The Top 5 Reasons Why Chocolate is Good For You

Did you know that dark chocolate can be healthy for you? Chocolate unanimously gets a bad rap as a diet buster, and one look at any chocolate bar label will tell you why. But chocolate has amazing benefits if you limit your intake to a few ounces per week, go for dark chocolate (the higher cocoa content packs in much more health benefits), and eat less-processed bars (so not the Kit Kats and Snickers!) Chocolate has so many health benefits is that it is rich in flavonoids, which are naturally occurring substances found in plants that are antiocidant rich.

So here are the top 5 reasons why you should be eating chocolate!

I don't really need to convince you to eat me, do I?

1. Improve your vision. Researchers from the University of Reading in England found that people performed better on vision tests after eating the dark chocolate. This is because the flavanols in dark chocolate help boost blood flow to the brain and the retina.


2. Prevent cancer. Studies have shown that people who eat many flavonoids and antioxidant-rich foods develop fewer cancers than those who don’t eat them. There are many flavonoids in chocolate, but the two most prominent cancer-fighters epicatechin and quercetin.

3. Raise good cholesterol. Dark chocolate is also being studies for its cholesterol-lowering properties. Cocoa butter in chocolate contains oleic acid, which is a monounsaturated fat - the same fat found in olive oil. Studies show that monounsaturated fat helps to raise good cholesterol.

4. Be happier. Fatty acids can boost your mood, and dark chocolate contains two saturated fatty acids, palmitic and stearic acids. Studies have found that chocolate can make you feel happier and improve your mood, even over other foods containing fatty acids. The current thinking on this is that chocolate stimulates the neural activity in the regions of the brain associated with pleasure.

5. Live longer. Studies have found a link between eating dark chocolate and living longer. While more research needs to be done on this, it's safe to say that with chocolate's cancer-fighting, stroke risk-reducing, heart disease-preventing, blood pressure-lowering advantages and more, chocolate can definitely help you extend your life.

Look for bars like me...dark and unprocessed!

So don't be afraid to indulge!

The Best (And Easiest) Superfoods for Weight Loss

Eating superfoods can make losing weight easy and a lot more enjoyable! But a lot of them are strange and expensive and generally not suited to the tastes, budgets, and lifestyles of anyone other than a health nut. So here is my list of the top superfoods for college students and fitness beginners to eat:

Apples have antioxidants that can help you cut down on belly fat. Also, studies have found that people who snack on apples before meals eat less than with any other snack!

Eggs are known for being bad for diets, but the opposite is true. Their protein will keep you full and kill your appetite. Go for egg whites when possible, but don't be scared of the yolk!

Salmon is another superfood that controls insulin with its omega-3 fatty acids. Stock up and try it on the grill, baked with vegestables, or even make burgers with it.

Blueberries may be the best type of berry to eat, with the highest antioxidant content and over 3.5g of fibre in a cup.

Small but powerful!

Chiles are one of the most flavourful (and hot!) ways to trim down! Chiles contain capsaicin which instantly revs up your metabolism and causes you to burn extra calories for 20 minutes after you eat it, studies show. Try finding ways to add fresh chiles to your dishes to get the most out of them.

I burn calories and your tongue.

Avacados are known to be high in fat, but also to be extremely healthy. Both are true! The key is that avacadoes contain monounsaturated fat which is good for your heart and also helps you feel fuller longer. Do watch your portions though. Use avacadoes as a spread on sandwiches or make a healthy guacamole to use as a dip.

Olive oil is just like avacado in that it contains healthy fat that keep you feeling ful.. It should be your staple oil if it isn't already. The easiest way to get your fix is simply to cook with it! Also drizzle salads with it for extra benefit.

I'll keep you from reaching for a snack later!

Brown rice is extremely filling yet low in calories. Ditch white rice for it whenever possible to easily slim down. It also contains a special type of starch named resistant starch which is a metabolism booster and fat burner.

Simple Tips For Eating Out

Dining out seems to be something I can't avoid between constant invitations from friends, cousins, family, and colleagues. Everyone loves eating at restaurants, but it can be difficult to navigate eating healthy while surfing menus of various restaurants. So here's a list of simple tips for dining out:

1.       Research ahead, when possible. If you know where you're going, look it up ahead of time and try to get nutritional information so you can pick the healthiest dishes on the menu.

Go online for nutrition facts!

2.       Be aware of portions. Ever notice how huge the portions are at restaurants? Offer to split entrées and appetizers with your friends and family. Ask for a small plate and put your food on that so you can see your  portion clearly.

3.       Analyze how food is prepared. How food is cooked is the most important aspect. Avoid fried and breaded – instead, look for foods that are grilled, steamed, baked, stir-fried, or roasted.

Yummy, and healthily prepared!

4.       Eat vegetables! Vegetables are a sure-fire way to get needed nutrients and lower the calories in your meal. Whenever you can, get vegetable side dishes instead of fries or baked potatoes, especially if your entrée is carb-rich.

5.       Be wary of condiments. Yummy condiments and toppings like cheese, sour cream, and creamy gravies and sauces can quickly blow the calorie and fat count of your meal into the stratosphere. Avoid and lessen them when possible – and even better, get them on the side so you can control how much is on your meal.

We're out to get you!

6.       Drink water, milk, and fruit juice. Avoid sugary sodas, alcohol, hot chocolate, etc. which are often empty calories.

The Top 5 Foods to Avoid at Timmy's

Most Canadians love Tim Horton's - myself included. But have you stopped to look at what their products contain? I did, and it really surprised me.

So here is my list of the Top 5 foods to Avoid at Tim Hortons:

1. Breakfast Sandwiches - Any of them, on a homestyle biscuit, will earn you 0.5g trans fat. Considering it's encouraged to eliminate consumption of trans fats as much as possible, that's a hell of a lot for one food item. On an english muffin, 0.2g.

2. Iced Cappucinos - A small serving will get you 11g of fat - 6 saturated and 0.4 trans fat, both of which are considered "bad fats". Why? Because there is a lot of cream in there. Get it with milk instead - 1.5g fat, 1g saturated.

A customer favourite that you may want to rethink.

3. Honey Crullers - ALL the donuts and cookies have at least 0.1 g of trans fat, but this one takes the cake with 0.4g.

4. Hot Chocolate - A small. drink has the most sugar of any item on the menu - 38g. Also 6g of fat, 5g saturated and 0.2g trans.

5. "Real" Fruit Smoothies - These are really a travesty, and marketed as a healthy choice, which is severely misleading. It's 1/5 of some kind of alien fruit concentrate mix out of a box, and the rest a beverage base, which is basically sugar and water. Eat a fruit, for gosh sakes! Or go to McDonald's, their's are actually made from fruit. Small with no yogurt 30g sugar, all the way up to large with yogurt 60g of sugar.

Sorry, but what is your definition of "real", Timmy's? SMH!

Need more info? Go to Timmy's official nutition guide or their nutrition calculator.

African Mango Complete

My mom is constantly on a crusade to get me to lose weight. She asked me if I wanted diet pills - I obviously balked at the idea - but she is went ahead anyway and presented me with a bottle of pills the next week anyway. The bottle said "African Mango Complete". I figured, "Oh, why not try it?" - but only after reading the bottle and pamphlet and some research online. All-natural ingredients, blahblah, nothing chemical or strange (well, relatively) in it.

Will these actually work?

The main ingredient in this is African Mango, or Irvingia gabonensis extract. It also has psyllium husk, red clover powder, artichoke leaf extract, and dandelion root extract, all of which togethere supposedly form a potent mixture that claim to burn body fat, control appetite, increase energy, cleanse, detoxify, and lower cholesterol. "Lose 25 lbs. in as little as 4 weeks!" is the bottle's claim.

You take two pills a day, one in morning and one in evening. I read on the Internet to take it before meals, so I took mine a half hour before meals when I could. The main things of the laundry list of claims I'm concerned with are losing body fat and supressing appetite. I've tried these for a few days, and I have to say when it comes to suppressing appetite and my cravings they actually seem to work. I have a terrible sweet tooth, but my sugar cravings are pretty much nonexistant when I take these, and my appetite does seem lower. I really only feel like eating when I'm actually hungry.

Of course, I've only taken these a few days, so I won't make any claims about them yet, except for the few observations I just made. Maybe I'm feeling a placebo effect. I'll update in a few weeks to give my full opinion on these.