How would you react if you were told that one of the world’s favorite desserts can lower your blood pressure and cholesterol levels? You’d probably be half ecstatic and half skeptical, right? Here’s the real deal with Dark Chocolate:

Dark chocolate has been studied for years and the results are the same: it improves blood flow, lowers LDL levels, contains serotonin and theobromine, which are anti-depressants and stimulants respectively, and it has an exorbitant amount of antioxidants as well.

Studies from both the National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Italy and the University of Cologne Medical College in Germany have reported high levels of Epicatechin in dark chocolate. Epicatechin improves the circulation of blood and provides extra protection against cardiac problems – something we could all use. Just imagine, eating your way into a better heart! How could it get any better than that?

Well, it just could. Another significant finding in the study of dark chocolate revealed that it has a large amount of antioxidants. The antioxidants found in chocolate are Flavonoids and Cathechins, both helping to heighten the body’s resistance to free radicals, which protect us from the effects of cardiovascular disease, aging, and other bodily ailments. These antioxidants contained in dark chocolate are even higher than those of strawberries and are also almost the same found in black tea. Flavonoids can also produce nitric oxide, which helps balance out chemicals and hormones and help in lowering blood pressure as well.

I know its hard not to be skeptical. However, additional studies of dark chocolate have shown that with just 100-150 grams of polyphenol-rich dark chocolate each day, people can lower their blood pressure significantly – some lowering it 11%.

With all this being said, it doesn’t mean you can go on a dark chocolate-eating spree. Remember the old adage, too much of a good thing is bad. Binging on dark chocolate can disrupt your diet and cause weight gain. Despite all the good it can bring to the health-conscious, it is still a huge chunk of calories! One small serving, give or take 100g is more than 500 calories. But if you already ingest 500 calories of junk a day, eating potato chips and your favorite snack bars, you’re better off munching on dark chocolate!

Recommended Chocolate:

For those of you looking for quality dark chocolate, visit Romanicos chocolate.

Adrenal Fatigue: Is it Real?

You have probably seen the late night infomercials proclaiming most people in the U.S. have adrenal fatigue. Is this true or is it just another scam to sell a product? We’ve done some research on the subject to find out.

Adrenal Fatigue is when the adrenal glands malfunction due to too much stress. In case you’re not familiar with the adrenal glands, they are two small endocrine glands atop each kidney. Their main function is regulating the body during high-stress level situations.

From our research, we’ve discovered adrenal fatigue is most definitely real. The main reason most of us haven’t heard of it is because the medical community calls it by other names such “The New Stress Syndrome” or the “21st Century Stress Syndrome”. It is estimated that more than 68% of the population in urban and highly-industrialized cities are suffering from adrenal fatigued.

In general, most people who are suffering from adrenal fatigue think it’s nothing at all and it will go away in a few minutes or after a nap. Additionally, many doctors do not diagnose people with adrenal fatigue because we’re living in a culture that treats symptoms instead of holistically treating the disease.

Do I have Adrenal Fatigue?

One of the main triggers of adrenal fatigue is a major crisis in one’s life that causes extreme stress. Common stressors include illness, huge problems at work, death in the family, etc. For people in those stressful situations, the adrenal glands can help give a boost of energy and produce adrenaline, cortisol and endorphine, but after that the organs reaches a limit or a ‘plateau’, it will not function properly.

Symptoms include:
1. Being incredibly tired for no reason, even after a full 8 hours of sleeping. There are reports that people who have adrenal fatigue exhibit a difficulty falling asleep and getting themselves together when waking up.

2. Easily exhausted, and has difficulty in concentrating for a long period of time. Being generally absent-minded.

3. Restlessness and mild depression.

4. It takes a lot of time to relax or takes a long time to focus. They exhibit behaviors of feeling run down and being “too stressed to relax”. Some can’t even take a good nap, and if they do, they don’t feel refreshed after waking up.

5. Having low stamina and tend to avoid too much exertion or exercise. They feel that they are slow to recover from illness, injury and even stress.

6. Their diet is poor and often they crave unhealthy food that has too much sugar or salt. Furthermore, their digestion is poor and sometimes resulting in constipation or irregular bowel movements.

7. Other symptoms are low immune function, heightened allergies, low blood pressure and extreme sensitivity to cold.

One thing is clear, experts and physicians who recognize adrenal fatigue observe a very distinct pattern of the disease: patients are fatigued when they wake up, fully awake only after lunch, feel restless in the afternoon, and very active at night.