all carbohydrates is inadvisable for the above reason. Moreover, a wide array of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber that are found in complex carbohydrates will be left out. Therefore, a better option for a low-carb diet would be a low simple carb diet, which leaves out refined sugars and substitutes white bread and  pasta with wholegrain bread and pasta. (Check out more on carbohydrates from my post about sugar.)

I encourage everyone to try out avoiding simple carbohydrates. I have tried it and for me it works!

I hope you all had a wonderful summer!

Love,
Anna-Kaisa

Source: Daily newspaper Itä-Savo on September 9 2012