|
|
Current and Breaking News for Professionals, Consumers and Media |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Current and Breaking News for Professionals, Consumers and Media |
|
|
|
|
|
Because it's in our genes! Loving chocolate candy and other sweets isn't our fault since we're born with an innate preference for them! In fact, it's part of our evolutionary biology since we need sugar for survival (yes sugar!). Our brain only uses sugar (in the form of glucose) as its fuel source, and our body prefers it for its energy fuel source. Studies have confirmed this innate preference because infants show an instant like for sweets versus our other primary tastes. Okay, here's the scoop: 1 oz. of milk chocolate contains about 140 calories ( ugh, think about how little an ounce is!). 1 oz. of chocolate contains about 1 packet of sugar (so if we eat 5 pieces, it equals about 5 packets of sugar). The average amount of fat per 1 oz. of chocolate is 9 grams ( about 55% of the total calories). Of course, expensive chocolates usually contain more fat than their less expensive cousins, so therefore they contain more calories (aren't they tastier though?). Chocolate contains fiber. Yes, I said fiber! 1 oz. has about 1 gram. Chocolate can raise our blood pressure if we're taking a MAO inhibitor (this reaction can happen if we're taking St. John's Wort also). 1 oz. of chocolate will usually not elicit this side effect, but some of us may be sensitive. Chocolate also contains several chemical compounds that have drug- like effects; one similar to marijuana, another has stimulant properties like caffeine and yet another will trigger a response similar to a neurotransmitter involved in addiction reinforcement (no wonder we feel good eating it and we can't just easily stop!). In fact, one study on infants showed that these compounds coupled with sugar can relieve pain! Are we really surprised that many of us broken-hearted eat chocolate? Chocolate also contains a phytochemical from the flavonoid group! The same type of phyto found in red wine, grapes and onions which is heart and blood vessel healthy (sorry, I like to recommend eating red grapes to reap this benefit!). So, what's a chocolate lover to do? Let's enjoy a little bit at a time, but in order for us to do this without really trying, let's eat our chocolate after eating a "protein" food first. This can be any snack or meal that is high in protein. So even if we're not hungry, if we have a small protein snack first, we will slow down how fast that tasty piece of candy (should I say plural candy?) is absorbed into our blood stream. The longer it takes for our candy to be absorbed, the slower our blood sugar will rise and fall which contributes to the "I can't stop at one or two pieces" effect. It will also slow down how fast our brain will take to crave more drugs, in this case, the tastiest one I know, chocolate! Just a Little Chocolate, Halloween night? June www.junefit.com Look for my pumpkin pie recipe posted Tuesday at my recipe page and still posted now is "Crusted Salmon Loaf on a bed of Mesclun" . Take a look at my exercise page: Feeding our Muscles Food . Google "Fitness Tips" , and find that Junefit ranks in the top ten at Google's search out of over 40 million results! Junefit is included in Google's top ranked women's health resources http://directory.google.com/Top/Health/Women's_Health/Resources/ June is Lifestyle Editor at www.healthnewsdigest.com/ Want to recommend my weekly tips to friends, relatives and anyone interested in improving their health & fitness, e mail me at june@junefit.com Changing your e- mail address? Please simply reply to this email with your old address and new address. copyright 2007, junefit. All rights reserved. www.HealthNewsDigest.com Top of Page 
|
Contact
Us | Job Listings
| Help | Site
Map | About Us
Advertising
Information | HND
Press Release | Submit
Information | Disclaimer
Site hosted by Sanchez Productions
