How To Make Irresistible Coconut Oil Chocolates

by Beyond the Peel

Do you want to satisfy a sweet tooth without a bunch of effort, still have it portion controlled, and have it be good for you?

I hope the answer is yes.


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Chocolate: The "Candy" with Powerful Medicinal Properties

'Chocolate is clearly one of the most enjoyed foods on the planet, with millions of pounds produced annually, and has one of the oldest documented histories of use going all the way back to the year 1100 BC in South America. And yet, many people still harbor guilt about consuming it because they associate chocolate with "candy" (which logically follows from the fact that it is in the candy section in stores where you will find it), having never been exposed to the impressive body of pre-clinical and clinical research indicating that it may actually be closer to a "medicine" than a candy.'


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Surprise! Chocolate CAN Be Good for You, at the Right Dose

By Dr. Mercola

'It’s a real pleasure to once again interview Beatrice Golomb, MD, PhD, who has a number of diverse areas of expertise, and many in which we share an interest. The subject of this interview is chocolate.

There have been quite a few interesting scientific studies emerging about chocolate over the past few years. There’s also a lot of confusion about chocolate—what type to eat and how much, types to avoid, etc., so I hope to dispel some of the myths on this subject.

Chocolate can be used therapeutically, but only if it’s the right kind. Chocolate is like anything else: garbage in, garbage out. Consuming poor quality chocolate, such as chocolate loaded with sugar and chemicals, is no more beneficial to your body than a drinking a soda.'

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Chocolate Gives Statins A $29 Billion Run For Their Money

'With the blockbuster cholesterol-lowering class of drugs known as statins being widely promoted for the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, despite their having over 300 documented adverse health effects (including heart failure!), how does chocolate sound as a viable, heart-friendly alternative? 

We already connect amorously with chocolate (to the tune of 6 billion lbs of cocoa consumed annually worldwide), revealing in heart-felt expressions like "I love it," and "this is to die for!" how comfortable we are with publicly declaring our affection. But did you know that while it makes our emotional hearts sing, it may actually keep our physical hearts happy, alive and ticking longer, as well?' 

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Valentine's Day: Chocolate Tantric Pie Recipe

'We did a Big Sur themed dinner and each recipe came from a different Big Sur restaurant cookbook. The Chocolate Tantric Pie was our dessert recipe and it came from Esalen. 

When I heard the pie name, it made me chuckle because of the infamous couples tantra workshops at Esalen. This is a very rich and tasty chocolate pie that is very easy to make. You have to really love chocolate though. My biggest advice is to not put much of the candied ginger on top because a little can go a long way.'

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The Best Raw Chocolate Recipe Ever!

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The Chocolate Debate

'Now a study out of Germany adds weight to the pro-chocolate evidence, making it appear that the cosmic plan isn’t so punishing, after all. The study, just published in The European Heart Journal, followed 19,357 adults for 10 years. The researchers found that those subjects who ate just a tiny 7.5 gram square of chocolate every day lowered their risk of heart attack by 27 percent and reduced their risk of stroke by a whopping 48 percent when compared to those subjects who ate less or none. The chocolate-eating subjects also had lower blood pressure.

As for the amount of chocolate the subjects consumed, alas — it wasn’t exactly a hungry-teen-sized chunk. A regular Hershey’s bar weighs an ounce and a half; so 7.5 grams comes to about one-quarter of an ounce, meaning that the subjects ate the measly equivalent of one-sixth of a Hershey candy bar daily, or about seven large chocolate chips. That’s not exactly a party-sized portion, but compared to taking cholesterol pills for prevention, it’s a hands-down winner in the flavor department.'

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More Good News: Red Wine and Dark Chocolate Are Cancer Killers

'Red grapes and dark chocolate join blueberries, garlic, soy, and teas as ingredients that starve cancer while feeding bodies, Angiogenesis Foundation head, William Li said at a prestigious TED Conference.

"We are rating foods based on their cancer-fighting qualities," Li said. "What we eat is really our chemotherapy three times a day."'

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