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Interesting Facts About Chocolate You Might Not Already Know

January 5, 2016 by

You may consider yourself a bit of a chocoholic, but there’s a lot you might not know about rich, decadent chocolate. Before you grab that tasty square of dark chocolate or have a scoop of chocolate ice cream for dessert, read up on these interesting chocolate facts!

  • It takes many cocoa beans to make chocolate. Between 300 and 600 cocoa beans are needed to make just one kilogram of chocolate!
  • There are three different types of cocoa used in modern chocolate making. Forastero cocoa is harvested in the Amazon and used in 90% of the world’s chocolate; Criollo beans are grown in Central and South America and are the rarest types of beans; Trinitario beans are hybrids of the other two.
  • Cocoa beans must be roasted just like coffee beans to create chocolate.
  • Ever wondered what the percentage on a chocolate bar refers to? It describes how much of the bar’s weight comes from the cocoa bean, and it impacts the darkness of the bar.
  • Dark chocolate is good for you. It's packed with antioxidants and is believed to help reduce blood pressure and improve the cardiovascular system.
  • Eating dark chocolate every day can cut your risk of heart disease by one-third.
  • The ancient Aztecs and Mayans once used chocolate as currency. People used cocoa beans to buy food, tools and livestock.

11 Facts About Chocolate [Do Something]
10 Fascinating Facts About the World of Chocolate [Listverse]
Facts about Chocolate [Purdy’s]

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Fall Is Here! Read About the Health Benefits of Pumpkins and Squash!

October 6, 2015 by

Now that fall is here, your meal plans are filled with pumpkins and squash. You love these foods because of their delicious taste and cooking versatility, but did you know that they’re also filled with health benefits? Here are just a few of the most beneficial nutrients in pumpkins and squash.

  1. Pumpkins contain a great deal of vitamin A, which boosts the immune system to prevent you from getting sick once the seasons change. Vitamin A also helps to maintain the health of your eyes.
  2. The carotenoids that give pumpkins their bright orange color protect you against heart disease, prevent wrinkles on the skin and even fight off the free radicals that cause cancer.
  3. Pumpkins are great for digestion because they contain a good deal of fiber. The fiber also balances your blood sugar and lowers bad cholesterol, which is especially important as you age.
  4. Just one serving of butternut squash offers 35% of your recommended daily dose of vitamin C. This essential vitamin can greatly reduce your risk for heart attack.
  5. Acorn, butternut and spaghetti squashes are filled with anti-inflammatory properties, which alleviate the symptoms of arthritis and soothe aching joints.

Eat Your Pumpkin! 9 Reasons Why It's Good For You [Mind Body Green]
6 Health Secrets of Winter Squash [Organic Authority]

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The Truth About the Five-Second Rule

January 6, 2015 by

You've probably all heard about the five-second rule at some point in your life. This "rule" states that if you drop a piece of food on the floor and pick it up in under five seconds, the food is still safe to eat. Many of us might even be living by this rule, but does the five-second rule have any basis in science? In short, no!

The origins of the five-second rule are unknown, but science has proven that the rule simply doesn't hold water. In 2003, Jillian Clarke, a high school senior, performed an experiment at the University of Illinois during a school internship. Her experiment proved that E. coli bacteria can transfer to food well under the five-second mark. Researchers at Clemson University took this experiment a step further in 2007. The scientists applied a large amount of salmonella to various types of surfaces to see how long the bacteria could survive. After three weeks, a good amount of salmonella was still living on the surfaces. The longer food was left on these surfaces, the more germs the food acquired. In just five seconds, the number of germs measured on a piece of food was between 150 and 8,000.

So, the next time you drop that beloved cookie on the floor, just throw it out and go buy yourself a new box of cookies. You never know what could have attached itself to your treat!

The Five-Second Rule [Kids Health]
5 Second Rule With Food On Floor [MythBusters]
Fact or Fiction?: The 5-Second Rule for Dropped Food [Scientific American]

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Easy Ways to Incorporate More Folic Acid Into Your Diet

November 4, 2014 by

When you think of the necessary vitamins and minerals that you should be getting from the foods that you eat, folic acid likely isn’t one of the first things that come to mind. It is a very important element in everyone’s diet, however, especially women who are pregnant and those who are susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease. Here are some of the best ways to incorporate more folic acid into your diet.

  1. Broccoli. You already know that you should eat your vegetables to get the proper nutrients, but broccoli contains a great deal of folic acid as well. Just half of a cup of broccoli contains 52 micrograms of folic acid, which equals approximately 13% of the average person’s recommended daily value. Steaming broccoli or eating it raw is one of the healthiest ways to consume this veggie, but you can also add it to salads or stir fries for a more flavorful taste.
  2. Sunflower seeds. These tiny, toasted snacks are not only tasty, they’re also a very impressive source of folic acid. Just one ounce of sunflower seeds provide 20% of your recommended daily intake, and they also provide Vitamin E, beneficial fats, and other essential nutrients.

Surprising Sources of Folic Acid [Yahoo! Shine]
Foods High in Folic Acid [Prenatal Vitamin HQ]
15 Foods High in Folic Acid [Global Healing Center]
18 Foods High in Folic Acid to Prevent Cancer & Birth Defects [Bembu]

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4 Reasons to Shop Local

October 15, 2013 by

One of the top trends in eating recently has been the profusion of farmers' markets and CSAs. These innovative ways to shop for fruits and veggies make it much easier to buy directly from local farms. Here are some of the benefits:

Support the community
You can support local farmers by buying the veggies they grow!

Know the source
Farmers markets make it easy to meet the people who grow your food. Some farms even encourage those who buy CSA shares to come visit the farm.

Fewer food miles
Some suggest that buying locally-grown food is more green, since the produce travels fewer miles to get from the farm to your plate.

It can be more nutritious
Fresh food can contain more nutrients, and produce from local farms is often organic, too!

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