Healthy Chocolate - Truth Or Myth?

!±8± Healthy Chocolate - Truth Or Myth?

Are you a fan of chocolates? And I don't mean just regular Hershey's or Nestlé chocolates. I'm talking about mouthwatering chocolates such as those that you can only find in France or Switzerland. I know I am, and I sure wouldn't mind enjoying a piece of luscious European-style chocolate right about now. But as good as some of these chocolates may taste, are they actually beneficial to your health? From scientific research and just plain observation of how chocolates are typically produced, I know that these types of chocolates can hurt your health more than not. On the other hand, I know of one chocolate that actually is good for your health and is healthy to eat on a regular basis. Can you believe that? A sweet that you can actually eat on a regular basis? If you haven't heard of it, it is the world-renowned Xocai Chocolate.

As stated in the October 2005 Prevention Magazine, eating dark chocolates can provide many health benefits unbeknownst to many in the past. But don't take my word for it. Doctors are actually recommending this, however, they are not recommending you run out and just buy any plain old dark chocolate (i.e. - Dove chocolates). The reason is that these types of chocolates have been artificially processed, and contain undesirable fats, sugar, and preservatives. Instead, doctors are recommending dark chocolate that has been produced by natural means, such as Xocai Chocolate. Based on scientific and medical research, dark chocolates have the ability to lower blood pressure and even prevent heart disease. As a rather powerful antioxidant, a piece of dark chocolate a day has been found to eliminate harmful molecules (also known as free radicals) that, if left to thrive in the body, can lead to heart disease.

In addition, could hot cocoa be the next "wonder drug" for high blood pressure?

Harvard researchers praise stunningly simple discovery!

According to recent estimates, nearly 1-in-3 American adults have high blood pressure. But for the Kuna Indians living on a group of islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama, hypertension doesn't even exist. In fact, after age 60, the average blood pressure for Kuna Indian islanders is a perfect 110/70.

Is it because they eat less salt? No. Kuna Indians eat as much, if not more salt, than people in the U.S.

Is it due to their genes? No. Kuna Indians who move away from the islands are just as likely to suffer from high blood pressure as anyone else!

So what makes these folks practically "immune" to hypertension... and lets them enjoy much lower death rates from heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and cancer? Harvard researches were stunned to discover it's because they drink about 5 cups of cocoa each day. That's right, cocoa! Studies show the flavonols in cocoa stimulate your body's production of nitric oxide, thus boosting blood flow to your heart, brain and other organs. In fact, one study found cocoa thins your blood just as well as low-dose aspirin!

But that's not all. A Harvard Medical School professor claims cocoa can also treat blocked arteries, congestive heart failure, stroke, dementia, even impotence! Just be sure you eat the special type of cocoa found in Xocai Chocolate as it contains more than eight times as many heart-healthy flavonols as red wine!

o Say adios to beta-blockers and eat this yummy healthy chocolate instead! Acts as a natural calcium channel blocker to relax your arteries and improve blood flow.

o Cut your risk of high blood pressure by more than two-thirds simply by eating this great tasting healthy chocolate three times a day. Works no matter what your family history.

If you follow the health and wellness trends, then you may have come across ProductScan Online. Often quoted by big names such as the Wall Street Journal, and CNN, this trend tracking organization has predicted that the up-and-coming nutritional trend will be led by dark chocolates, and followed by Acai berries, omega fatty acids, and other antioxidants. Because Xocai Chocolate contain three out of four of these top health ingredients, it is no doubt that your blood pressure will be lower and your risk of heart disease will be greatly decreased just by eating these tasty and mouthwatering chocolates on a regular basis. Jampacked with antioxidants, without the fillers, undesirable fats, and preservatives, all of Xocai's products are produced with unprocessed cocoa powder, combined with Acai berries and blueberries. A rather tasty concoction, I must say.

So is it a myth or is it truth? From experience and from the signals that my taste buds and my heart are giving me, I know that it is the latter. Now, being able to enjoy some of the best tasting chocolates is just around the corner. Pick up a box today and try it for yourself; you won't be disappointed. And best of all, it is on your doctor's "Things to Eat To Stay Healthy" list. How much better can it get?

Healthy Chocolate - Truth Or Myth?

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Coco Powder Vs Baking Chocolate? Chocolate Equivalents For Recipe Substitution

!±8± Coco Powder Vs Baking Chocolate? Chocolate Equivalents For Recipe Substitution

Chocolate might be one of the most love flavors on the planet. It is not just a candy, a flavoring. Chocolate is a substance that has a power over people. It can turn a bad mood, soothe tempers, and encourage romance. Although a native to the Central and South Americas, the Cocoa tree is now found all around the equator. It is a fruit of the tree that has a whitish flesh and purple hued seeds which, when dried, become what we know commonly as the coco bean.

There are three main varieties of the cocoa tree, the Forastero, the Criollo, and the Trinitario. If you are eating a chocolate bar today, the bean for that bar probably came from a Forastero Cocoa tree. Ninety percent of the chocolate production in the world today does. The finest chocolates however come from the Criollo tree beans. Now there's a bit of trivia to impress your chocolate loving friends with. Here is another. Chocolate was an American invention and in the 1500's it was, literally, as good as gold and was used by native Americans as currency. Although most believe that the Aztecs were the first to use chocolate, there is evidence that it was used by the ancient Maya as early as 500a.d.

Enough of the trivia lesson, you came for chocolate substitutions. Here you go.

Yes, you can, usually, successfully interchange a powdered form of coco with a bar form. There are a few things to consider however.

All forms of bar chocolate are a mixture of coco powder,fat, and unless you are using unsweetened baking chocolate, sugar. Many varieties also contain a quantity of milk.. If you have ever left a bar of chocolate on the counter and then put it in the fridge to harden back up, you may have noticed that there appears to be a gray-white film on it. that is the fat that has come to the surface. The bar is still perfectly good to eat or use in cooking. The practice of substituting coco powder for bar forms of chocolate, therefore, is not only perfectly acceptable, it is often desirable.

Coco powder is often a better choice for certain applications. Making hot cocoa for example, in cakes without butter like angel food,or often when making a chocolate variety of cookie. Bar varieties like bakers chocolate are better suited to use in butter based cakes, sauces and puddings like a chocolate mouse.

TO SUBSTITUTE COCO POWDER FOR BAKING CHOCOLATE in a recipe, for every one ounce of bar chocolate called for in the recipe substitute

3 Tablespoons of coco powder and 1 Tablespoon of fat. This fat is usually butter for the best flavor, but margarine and vegetable shortening also produce good results. So for a recipe calling for 3 ounces of bakers chocolate you can safely substitute 9 tablespoons of coco powder and 3 tablespoons of butter or other fat. You can sift the coco powder with the other dry ingredients and add the fat with the other fats in the recipe. You don't have to melt the fat and mix them unless the recipe calls for melted chocolate, like a brownie. The only reason for this is that it helps make the mixture more moist where straight coco tends to make a mix that is a little more dry.

TO SUBSTITUTE BAKING CHOCOLATE FOR COCO POWDER

For every three tablespoons of coco powder called for, use one ounce baking chocolate and eliminate one tablespoon of fat from the recipe. If you are baking a cake, for example that calls for 1 cup of cocoa powder and 2 sticks of butter, you can use 5 1/3 ounces of baking chocolate, melted, and leave out 5 /13 tablespoons of the butter which is a little over 1/2 of a stick.

Chocolate has earned a bad rep over the years, being blamed for everything from acne to tooth decay, but the good news is that recent studies are proving that chocolate is not to blame for many of these problems. In fact, new studies show that eating chocolate may actually be good for you as long as you don't over do it. It can possible lower your risks of heart disease, coat your teeth and help prevent plaque buildup, and help your system fight infection with its high levels of antioxidants.

Chocolate in the forms we know it today would not have been possible before about the mid 1800s.While it is the Dutch and the Swiss who have earned a reputation for the finest chocolates and are primarily responsible for enabling us to be able to use both coco in the powdered form and baking chocolate because of the processes they mastered, it is the Americans that gave chocolate to the world. For me, that is just one more reason to love America.

Coco Powder Vs Baking Chocolate? Chocolate Equivalents For Recipe Substitution

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The History Of Chocolate

!±8± The History Of Chocolate

Ever wonder how this favorite dessert and ingredient for baked goods came about? What about the famous chocolate chip?

Our love of chocolate started back in 1828 when a dutch chemist Johannes Van Houten came up with a way of separating the fat (cocoa butter) from the ground cocoa beans. This provided cocoa powder which tasted a lot better than the whole bean. Soon enough people were coming up with ways to mix the powder with milk and make chocolate bars and the first bar (swiss of course) was sold in 1875.

Chocolate comes from the cocoa bean. These seeds are found in pods that grow on the trunk and lower branches of the cacao tree. This tree is native to the Amazon and Brazil but is cultivated in many tropical climates today. The pods take about 6 months to develop and cocoa can be harvested about twice a year.

Now that you know where it comes from, you might be wondering how chocolage ends up as a candy bar. First the pods are harvested, fermented and dried. (gourmet chocolates use coca that is dried using a natural process that takes 7 days, the mass produced chocolate is not and the difference is in the taste!). The powder is pressed to extract the cocoa butter then it is blended back together with other ingredients to make the chooclate. Other ingredients include sugar and cocoa liquor. If the desired result is milk or white chocolate, milk or milk powder are also added.

Today, we have 3 basic types of chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate. Each is made with slightly different ingredients but the most important ingredient is the cocoa powder. If you have ever eaten gourmet chocolates, you will notice the difference in taste than that of a regular candy bar and this is because the mass produced chocolate contains little cocoa solids. In fact mass produced chocolate is made with inferior ingredients and the experience of eating it can not be compared to that of fine gourmet chocolates - they cost more but are well worth the money!

One favorite use of chocolate is the chocolate chip which can be used in anything from cookies to brownies or eaten as is!
The chocolate chip has an interesting history which dates back to 1930 when it was "invented" for use in toll house cookies by Ruth Wakefield. Wakefield was the owner of The Toll House Inn in Whitman Massachusetts and baked the meals for the guests herself. She was quite renowned for her cookies and one day while she was baking, a missing ingredient forced her to substitute broken up semi sweet chocolate bars for bakers chocolate. The result was chocolate chip cookies!

Once the cookies were invented, they became so popular that it was only a matter of time before the chocolate chip as a product was born. You see, the bar that Wakefield used as a substitute was given to her by Andrew Nestle and he struck a deal with her to print the recipe on the back of the package in return for a lifetime supply of Nestle chocolate!

But it wasn't until 1939 that the chips were packaged as we know them. Prior to that Nestles printed the recipe on the package of the bars and even included a little chopper so that people could use them to make the cookies easily.

The History Of Chocolate

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