Healthy Chocolate

I've written about chocolate as a health food before. We know it's good for the heart, circulation, cholesterol, and even as a diet food. We also know it's a mood enhancer, well, we who eat chocolate know that. In the June 26 issue of the SF Examiner, Jim Evans, a Senior Fitness columnist, answers the question of "Sweet Tooth in Savannah" who eats a lot of chocolate and says it makes him/her feel better but that it doesn't seem to help with weight loss. Although the questioner is concerned about diet and losing weight, as is Jim Evans in his answer, for the chocoholics out there there's another lesson. Chocolate is good for your well-being. Chocolate is a healthy junk food! (junk food? not the chocolate I eat)

According to University of California researchers, there is documented evidence that the tendency to overeat sweets such as chocolate is a natural physiological response to chronic stress. Dr. Abby Aronowitz has taken things one step further by endorsing chocolate - and other "healthy junk foods" - in her revolutionary book Your Final Diet (www.yourfinaldiet.com/)."

Aronowitz, who holds two masters degrees and a Ph.D from Columbia University, has been a consultant to Weight Watchers International, Inc., and is a member of the American Psychological Association and Mensa. She believes that managing sugar, carbs, and fat instead of bingeing or depriving is a more effective way to lose weight. "A well-adjusted secure feeling will replace the highs and lows of failed diets," says Aronowitz.

"Sugar and fat relieve chronic stress on a biological level," says Aronowitz, "and chocolate cake and ice cream, for example, simply shut down the stress system, bringing relief and relaxation. Therefore, we must learn how to manage the foods we crave instead of overindulging or depriving ourselves."

Read more Here.

Reduce Stress, Eat Chocolate!