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shero

Food, Drinks and your diet

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Chocolate

 

It was a sinful indulgence that rotted teeth, padded hips, and caused acne. Today chocolate is practically a healthy food, said to boost moods, protect hearts, and even help to fight cancer. As if we needed more reasons to like it! but is chocolate too good to be true?

 

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Is dark chocolate good for you?

 

YES! unlike milk chocolate, dark chocolate over dark chocolate, it may be time to give the dark stuff another try.

 

The cacao beans used to make the chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and cocoa powder found in chocolate products are chock-full of flavonoids. These powerful antioxidants neutralize free radicals, which damage cells and cause disease. Other good sources of flavonoids include tea, grapes, and grapefruits. Dark chocolate contains far more flavonoids-rich cocoa particles than milk chocolate.

The flavonoids in dark chocolate increase the body's levels of nitric oxide, a gas that causes blodd vessels to relax and expand, which in turn promotes healthy circulation and low blood pressure. In fact, some research suggest that frequent servings of dark chocolates may reduce high blood pressure as effectively as commonly used medications. 

 

Other studies show that eating dark chocolate reduces inflammation, another risk factor for heart disease, and makes the body more sensitive to the hormore insulin, which could help prevent type 2 diabetes.

Dark chocolate has slightly less sugar than milk chocolate, but it has more fat and plenty of calories, so overingdulging will make you gain weight. But the fat in chocolate doesn't raise cholesterol levels, about a third of it is in the form of oleic acid, the healthful monounsaturated found in olive oil.

 

Tips: Look for dark chocolate with a cocoa content of at least 60%, which indicates that it has a high concentration of healthful flavonoids. That's becoming easier to do; as the benefits of dark chocolate become better established, more manufacturers are listing the cocoa content on labels. Be warned, though, that chocolate containing the highest levels has a strikingly bitter taste.

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Coffee

 

It's a great time to be a coffee lover. Espresson cafes are springing up in big cities and small towns faster than you can say 'double tall caramel macchiato'. Supermarkets that once sold a few varieties of bland brew now offer an array of high-quality beans from exotic locales. And best of all,, you can quiye worriyng that drinking a cup or two of coffee every day is slowly nudging you toward an early grave.

 

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Is coffee good for you??

YES. Populations studies suggest that coffee confers various health benefits to people who drink it regularly.

 

Coffee contains potentially valuable compounds, including disease-fighting antioxidants that mop up dangerous free radicals in the body. Scientists who study health trends in broad populations say that people who indulge a coffee habit appear to gain protection against several diseases, including the following:

 

Type 2 diabetes:

Caffeine raises blood sugar levels, which ratchets up the risk of type 2 diabetes. Yet, oddly enough, several large studies have found that consuming coffee appears to protect against this all-too-common disease. One analysis of studies involving more than 193,000 people and published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that heavy coffee drinkers -- people who drink up to seven cups per day- seemed to cut their risk of type 2 diabetes by up to 35%. In a few studies, people who drank decaffeinated coffee seemed to lower their risk even more.

 

Parkinson's disease:

One study of more than 47,000 men found that downing several cups of coffee a day may cut the risk of developing this devastating neurological disease by 58%.

 

Memory loss and other cognitive problems:

Cognitive problems are a symptom of dementia, but let's face it: many otherwise healthy people lose mental sharpness and become more forgetful after middle age. Coffee may help. In one French study, women over 80 who drank  3 cups or more per day were 70% less likely to have memory decline than those who drank one cup or less. 

 

Brewed coffee-  72-130 mg caffeine

Espresso-          58-76 mg caffeine

Caffe latte -       75 mg caffeine

Brewed tea-       20-90 mg caffeine

Iced Tea-           9-50 mg caffeine

Cola-                  30 mg caffeine

Milk chocolate-   1-15 mg caffeine

Dark chocolate-  5-35 mg caffeine

 

Sources: Journal of Analytical Toxicology
American Beverage Association, Starbucks.com

Edited by shero

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Does coffee cause cancer?

NO- Time and good science have turned this olf concern on its head, Coffee may even fight cancer,

 

Does coffee cause high blood pressure?

No- drinking coffee or other caffeinated beverage produces a rise  in blood pressure, but the effect is mild and fades quickly.

 

Does coffee really keep you up?

MAYBE- that depends on whether or not your body is used to the caffeine

 

Should you switch to decaf?

MAYBE- ask your doctor if it's safe to drink caffeinate coffee if you fall into any of these category.

 

- you are pregnant

- you are having high blood pressure or any other heart condition

- you have fibrocystic breasts

- you take certain medication

- you have chronic insomnia, headaches or nervousness

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I love Chocolates, they give me pleasure always. Coffee is also good for me, but the main thing is we should control our self while eating these foods. Execess of any thing is bad for health and fitness. So eat balance diet and live happily.

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i also can't resist chocolate, it make me feel happier...

then u may intake more dark chocolate as it contains highest percentage of cocoa solids, therefore more flavanol antioxidants.

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