Tuesday's Change Week 26 - Chocolate

Yes, yes you did. You heard that right. This week's Tuesday's change is to eat chocolate. Now woah there boy, before you get too excited have a good read below.

There are many benefits to dark chocolate and it is often considered a bad food. It is bad when it's milk or white chocolate but anything above 70% can contain the following.

A 100 gram bar of dark chocolate with 70-85% cocoa contains:

• 11 grams of fiber.
• 67% of the RDA for Iron.
• 58% of the RDA for Magnesium.
• 89% of the RDA for Copper.
• 98% of the RDA for Manganese.
• It also has plenty of potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium

It is also a powerful source of anti-oxidants which trap nasty free radicals in the body and prevent them from damaging cells and causing illness.

It may also help improve blood flow and lower blood pressure as a result of the flavanols in dark chocolate which stimulate the endothelium, the lining of arteries, to produce Nitric Oxide (NO), which is a gas and causes them to relax.

Other studies have shown it can lower LDL Cholesterol (bad) while helping to increase HDL Cholesterol (good).

It can also help protect your skin from the sun! The flavonols can protect against sun-induced damage by improving blood flow to the skin and increase skin density and hydration.

Finally it can help improve brain function by increasing blood flow to the brain. Cocoa may also significantly improve cognitive function in elderly people with mental impairment. It also improves verbal fluency and several risk factors for disease.

Please refer to this link here to see all the scientific research that lead to these claims.

So here's the fun part. How can you increase the amount of high quality Cocoa in your diet? One easy way is to ditch the regular, sugar filled chocolate bars and replace with 70% cocoa bars or higher. You may feel you need only 1 or 2 squares to get your chocolate hit!

Add some 100% Coco to your plain yogurt or any baking you are doing. I use Green and Blacks 100% Organic Coco and you typically can find this in most large supermarkets.

Also here are some recipes on the blog that contain tasty 100% cocoa.

Click here for Chocolate Pancake Recipe

Click here for Chocolate covered fruit

Click here for Paleo Chocolate Mousse

Click here for Choco Berry Granola

Enjoy! I knew you would all love this one!

Tuesday's Change Week 24 - Stop drinking with your meals!

This might seem like a strange one but it's something I've found works really well for me. I don't just mean don't drink alcohol, I mean don't drink anything at all! No water, milk, tea, fizzy drink. Nothing. Nada, Niente!

Do not drink anything 30 minutes either side of eating.

Why would you do such a thing? Let me explain:

Drinking liquids during your meal dilutes your naturally occurring digestive enzymes and stomach acids which makes it harder to breakdown food. This can lead to 

- Bloating

- Weight gain

- Digestive diseases such as IBS, Constipation, Acid reflux, Allergies etc

- Discomfort and feeling sluggish

You shouldn't need to drink with meals if you 

- Chew your food adequately - producing enough saliva to stimulate digestion

- Eat slowly and mindfully

- Are already properly hydrated

Focus on hydrating yourself between meals vs. during meals. You’ll still be adequately hydrated throughout the day with this method and allow your food to be digested without complicating matters for your stomach and intestines. Check out my posts here and here to learn more about staying hydrated.

If you absolutely have to drink something with your meal then drink warm water and drink it sparingly. Lots of little sips. Cold water slows down the power of the digestive enzymes and thus retards the digestive system. Body temperature water is ideal as the body doesn't have to work to equilibrate the temperature and can focus on breaking down your food. 

A small glass will likely not interfere with digestion and by adding some lemon or ginger you can aid in the digestive process further. Ginger tea is common on most Asian menus and is often drunk with meals. Ginger helps to aid digestion and relieve any discomfort you might feel in the digestive tract. 

This might seem bizare at first and you might keep reaching for the glass in between mouthfuls. but give it a go for at least the 7 days. Try and wait at least 30 minutes after eating before you reach for that cup of tea! The longer the better!

Any questions just let me know.

Tuesday's Change Week 15 - Revision Time

So you might have noticed every 6 or 7 weeks I give you a little break, a revision week if you will. Sometimes with our hectic lives, occasions and holidays we can lose touch with our routine and healthy living.

So this week I want you all to concentrate on the last 6 weeks' changes which are recapped below.

Cold Shower

Read the ingredients

Turmeric

Squats

No complaining

Body brushing

Avocados

You can find the links to these changes below:

Cold shower

Read the Ingredients

Turmeric

Squats

No complaining

Body Brushing

Avocados

Was there something you feel you should give another go? Or try harder with? Is there one you just didn't really understand and need to ask me a few questions? I'm here to answer or help whenever you need me.

Best of luck and enjoy revision week!