OLD WIVES WEREN'T SO DAFT

Many like to dismiss old wives tales and I often wonder where this term came from and why many of them prove to be of value, whether they were passed down from old wise women, the term was around in ancient times, "

The concept of old wives' tales is ancient. In the 1st century, the Apostle Paul wrote to his young protégé Timothy, "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself [rather] unto godliness" (I Timothy 4:7 KJV[2]). 

However one of my favourite books "Honey Mud and Maggots" explains the reasoning behind some 'Old wives tales and folklore remedies' Like the article below, I grew up being told by my grandma being told Fish is good for the brain and no doubt her grandma told her the same, so it seems the Old wives knew what they were talking about, irrespective of who, and where these old wives originated. I really enjoyed this book and you will too.

Book Description

Many modern medical practices began as old wives' tales or folk remedies. "Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels" investigates a multicultural variety of age-old remedies often dismissed by 20th-century Western medicine as harmful or foolish but now shown to have real scientific validity. This book calls upon the medical establishment to open itself up to the possiblities of alternative therapies - remedies that have stood the test of time precisely because they work. The age of leeching is long gone, yet tens of thousands of leeches are used each year to re-establish blood flow following reconstructive surgery. Maggots have accidentally cleaned wounds for centuries. Now doctors use them on purpose to heal gangerous sores that are resistant to modern medicine. Honey is one of the oldest medicines in the world. In some modern hospitals it is used to heal wounds that even the best antibiotics and antiseptics cannot treat.

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Why fish oil is good for your brain: Study finds it boosts memory by 15 per cent

• Fatty acid found in fish and seafood boosts memory function by 15 per cent
• Fish-rich diet important for maintaining optimal brain health and preventing onset of dementia

Eating oily fish such as salmon and trout can significantly improve your memory say scientists.
A new study found that a fatty acid found in fish and seafood can boost memory function by 15 per cent.
Scientists are now highlighting the importance of a fish-rich diet for maintaining optimal brain health and preventing the onset of dementia.

According to a new study eating oily fish such as salmon can significantly improve your memory and help prevent the onset of dementia

Over a six month period 176 healthy adults were given supplements containing DHA - an Omega-3 fatty acid found in foods such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, trout, prawns and mussels.
During this time memory and cognitive function were assessed and compared to a placebo group.
After treatment, memory, working memory and speed of working memory all showed significant improvements.
It is believed that DHA could be key in preventing Alzheimer's disease, one of the most common forms of dementia, characterised by a decline in mental abilities, such as memory and reasoning and often associated with increasing age.
Lead researcher Professor Welma Stonehouse of Massey University in New Zealand said: 'This is the first robust study to show that a DHA-rich supplement can improve some aspects of memory functioning in young healthy adults.

DHA - an Omega-3 fatty acid found in fish and seafood is one of the most highly concentrated fats in the brain

'The cognitive functions shown to be affected by the DHA-rich fish oil, namely memory and working memory, are among the most important functions of our brains for numerous everyday activities, such as working, driving, shopping, studying, playing sports, etc.

'Maintaining brain health and getting your brain to perform at its optimal capacity is just as vital as maintaining physical wellbeing and health.'
DHA, is one of the most highly concentrated fats in the brain and known to play a vital role in the structure and functioning of the brain.

But as the body cannot effectively make this fatty acid it must be consumed as part of the diet.
Researchers highlighted that as many people fail to eat enough fish and seafood, the brain's performance is potentially compromised.
The study showed that male participants who took a DHA supplement demonstrated 15 per cent faster working memory while women had a seven per cent improvement in the speed of episodic memory.
Professor Stonehouse added: 'These findings contribute to the growing body of research showing that omega-3's play a very important role in brain function throughout the life cycle, even in healthy cognitively intact individuals.'
This is one of the few studies to investigate the effects of DHA on cognitive function in healthy adults with no pre-existing cognitive disorder.
Dementia affects around 570,000 people in England, with Alzheimer’s disease responsible for around 60 per cent of dementia cases.
The NHS states a healthy diet should include at least two portions of fish a week, including one of oily fish.

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HARMLESS CRACKPOT? OR SHOULD WE WORRY?

The article below is from the Daily Mail and not the usual articles I sometimes post on here, but I am in the business of Holistic Medicine and Psychic Mediumship so under that umbrella comes beliefs. 

Now I had thought I had heard the last of this guy, David Icke in the UK years ago when he was prevalent, we just laughed and thought he was a harmless crackpot, obvious to all that he just wasn't right and who would believe him, but this headline in the Daily Mail caught my eye, "America now falling at his feet". Frankly I was flabbergasted.

He pokes fun or is it fun? nope I think he's deadly serious, at our Royal Family claiming she is half Lizard and part of an alien sect. He also claims this of the US president Obama, now I know there may be a percentage of Americans who dislike president Obama, each to there own but to find he has sell out tours of the US where Americans are hanging on to his every word is worrying. He even claims the highest ranking UK Clergy had the mark of Satan on his robes and they lap it up.

Why are people, well especially Americans listening to this twaddle? and worrying they are supporting him? My theory is they need something to believe in. Man from time immemorial had a need to worship something, so you will find this common thread throughout all civilizations. Sadly many are disillusioned with present day religions, which have lost the impetus of sticking to the real purpose of religion, which is to care for others and treat others as they themselves wish, present day religions seem to have developed more in the way of power and control, and people have been searching for something different. David Icke is somewhat a manipulator at using those gullible searching people, he refers to such terms as "U.S. government weapons, the satanic paedophile politicians leeching ‘energy’ from children" and there are many especially in the US who are  susceptible to conspiracy theories, Icke plays on this. As far as I can see he is no different from any other organisation who tries to manipulate people with power and control. Sadly these gullible people in my opinion should look internally at themselves to their own soul and conscious.

No matter what religion you believe in take it back to grass roots, we should care for our fellow man as we would expect ourselves to be treated. Love is unconditional, it does not judge others. OK you may say I am judging him, well hes free to choose what to believe in and if he wants to believe HM the Queen and President Obama are half lizard half alien, who want to take over the world let him. But he should not be trying to convert others to his beliefs, that is a dangerous precedence. I would have more respect for him if he were to talk about Universal Love for mankind, instead he claims to be the son of God and the next Messiah.

The second coming of David Icke: Claiming he was the son of God made him a national joke. So why is America now falling at his feet?

Making a comeback: David Icke and his outlandish views are continuing to sell out tours in America, yet he is still one of the most ridiculed men in Britain

Americans love to hear about the mysteries of the Royal Family and David Icke wasn’t about to disappoint his 2,000-strong audience.
A seemingly innocuous picture of the Queen being greeted at the gates of Westminster Abbey for the royal wedding flashed up on the giant TV screen on the stage behind him.
‘He’s got the inverted pentagon on a circle, the classic symbol of Satanism,’ said Icke, ringing the decoration on one of the clergyman’s robe with his laser pointer. ‘It’s so obvious, I thought it must have been Photoshopped.’
But the devil-worshipper helping to officiate at the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton is apparently the least of the Royal Family’s faults. Later, the screen was filled with a photo of the Queen with slanted eyes, next to an image of a green lizard-man. This shows her Majesty in her true form, Icke explains, as a human-lizard hybrid.
Incredibly, Icke believes that the world is being run by a race of child-sacrificing, shape-shifting, reptilian aliens — and thousands of people seem to believe him.
Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of David Icke. But while wild claims such as these forced Icke to flee the spotlight 20 years ago — after he declared on a BBC chat show that he was the son of God — his conspiracy theories are now proving lucrative.
Icke, now 59, is, sadly, a man for our times. The messianic figure in the turquoise tracksuit (which supposedly channelled positive energy) was once the most ridiculed man in Britain. But looking at the 2,100 people who had paid £45 a head to listen to him in New York at the weekend, it seems Icke has had the last laugh.

Delusional: Icke makes his extraordinary claim that he was the son of God during an interview on Terry Wogan's chat show in 1991

The audience — many wearing Icke T-shirts, others taking down notes on their phones or posting minute-by-minute updates on Icke fan forums — sat and listened attentively as the former Coventry City footballer spent eight hours railing against U.S. government weapons, the satanic paedophile politicians leeching ‘energy’ from children and, of course, the lizard people and their plot for world domination.
He got a standing ovation and his audience headed back home to switch on their computers and immerse themselves in their world of conspiracy theory sites and chat forums.
No matter how hard they search, they’ll find few stories as unlikely as Icke’s. Goalkeeper for Coventry City before severe arthritis forced him to give up football at just 21, he became one of the BBC’s most high-profile presenters, before being sacked for refusing to pay the poll tax.
He then became a spokesman for the Green Party. By 1990, he was having mystical experiences. A psychic’s claims that Icke would ‘heal the Earth’ were widely reported, while Icke visited a burial ground in Peru — where he said a hill ‘talked’ to him.
His personal life was equally bizarre. He married Linda Atherton in 1974, but had an affair with psychic Deborah Shaw, and moved his mistress into the marital home in 1990 to live in a polygamous ménage à trois.

He subsequently divorced both Atherton and his second wife, Pamela Leigh Richards. 
When, in 1991, he announced on Terry Wogan’s BBC1 chat show  that he was the son of God and that the world would end in 1997, his own world fell apart.

Half lizard? Icke has bizarrely suggested the Queen and Barack Obama are part of an alien sect that run the world.

Dawn-till-dusk lampooning followed and Icke retreated to his Isle of Wight home to develop his outlandish ideas. It also set him free to make far more money than he could have dreamt of staying in the Green Party.
He has written 18 books, published in 40 countries, under such titles as And The Truth Shall Set You Free and Infinite Love Is The Only Truth. His website receives 600,000 hits a week and he has a lucrative sideline selling DVD recordings of his performances for £35 a copy.
He is using his latest sell-out tour — which takes in Australia, the Netherlands, Croatia, a string of dates across the U.S. and a grand finale at Wembley Arena next October — to promote his new book Human Race Get Off Your Knees.
Americans are his biggest fans — it might explain the transatlantic accent Icke now seems to have — and it’s not hard to see why. 
They have always been especially susceptible to conspiracy theories, which now constitute a multi-million dollar industry of radio shows and websites in the U.S.
Much of this is founded on a suspicion of people in power. Indeed, in a recent poll, only a quarter of U.S. adults said they trust their government. 

Superstitious: Icke used to wear this fetching turquoise tracksuit as it supposedly channelled positive energy to him

So what, apart from a sore rear, does one take away from eight hours with the self-proclaimed son of God?
There’s some New Age waffling about overcoming negativity and humanity’s ‘infinite consciousness’ which cheers up listeners — but rather a lot more which alarms them.
Yet Icke’s scaremongering about a ‘New World Order’ of politicians, Zionists, financiers and secret societies — including the Jesuits, Templars and Freemasons — all plotting together to take over the world, is not all that original.
What’s different is that few of even the most wild-eyed conspiracists believe invisible alien lizard people are calling the shots.
Icke tells people we cannot ‘decode’ the reptilians because, conveniently, they are visible only on a light frequency that humans cannot detect.
Meanwhile, we have been brainwashed so that what we think is reality is only a hologram. Icke’s vision is all eerily reminiscent of the Matrix series of sci-fi films, starring Keanu Reeves, about a man who discovers we are all living in a dream world manufactured by evil supermachines.
He has plenty more of this hokey scientific gobbledygook, together with carefully cherry-picked quotes from scientists and rather longer extracts — which he laboriously reads out — from rather more dubious sources such as science fiction writers, fictional characters and even New York’s most famous serial killer, the ‘Son of Sam’ David Berkowitz.
Icke’s revelations include everything from the fact that the moon was built by aliens to the fact that the Rothschild dynasty of Jewish bankers are responsible for everything from the Russian revolution to the 2008 economic meltdown.

Popular: Icke has written 18 books while his website receives more than 600,000 hits a week. He also sells DVDs of his show at £35 a time

The lizard hybrids Icke believes in include every royal family in Europe, Tony Blair, Barack Obama, Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schwarzenegger and — most mysteriously — the singer Kris Kristofferson.
The list includes plenty of Jews. Although Icke insists he isn’t anti-Semitic but only anti-Zionist, his diatribe against Jewish bankers such as Goldman Sachs and their ‘control of global bloody finance’ has alarming echoes of what the Nazis used to say.
His bombardment of ‘facts’ is so rapid that listeners barely have time to consider if they ring even remotely true. And so he argues that the New World Order is so obsessed with symbolism that it chose to assassinate Princess Diana in Paris’s Pont de l’Alma tunnel. Why? Because Pont de l’Alma means ‘passage of the moon goddess’ and Diana was named after the Roman goddess of the moon.
It sounds good — but it’s tripe: the Pont de l’Alma was named after a Crimean War battle. But who cares, Icke is on to his next revelation: that the reptilians are obsessed with twin towers. The Royal Family get married in Westminster Abbey and St Paul’s which both have twin towers and, yes, that’s why the lizards blew up the Twin Towers on 9/11.
Interviewed last week on a radio show, Icke couldn’t hide his delight that in parts of the world where he has previously ‘talked to a phone box’, he is now filling out 2,000-seat auditoriums.
For anyone who stops sniggering at Planet Icke long enough to think about that, it may not be a laughing matter.

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BLOG REVIEW

BLOG REVIEW COURTESY OF 
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http://www.astridestella.info

Maggie Brown, A Truly Holistic Blog

Posted on November 26, 2011 by Brook

Who Is Maggie Brown?

Maggie Brown, webmaster of “The Truly Holistic Blog” is an author, writer, poet, and psychic.  As a lecturer in Holistic Studies with a nursing background, she blogs on topics such as reflexology, aromatherapy and Indian therapy with the reverence and perspective of a Reiki master.

The Truly Holistic Blog, AstrideStella.info

The Truly Holistic Blog, www.AstrideStella.info is a bit overwhelming in that there is so much offered it is hard to decide where to go first. Whether you want to learn more about homeopathic health to quit smoking or control your diabetes or the art of reading tea leaves you will find it on this holistic blog.

The post on “What is Wicca?” was enlightening to me. What I got is that Wicca is a recognized religion that is basically the “awe” of life.

It is a peaceful and harmonious way of life that promotes oneness with the world and creator.

Holistic Approach To Life

Maggie’s blog topics are all-encompassing in the holistic approach to life.

For example, I learned in the post “Mercury In Retrograde” that the planet Mercury which appears in the morning or early evening sky at times looks like it is going backwards. This optical illusion is called retrograde and the astrological phenomenon causes few issues here on earth. To avoid problems during this period it is good to:

• Avoid signing legal documents.
• Avoid closing big deals.
• Avoid meetings that require big decisions.
• Allow extra time while traveling.

It sounds kind of like Feng Shui to me! This type of holistic advice permeates the entire site. Anyone interested in living a healthy life without drugs would benefit from visiting “The Truly Holistic Blog“.

We give Maggie Brown’s blog a thumbs UP!!

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NEW MOON SCHEDULES FOR 2012

The new moon is associated with new beginnings and certain spells.  New Moon workings can be done from the day of the new moon to three-and-a-half days after. The new moon is for starting new ventures, new beginnings. Also love and romance, health or job hunting.

Diagram of Moon Phases

Here is the schedule for every New Moon, 2012. 
Please note that all the times listed are in Universal Time.


New Moon for January, 2012

• January 23, 07:39

New Moon for February, 2012

• February 21, 22:35

New Moon for March, 2012

• March 22, 14:37

New Moon for April, 2012

• April 21, 07:18

New Moon for May, 2012

• May 20, 23:47

New Moon for June, 2012

• June 19, 15:02

New Moon for July, 2012

• July 19, 04:24

New Moon for August, 2012

• August 17, 15:54

New Moon for September, 2012

• September 16, 02:11

New Moon for October, 2012

• October 15, 12:02

New Moon for November, 2012

• November 13, 22:08

New Moon for December, 2012

• December 13, 08:42

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COSMIC ORDERING

WISHING ON A STAR IS ONE FORM OF COSMIC ORDERING

WHAT IS COSMIC ORDERING?

Under the laws of the Universe you can have anything you wish for providing it's not detrimental to anyone else. It's the power of positive thinking and by harnessing and creating positive thoughtforms to manifest your wish.

To Manifest or to Cosmic Order is to request a change in life, or circumstance and because of your request you will go on to experience your desires.

Do you ever find that when you expect things to go wrong, they often do? Well conversely you may believe in coincidence, the thing you appreciate when things that you may have been dreaming of actually happen, and things go right.  This is because in the Universe 'Like attracts like' Negative attracts negative, so positive thoughts manifest and create positive happenings

This is the process of Cosmic Ordering, happening to you all of the time, though you may not always realise it, and if you can learn what to do you can begin to consciously control your future.

So Cosmic Ordering is placing an order with the Universe and wait for it Manifest.

Where do I Place my orders?
In several books and recorded interviews with leading spiritual writers Dr Deepak Chopra and Dr Wayne Dyer, Manifestation is said to occur within a field of energy that they have named ‘The field of Intent’. The field of Intent is said to be an invisible dimension where our Spirit connects to the universe and returns our conscious desires.

When things happen instantaneously or in complete coincidence, you can often think back to what you were asking for at the time of the occurrence, and realise that what you requested actually happen, and normally you would put this down to coincidence. According to Chopra and Dyer coincidence, as a matter of chance, does not exist – a coincidence is actually a Cosmic Order being delivered, you have manifested your request.


How do I place my orders?
To link to the Field of Intent we use our Power of Intention, a combination of our desire and our belief to create a new situation. When we use our Power of Intention our Spirit connects to the Field of Intent and returns our request.

When we desire something we want it badly, and for this aspect of Cosmic Ordering to work we have to really want it and feel that we deserve it. Desiring something without deserving it will not work as Spiritually you experience an anomaly between what you think you want and whether you think you are worth it. However much you want something, if deep down you don’t feel that you deserve it then you will not be able to Manifest it.

Belief is a part of your psychology that influences pretty much everything you do in life. Whether you believe you can, or you believe you can’t, you are probably right. When you are in a situation where you need to push your boundaries and leave your comfort zone, your level of belief will affect whether you are successful or not. This is true for Cosmic Ordering, you must have belief that you can achieve your request, that you can make it happen, and this is probably the hardest part of the process for people who are sceptical about the process.

Making my request
When you have Desire and Belief you have Intent and by having Intent you just need to place your order. Writers present many different ways to place your Order, some methods are very involved, including going to a sacred place, wearing different outfits or being accompanied by certain artefacts to name but a few. In fact Cosmic Ordering works whatever setting feels most comfortable to you, you will know what feels right, it would preferably be somewhere you feel very comfortable and can enjoy familiarity. It is generally best to be somewhere quiet, and where you can remain quiet until you have finished.

Some reporters on the subject write their requests on paper, and review these notes at specific times. Others claim that by writing the request and wrapping it round a particular stone (that you have to pay for), you can achieve success. Many people simply recite the request several times, and then repeat it on the days following. Another method is to say it out loud and to follow this up with positive affirmations. For some the process of physically submitting your cosmic order via a website helps maintain the positive process e.g. the URL below

http://thecosmicorderingsite.com/cosmic-order-submit.htm



Cosmic ordering is the name given to a version of positive thinking that was renamed by Bärbel Mohr of Munich, Germany. She first outlined her own version in her own magazine called Sonnenwind (Solar Wind), and then expanded these ideas into a book called Cosmic Ordering Service: A Guide to Realising Your Dreams. In the Great Depression of the 1930s Napoleon Hill popularised similar ideas, and in the 1970s Reverend Ike was widely heard over radio and television stations claiming that "You can't lose with the stuff I use". This "stuff" was mind power based upon similar ideas to those promoted by Hill in his many books, and which Mohr has recently promoted in Germany. In the United Kingdom disc jockey and TV game show host Noel Edmonds has become the main media promoter of Mohr's work.

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THE BENEFITS OF MEDITATION

 It is well known how Meditation is beneficial to us Holistic Practioners, below are some interesting developments I found on the 'Daily Mail' online.

From a health point of view Meditation, reduces blood pressure and thus heart disease, this will then reduce the negative effects this has on the body as a whole. It instils a feeling of well being and reduces the effects of stress on the body, High Blood Pressure for one and helps restore other negative effects such as an impared immune system.

On a Psychic level, meditation teaches mind control, something very necessary for those who wish to develop their psychic abilities as all work in the field of the psychic and mediumship is done by the use of our mind as it enables us to tap into our higherself our soul. Meditation relaxes and frees up our mind so we can clear it to disassociate it, in order to enable us to work with our spirit. For to enable us to control our psychic abilities to be able to switch it on and off at will, we need to have good mind control. Meditation is therefore a must.

Meditation really is good for the brain as study reveals it switches off areas linked to ADHD and Alzheimer’s

• Meditation decreased activity in area in the brain implicated in a range of neurological disorders
• Yale University scientists suggest it could even slow down the onset of dementia

Meditation could help temper the symptoms of ADHD and Alzheimer's scientists say. A groundbreaking study has revealed that the ancient relaxation technique can switch off areas of the brain associated with a range of psychiatric disorders. It is now hoped that the findings will shed light on how neurological diseases work and prompt the development of effective treatment.



Meditation could help temper the symptoms of ADHD and Alzhemeimer's according to scientists from Yale University  Past research has shown meditation, which has become increasingly popular over recent years, has helped people quit smoking, cope with cancer, and even prevent psoriasis.
But scientists at Yale University now believe it can help people to stay focused and boost happiness, slowing down the onset of dementia. Lead researcher Judson Brewer said: 'Meditation's ability to help people stay in the moment has been part of philosophical and contemplative practices for thousands of years. 'Conversely, the hallmarks of many forms of mental illness is a preoccupation with one's own thoughts, a condition meditation seems to affect.


Brain scans revealed that meditators had decreased activity in an area of the brain implicated in a range of neurological disorders 'This gives us some nice cues as to the neural mechanisms of how it might be working clinically.' During the study, detailed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, both experienced and novice meditators were monitored as they practiced three different meditation techniques. Brain scans revealed that experienced meditators had decreased activity in area called the default mode network. This region of the brain has been implicated in lapses of attention and disorders such as anxiety, attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, and even the build-up of beta amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease. Reduced activity was shown regardless of the type meditation and also during rest, suggesting that experienced meditators are less susceptible diseases such as autism, schizophrenia.

In a similar vein the University of Wisconsin is planning a study early next year to investigate the neurological effects of meditation and yoga with veterans. It is thought mindfulness meditation holds promise for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which provokes intrusive thoughts, emotional numbness and hypervigilance. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), which combines meditation with orthodox 'thought training', is already recommended for depression in Britain and is available on the NHS. A report published by a mental health charity last year argued that if more GPs could offer the therapy it would cut the financial burden of depression, which costs the UK £7.5 billion a year.

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CHOCOLATE IS GOOD FOR YOU!

This is not news to me as I eat little meat and my diet is mostly vegetarian and chocolate has always been part of my balanced diet and as long as it's eaten in moderation, you wont gain weight.

We all know how chocolate lifts our spirits and makes us feel better, especially when we feel low and depressed, the information below will explain why 'CHOCOLATE IS GOOD FOR YOU'

Nutrition Facts for Cocoa and Chocolate

There have been many studies linking cocoa and dark chocolate with health benefits. Cocoa and chocolate contain a large amount of antioxidants (flavinoids). Cocoa and dark chocolate may keep high blood pressure down and reduce the blood's ability to clot, thus the risk of stroke and hart attacks may be reduced. The darker chocolate with the most concentrated cocoa will be the most beneficial. According to an Italian study, a small square (20 g) of dark (bittersweet) chocolate every three days is the ideal dose for cardiovascular benefits. Eating more does not provide additional benefits.

The nutrition values presented below are based on review of a selection of brands. Variations outside the given ranges can be expected. Numbers are % by weight, not % of daily value.

 Information from: http://www.cacaoweb.net/nutrition.html

Fat

Cocoa beans contain approximately 50% fat. It is primarily comprised of two saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic acids) and one mono-unsaturated acid (oleic acid). Cocoa butter and chocolate do not raise blood cholesterol. However, when consuming milk chocolate or lower grade chocolate where a part of the total fat content comes from milk fat or various other types of fat, the cholesterol level might be adversely affected.

Sugar

The cacao bean contains quite a lot of carbohydrates, but most of it is starch, soluble dietary fibers, and insoluble dietary fibers. A very small proportion is simple sugars. Sugar is added during the manufacture of chocolate.

Antioxidants

Cocoa beans contain polyphenols (similar to those found in wine) with antioxidant properties which are health beneficial. These compounds are called flavonoids and include catechins, epicatechins, and procyandins. The antioxidant flavinoids are found in the nonfat portions of the cocoa bean. The flavinoids also reduce the blood's ability to clot and thus reduces the risk of stroke and heart attacks.

Theobromine

Theobromine is a very mild stimulant with a mild diuretic action (increases the production of urine). Theobromine can be toxic to animals like dogs, cats, parrots and horses.

Caffeine

Cocoa beans contains a very low amount of caffeine, much less than found in coffee, tea and cola drinks.

Phenylethylamine

Phenylethylamine is a slight antidepressant and stimulant similar to the body's own dopamine and adrenaline.

Serotonine

Cocoa and chocolate can increase the level of serotonine in the brain. Serotonine levels are often decreased in people with depression and in those experiencing PMS symptoms.

Essential minerals

Cocoa beans are rich in a number of essential minerals, including magnesium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper, potassium and manganese.

According to the website, Nutritiondata.com, a one ounce serving of dark chocolate contains 19 percent of the US RDA for iron. Yet an ounce of beef sirloin only contains 3 percent.

Is dark chocolate really that high in iron? Why hasn’t anyone told me this?

Data from USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference shows: Chocolate, dark, 70-85 percent cacao solids, value per 100 grams is 11.90 milligrams of iron. Beef, bottom sirloin, tri-tip roast, separable lean and fat, trimmed to 0″ fat, all grades, cooked, roasted, value per 100 grams is 1.66 milligrams of iron. Beef, ground, 70 percent lean meat / 30 percent fat, crumbles, cooked, pan-browned, value per 100 grams is 2.48 milligrams of iron. So these two information sources state that dark chocolate does contain more iron than some cuts of beef, and not just a little more. (I’m currently holding a dark chocolate bar and the wrapper says 100 grams is 3.5 ounces).

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/iron-dark-chocolate-contains-more-than-beef.html#ixzz1eG17JjqZ

Vitamins

A, B1, B2, B3, C, E and pantothenic acid.

Is chocolate fattening?

Yes, chocolate is fattening. Even dark chocolate contains a lot of calories because of the large content of fat and sugar. The sugar content in chocolate is worse than the fat content regarding negative effects on health.

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