Chocolate is a Vegetable

[sincereheart]

Chocolate is a Vegetable!

Other little known Chocolate facts:

Chocolate is derived from cacao beans. Bean = vegetable. Sugar is derived from either sugar CANE or sugar BEETS. Both are plants, which places them in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable.

To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy product. So candy bars are a health food.

Chocolate-covered raisins, cherries, orange slices and strawberries all count as fruit; so eat as many as you want.

If you've got melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly.

Problem: How to get 2 pounds of chocolate home from the store in a hot car. The solution: Eat it in the parking lot.

Diet tip: Eat a chocolate bar before each meal. It'll take the edge off your appetite, and you'll eat less.

If calories are an issue, store your chocolate on top of the fridge. Calories are afraid of heights, and they will jump out of the chocolate to protect themselves. (We're testing this with other snack foods as well.)

If I eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Don't they actually counteract each other?

Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger. Therefore, you need to eat more chocolate.

Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

A nice box of chocolates can provide your total daily intake of calories in one place. Now, isn't that handy?

If you can't eat all your chocolate, it will keep in the freezer. But if you can't eat all your chocolate, what's wrong with you?

If not for chocolate, there would be no need for control top pantyhose. An entire garment industry would be devastated. You can't let that happen, can you?

NEWS FLASH: "Stressed" spelled backward is "desserts."
So, to reverse being "stressed" . . . CHOCOLATE!!!

[Butterflies]

Now, dear, sincereheart, why in the world would you post an article about chocolate in the "Just for Women" secton!!???  

Are you a fellow choc-aholic?  I admit that I usually have some form of chocolate everyday, and I'm not huge, just a little overwt.  From my avatar, I look downright thin, ha.

Thanks for the chuckle.

[ForHisGlory]

I do not like chocolat at all.
I'm a crisp and pretzel gal myself.

My daughter would like to lay her hands on this list, I know.

[sincereheart]

Now, dear, sincereheart, why in the world would you post an article about chocolate in the "Just for Women" secton!!???  

UH OH! Busted! 

Are you a fellow choc-aholic?  I admit that I usually have some form of chocolate everyday, and I'm not huge, just a little overwt.  From my avatar, I look downright thin, ha.

I'm a chocolate snob.  Must NOT be that generic stuff. MUST be milk chocolate. And along with that, I must confess I am a chocoholic! 
And isn't it grand to know that it's now rationalized to be a veggie? 

Thanks for the chuckle.

My pleasure! 

[sincereheart]

I do not like chocolat at all.

Oh that is sad! So very sad! 


 

I'm a crisp and pretzel gal myself.

I'm all for the pretzel- covered in chocolate! 

My daughter would like to lay her hands on this list, I know.

LOL! Ah! A young woman after my own heart! 

[Shammu]

UH OH! Busted! 
I'm a chocolate snob.  Must NOT be that generic stuff. MUST be milk chocolate. And along with that, I must confess I am a chocoholic! 

BUSTED!!

[TalkerCat]

      Chocolate?!? Chocolate? Did someone say CHOCOLATE??   


>^..^<

[Soldier4Christ]

Especially DARK CHOCOLATE!!

[Shammu]

YUCK!!! chocolate Give me peppermint!!

[Soldier4Christ]

Ladies I couldn't resist popping in here on this subject. I love my chocolate. I have some everyday and there is good news for those of us that do love it.


A Dark Chocolate a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

Daily Dark Chocolate Good for the Heart, Loaded With Flavoniods

Here's news that's hard not to like. Eating a small, 1.6-ounce bar of dark chocolate every day is good for you. Very good for you, find Mary Engler, PhD, RN, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues.

Now here is a medical experiment you would love to volunteer for. Engler's team divided 21 healthy adults into two groups. One group got a Dove Dark Chocolate bar every day for two weeks. Like other dark chocolate bars with high-cocoa content, this one is loaded with something called epicatechin. Epicatechin is a particularly active member of a group of compounds called plant flavoniods. Flavoniods keep cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels, reduce the risk of blood clots, and slow down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries.

The second group that didn't get Dove bars wasn't totally left out. They, too, got dark chocolate bars. But their treats had the flavoniods taken out.

All subjects underwent high-tech evaluation of how well the blood vessels dilate and relax -- an indictor of healthy blood vessel function. Blood vessel stiffness indicates diseased vessels and possible atherosclerosis. Those who got the full-flavonoid chocolate did significantly better. Why? Blood tests showed that high levels of epicatechin were coursing through their arteries.

"This is the longest clinical trial to date to show improvement in blood vessel function from consuming flavonoid-rich dark chocolate daily over an extended period of time," Engler says in a news release. "It is likely that the elevated blood levels of epicatechin triggered the release of active substances that ... increase blood flow in the artery. Better blood flow is good for your heart."

Why Dark Chocolate Is Different

Not all chocolate is created equal. Dark chocolate contains a lot more cocoa than other forms of chocolate. And standard chocolate manufacturing destroys up to half of the flavoniods. But chocolate companies have now learned to make dark chocolate that keeps up to 95% of its flavoniods.

Sure, this seems like a scam. Can't you get more and better flavoniods from other foods? Surprisingly, the answer is "not really." Engler says that dark chocolate contains more flavoniods than any other food -- including green tea, black tea, red wine, and blueberries.

"Many people don't realize that chocolate is plant-derived, as are the fruits and vegetables recommended for a healthy heart," Engler says.

While a little dark chocolate is good, a lot is not better. Chocolate still is loaded with calories. If you're going to eat more chocolate, you'll have to cut back somewhere else. And remember that a balanced diet -- and plenty of exercise -- is still the key to heart health.

Engler's study was funded by the University of California, San Francisco, School of Nursing. The American Cocoa Research Institute, a nonprofit group funded by the chocolate industry, provided the chocolate used in the study.

The findings appear in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Engler previously reported the findings at the 2002 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association and at the Experimental Biology 2003 meeting.

[sincereheart]

PR, I just may have to learn to acquire a taste for dark chocolate! 

[sincereheart]

BUSTED!!

*hangs head* 




 

[sincereheart]

     Chocolate?!? Chocolate? Did someone say CHOCOLATE??  


>^..^<

LOL! I sure hope so! 

[sincereheart]

Especially MILK CHOCOLATE!!

 

[sincereheart]

YUCK!!! chocolate Give me peppermint!!

Oh yeah! Peppermint covered in chocolate!