Happy Valentine's Day from your IF Family!
We love our client’s heart. From showing us how much you care in supporting our business, to how you support your Fit Family every single day. We love your heart so much so that we want you to be extra healthy this Valentine’s Day, and what better way than to give you a reason to enjoy a little dark chocolate, guilt free!
Dark chocolate has been found to be high in flavonoids which act as antioxidants to scavenge free radicals and/or by chelating metal ions. Manufacturing of chocolate can destroy up to half of the flavonoids, but chocolate companies have learned to make dark chocolate which can now keep up to 95% of flavonoids. Dove Dark packs the highest wallop with their proprietary process that produces Cocoapro Cocoa, which maintains flavonoids so well that it’s used in medical research.
Without antioxidants in your diet, you’re setting yourself up for cell and tissue damage. In normal molecules, each atom contains a pair of electrons. As we breathe and inhale oxygen molecules, some of those molecules lose one of their electrons. When this occurs, the oxygen molecule becomes a Free Radical that tries to stabilize itself by capturing another electron from a healthy molecule. To prevent this damage, antioxidants, which have an extra electron, donate that electron a free radical to convert them back into healthy oxygen molecules.
Flavonoids, the antioxidants in dark chocolate and many other vegetables, have been shown to decrease the risk of heart disease, cancers, asthma and type 2 diabetes. It has properties similar to aspirin in that it may stabilize arterial plaques – making them less likely to cause a stroke or heart attack. It decreases LDL (bad cholesterol) and increases HDL (good cholesterol) and it reduces the risk of blood clots and slows down the immune response that leads to clogged arteries.
But how much can you have? Just an ounce a day does the trick! More than that and you’re getting too much fat, sugar and calories, therefore, negating some of the otherwise healthy benefits.
FYI: 4 Dove Darks = 1 ounce (and approximately 125 calories; 8.6 g of fat; 12.6 g of sugar)
~The Intelligent Fitness Team