Luxury Chocolate - Is It The New Health Food?

Luxury chocolates contain just as much fat, if not more, then common chocolate but fat isn't the only thing to think about when considering how eating chocolates affects your health. The quality of the ingredients certainly has an effect and the more expensive or gourmet chocolates are made with higher quality ingredients. Of course, if you are really concerned you will want to eat only chocolate made with organic ingredients.

In fact, it has been found that eating chocolate can be good for you - but not cheap chocolate. Luxury chocolate made with 60% or more cocoa solids contain nutrients and vitamins and has a large amount of magnesium which is beneficial for the cardiovascular system and hypertension.

Chocolate has also been found to contain catechins, the same antioxidants found in green tea, which can help prevent cancer and heart disease so eating chocolates in moderation can be healthful!

Dark chocolate is the healthiest of the luxury chocolates as it has less sugar and fat and a higher concentration of cocoa solids. Cheap chocolate is a bad choice as it contains much more (and lower quality) fats and sugars and has less than 20% cocoa solids. Put side by side, you will find that eating chocolates of a higher quality will be much more enjoyable and well worth the extra expense for the taste if not the extra health benefits!

Some of the health benefits of dark chocolate include positive effects in fighting cardiovascular disease, aging and even cancer. In fact, some recent studies have shown that dark chocolate reduced blood pressure and increased blood flow as well as having potential anti clotting properties. Not only that but it also has a low glycemic index so it helps you manage your blood sugar better whereas other snacks will spike your blood sugar leaving you craving more, dark chocolate will keep it even making it a perfect treat that you won't be tempted to overindulge in.

Dark chocolate even contains some vital minerals that you might not already be getting in your diet. Iron, copper, calcium and magnesium are all present in chocolate. It contains 8% of your RDA for Calcium, 7% of your RDA for iron, 14% of the RDA for copper and 12% of the RDA for magnesium as well as being a natural source of potassium.

So if you enjoy eating chocolates, go ahead and splurge on some luxury chocolates, but remember to eat only in moderation as over consumption can lead to an unhealthy fat intake and weight gain!

Next, find out more about luxury chocolates as well as how you can enjoy gourmet foods every day at http://www.online-gourmet-foods.com.

Does Gourmet Tea Really Have Health Benefits Or Does it Just Taste Good?

Hot gourmet tea, especially in the cooler nights during the winter, is a great way to relax in the evening. Although red wine has been discovered to have extensive health benefits, drinking wine every night is definitely not a good general health plan. During those hot days of summer, many find that iced tea more refreshing than a carbonated soda. It isn't surprising that tea has been gaining in popularity for many years, but it is interesting to find that gourmet tea lovers can tout their favorite drink with a long list of newly discovered health benefits.

Jeffrey Blumberg, PhD, FACN, chief of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at Tufts University, has cited tea as one of the top healthy foods for 2010 and the future. "The scientific evidence about tea is evolving and I think it's compelling," says Blumberg. The past decade has yielded substantial research that, according to Blumberg, shows that "there is a pretty consistent body of evidence suggesting there is a benefit to tea. Tea is a very rich source of a specific kind of antioxidant - flavonoids."

Studies are still somewhat inconsistent. One study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition followed nearly 40,000 women for almost seven years, coming to a conclusion that drinking four cups of tea a day produced no reduction in their risk of heart disease. However, Blumberg points out that the bulk of research does indicate that regular tea drinkers (those that drink two or more cups a day) have less heart disease and stroke, lower cholesterol, and may recover from heart attacks more quickly. Early laboratory studies indicate that there may be a relationship between tea consumption and reduced risk of several types of cancer.

Antioxidants seem to have become the morning news and talk show buzz word lately, replacing last decade's interest in the health benefits of soy products. Antioxidants are substances that can reduce certain types of environmental damage, oxidative damage, in the body which helps maintain healthy cells and tissues. The latest research suggests that tea is full of these antioxidants. In particular, black tea and green tea has been shown to have positive health benefits. Interestingly, decaffeinating the tea does not decrease its level of healthy antioxidants in any way.

There is a huge variety of choices of gourmet tea available, but it is important to purchase high quality tea that is fresh. Most tea goes stale within six months. Not only does stale tea have less antioxidants, but it just doesn't taste very good.

For gourmet tea lovers, there is one more benefit that rarely gets mentioned in all this scientific stuff. Assuming you do not add milk, sugar or honey to tea, tea has no calories. That makes it much easier to continue eating that other newly discovered haven for antioxidants: Dark Chocolate.

Find out more about Gourmet Tea, and visit http://www.AnythingGoesGourmet.com for reviews and news about gourmet food, cookware and wine.

Raw Food Author and Chef Experiences Working at the Hippocrates Health Institute

Kevin: Well Nomi, welcome to this program. I'm excited to have you.

Nomi: Hi Kevin, it's good to be here.

Kevin: Why don't you start very quickly for those people who might not know who you are, just tell a little about yourself.

Nomi: OK, I'm Nomi Shannon, I have a book called, "The Raw Gourmet" which is kind of the raw food bible for people who are just starting. Especially because if you read the whole book from cover to cover you'll know everything you need to know to have a raw food kitchen. I have a newer book called, "Raw Food Celebrations" and that book is for people who want to have like a celebratory meal. The book has menus so you have an entire Italian menu for example or an entire Thai menu. It's set up so that you can prepare most of your food in advance which is an unusual thing for raw food. So that if you work from Monday through say Saturday or Friday, you can do most of the prep and then have your event on Saturday, Sunday without feeling like all you did was work.

Kevin: Right and putting together these amazing recipe books is just one part of your experience. You started out at Hippocrates correct?

Nomi: Yes, yes I worked for quite a few years at Hippocrates Health Institute which is a really wonderful, beautiful raw food retreat. The food there is very gourmet and I really am comfortable and familiar with all the aspects that come along with a raw food diet. Cleansing, healing, homeopathically, supplementation that kind of thing. People think of me as a chef and as a caterer and as a creator of recipes but raw food is on continuum from therapeutic to gourmet and really Hippocrates and places like it, such as Optimum Health Institute in San Diego, cater to the therapeutic aspects of it. When people are wanting to become well, improve their health or prevent ever becoming ill. There's a whole range that I'm familiar with and able to teach.

Kevin: Tell me a little about what kind of people that came in to Hippocrates, what kind of things helped them and how they left.

Nomi: OK, I left Hippocrates in '95 so it's quite some years since I've been there, although I've gone back quite a few times to teach because one of the things they have besides a regular three-week program, they also have a nine-week health educator program which is learning a little bit about a lot of different subjects. It's great for people who want to be in the alternative health field to help them learn all the range of things that are out there and then when they leave there they would maybe choose one or two subjects, maybe iridology which is study of the eye of the strengths and weaknesses of the body or there's just probably 15 or 20 subjects that we cover lightly and then if they want they see what they want to learn more about. So I ran that program.

The normal person that attends Hippocrates, people come there from all over the world. It is an expensive program which is why I also mention Optimum Health Institute, there's one in Texas and one in California. There's a place in Puerto Rico called The Anne Wigmore Foundation, essentially the same program. The other places I mentioned are far more affordable. I have literally seen people from every single country in the world attend these places. People have come there that were very, very ill with maybe various kinds of cancer. People have come there who have already undergone surgery, radiation, chemo, maybe became well and then a few years later something came back and they decided to take a natural route. There's another institute in Mexico called The Gerson Institute which while it's not exactly like this, they do a few different things. It's very world renowned. They are able to do things that can't be done in this country, that's why they're in Mexico. There are places in Germany, there's places all over the world. Alternative health really is what it is. There's lots of people who are completely well that go there to learn the program, to clean up their act, their nutritional act. Unfortunately it's very, very often that someone's already sick. To go to a place like Hippocrates, it's not a hospital, it's not a clinic, you can't be in bed sick. You have to be well enough to be able to take care of yourself.

Kevin: OK.

Nomi: Features of the program are wheat grass juice, sprouts; they teach you how to grow these things. You juice the grass, you drink it, that kind of thing. What sets Hippocrates apart from the other places, are the food is truly gourmet and the quality of the classes, that kind of thing. You can even learn this from books. I like people if they can, especially in the beginning, especially if they have a health challenge and they don't know much, rather than sort of desperately attempt to cobble together the information, especially if they're already panicked that they've gotten a diagnosis that frightens them, I'd like to see them go to one of these places. Let somebody else make their food for three weeks and they have classes all day long which they can attend and learn how to do it. They're immersed in it so they're simultaneously cleansing and healing and learning what to do when they go home.

It's just easier rather than try to talk to someone on the phone and then you do this and then you make this and they're not well and they're panicked. I'm like, "You know what? What's more important you're health; take a few weeks off from work, unpaid. Yes, it's a sacrifice."

Kevin: Yeah.

Nomi: But get yourself into the program, especially if you're very ill. Take that three weeks to rest and relax, you'll get lot of cleansing done in three weeks. Then you really know what you're doing when you come home.

Kevin: What are some of the things that you find that most people just need? Whether it's supplements, or it's food or things that universally will help people get on a healthier track.

Nomi: Yes. Well the whole fast food thing, everybody seems so, including me, rushed and busy, even if they're at home all the time. With the Internet and all that, people are, even a generation or two ago people made most of their food at home. Now they're getting it out. It's hard to have good nutrition when you're not making your own food and so the transition even isn't from a person who makes pasta on Monday and roast beef on Tuesday and beans and franks on Wednesday. They're actually eating at home and so what their transition is, OK I'm just going to make different food. The transition now is, learn how to boil water, almost. You're not really boiling water literally when you're eating raw food but the joke is I can't even boil water to make an egg. I don't even know how to do that. The people, the generations that are coming up now, have never made food.

Kevin: Yes.

Nomi: Let alone learning how to do it at home. That's the biggest learning curve. And then people are always worried about time. So I have really, and a lot of people in the raw food movement, have figured out ways to have really great nourishment in a really small amount of time. Like you guys, I shared a smoothie with you before we turned the camera on that you had thrown together in your blender, a green smoothie. And that is, there are, they have to learn that, that's the sort of universal thing that people are learning. How to create really healthy food for themselves in a quite short amount of time. That is the biggie.

Kevin Gianni the host of Renegade Health Show - a fun and informative daily health show that is changing the perception of health across the world. His is an internationally known health advocate, author, and film consultant. He has helped thousands and thousands of people in over 21 countries though online health teleseminars about abundance, optimum health and longevity He is also the creator and co-author of "The Busy Person's Fitness Solution."

Healthy Food Intake - Nutritious and Delicious Foods for Your Health

Eating healthily doesn't have to mean eating tastelessly. To the contrary, gourmet food has now taken on a whole new meaning in delicious health. It is no secret that the American diet is lacking in quality nutrients. Obesity levels continue to climb to levels unforeseen. 100% preventable diseases take their toll on progressively more and more people every year. There has been a terrible shift from the household kitchen to the local fast food "restaurant" as the primary source of our dietary intake. It is time to break the habit! It's time to take back our health.

Many people erroneously consider healthy food to be bland food. We have good news! Healthy eating doesn't have to mean sitting in front of a plate full of raw vegetables and munching away until your teeth hurt; there is a better way! Because of the epidemic of malnutrition and food intake patterns loaded with saturated fats, there has been an amazing demand for the development of dietary choices that are not only delectable, but packed full of high-quality nutrients, omega-3 fatty acids, essential amino acids and other life-enhancing elements.

You need to know what to cut out and what to make sure to include in your food intake regimen. You have to understand why "diets" fail. You need to embrace a shift in the way that you look at food. Let's examine some of the foods that we need to avoid and some alternatives for them. When you think about each of the following foods, really consider how it feels to eat them. Think about how your body feels after you eat them. Here we go:

- Deep Fried Foods

Consider this: fried foods are placed in a cooking dish filled with artery-clogging fats. Your meal-to-be bathes in these oils - soaking them in deeply. The probabilities for contracting heart disease and cancer are both highly accentuated by the ingestion of deep fried foods. The human body is not meant to have to constantly endeavor to detoxify and metabolize such outrageous amounts of fats. Steam, boil, broil, bake or grill your foods instead.

- Processed Foods

Our marvelous human bodies are designed to benefit from the foods that nature provides us - not what a laboratory does. Processed foods contain very little to no actual nutritional matter. Chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fillers and fats are what you eat when you eat processed foods. Besides starving the body of what it requires for health, you are loading it with more elements to detoxify. Just because we have livers and kidneys to purify ourselves doesn't mean that we have to work them to death! Concentrate on consuming the limitless food choices that have no labels. Food that is good for you is just being itself!

- White Sugar, White Flour - Anything Bleached

It has been known (and overlooked) for decades that bleached foods are not only emptied of nutrients, they are detrimental to our systems. They also lack flavor. They are void of nutrients and filled (again) with elements for your body to have to fight to assimilate. Consider raw sugar - sweet and wonderful. Opt for whole grain flour and breads. They are loaded with amino acids and other very necessary nutrients that our bodies have to have in order to function, heal, repair, grow and sustain our lives. Choose long grain, wild rice. There are endless, delicious varieties from all over the planet!

Your health is only for you to protect. As much as anyone may love you, they are helpless to ensure your health. Embrace a mental change in the way that you perceive food. Change the ways that you prepare your food. Get back into the kitchen of your home and stay away from the fast food restaurants. Ingest food sources that are water-rich (like fruits and vegetables). Avoid high-fat foods like bacon and lasagna. Teach yourself to modify your favorite dishes to be healthful instead of hurtful.

Healthy eating doesn't just taste better; it is so much better for you.

Begin to enjoy and elongate your life through healthy food intake choices today and remember what it is to feel vibrant!

M Alan Roberts is a fulltime freelance writer and web developer.

Benefits of Gourmet Health Foods Cookery

"Who needs health foods?" This flippant attitude is often made by those who are addicted to artificial foods and are loath to part with their tasty desserts and rich foods.

Many do not realize that health foods are not only beneficial to the entire body, but much tastier and even juicier than the so-called "fluff" foods. To awaken the public to the wonderful world of gourmet health foods that nourish and revitalize the body at the same time. Here are a few examples of how imagination and knowledge of what foods are good or bad for you can improve your diet and your health:

How to enrich your bloodstream: Raisins and apricots (sundried and unbleached) are chock full of iron which helps enrich your blood. Sprinkle raisins in an omelet and serve piping hot for a real breakfast pickup. Tired blood, anyone?

a) Stop salting yourself to an early grave:

Salt, pepper, ketchup, and mustard are condiment that destroys internal tissues. Health foods use herbs and spices that add a delectable seasoning to a simple meal and turn it into an artistic cuisine creation. Try sprinkling rosemary and tarragon on a poultry dish. Try a combination of chervil, thyme, and savory in a bowl of soup. A trick of just a spoon of lemon juice to bring out the flavor of the herbs in blending.

b) You can live high on fat:

Have yourself a gourmet feast with fat. That's right - fat brings out the best flavor of meats, fish, poultry, and some egg dishes. But your were told that fat builds up cholesterol, the stick substance that clings to the walls of the arteries and predispose to arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. That refers to animal fats. Gourmet health cookery uses vegetable oils and vegetable source fats that impart a mouth-watering goodness to the recipe being concocted.

c) Raw foods supercharge your insides:

Raw fruits and raw vegetables are taste thrills you will always remember. Just sink your teeth into a raw peach. The sweet, natural syrup is brimming with enzymes that are needed to digest all foods in your system. Slice up a pineapple (avoid canned slices which are packed in sugary syrups) and inhale the tangy, tart perfume of Nature! Raw pineapple slices are appetite thrills you will always seek. The same is true of a raw tomato. Juicy good, it's like a drink from the ancient gods. Raw fruits and vegetables are not only luscious but nourishing, and they are chock full of a generous supply of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.

d) How to look better eating natural foods:

Sharp spices and sweets often show up in the form of acne, skin blemishes, and blotches. Your body is trying to get rid of these artificial additives in prepared or commercialized foods. Often, an allergy is traced to artificial foods. Select natural and organic foods, prepare them in the organic method as described in this cookbook and reap the rewards of healthy insides and healthy outsides, too!

Sandy is a food lover who has been into food business for more than 20 years. She shares her experience in cooking tips, recipes as well as healthy cooking way.

She maintains her site at: http://www.lowcarbdiabeticdiet.com

Read her blog at: http://www.lowcarbdiabeticdiet.com/blog