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dekoata4books |
Chocolate is made from plants, cacao to be precise, which means it contains many of the health benefits of dark vegetables. These benefits are from flavonoids, which act as antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from aging caused by free radicals, which can cause damage that leads to heart disease.
Dark chocolate contains a large number of antioxidants (nearly 8 times the number found in strawberries). Flavonoids also help release blood pressure through the production of nitric oxide, and balance certain hormones in the body. Now, hormonal balance is crucial to good health because if we overproduce hormones we over burden our liver as well as our bowels and those "used" hormones won't be discharged from our bodies causing several health issues.
Favonoids are compounds found in fruits, vegetables that have diverse beneficial biochemical and antioxidant effects. Plus Dark chocolate is the only food that makes our brain produce endorphins.
Chocolate boosts serotonin - our brain's antidepressant - Chocolate also stimulates the secretion of endorphins, producing a pleasurable sensation Endorphins naturally flood the brain during physical exertion, creating "runners high."
Endorphins are among the brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters, which function to transmit electrical signals within the nervous system. At least 20 types of endorphins have been demonstrated in humans. Endorphins can be found in the pituitary gland, in other parts of the brain, or distributed throughout the nervous system.
In addition to decreased feelings of pain, secretion of endorphins leads to feelings of euphoria, modulation of appetite, release of sex hormones, and enhancement of the immune response. With high endorphin levels, we feel less pain and fewer negative effects of stress.
Go figure, you get from chocolate some of the benefits you can only get from drugs, but......... chocolate is legal, healthy and non addictive. Imagine that decadent creamy delicious dark chocolate (packed with antioxidants) melting in your mouth while you get all the health benefits dark veggies give you, only it's a lot more good, fun and very much easier to make your kids eat it.
But, beware! Not all chocolate is created equal:
To obtain all the benefits chocolate has to offer we need the right kind, it has to be at least 70% cold pressed cocoa made with un processed, unalkalized cacao, and natural un processed sweeteners (we want the benefits, not the fat and calories).
So, forget about milk chocolate and never ever eat white chocolate, it is actually not even chocolate, it is just butter with sugars and artificial flavors.
http://www.chocolate-genie.com
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It was our anniversary on Friday. No, not our wedding anniversary but two years since we moved to the Isle of Wight. It certainly doesn't seem two years ago that we went through all the stress of putting our last house on the market at a time when house prices were begining to slide downwards and we were entering this recession. Amazingly the second people that viewed our Suffolk property put in an offer (for what we hoped to get and not what it was on the market for - smart eh?) But then there was the stress of having to meet the costs of dealing with the issues that the buyers survey discovered - damp in some of the walls which needed replastering and woodworm, what? woodworm, where? Apparently the surveyer found one, yes one hole on a beam in the loft and a couple in the floorboards in one of the bedrooms. That cost us £300 to have treated the day before we were due to complete and the plaster was still damp too. So with all our wordly goods in a storage unit and sleeping on a mattress in a room with bare floorboards and the air still damp with insecticide, the home we had shared for 15 years no longer felt homely and comforting and we yearned for the start of our new life over the sea.
The next day after yet more stress - loading the car, meeting the removals van at the storage unit, driving around the infamous M25 and catching the Red Funnel ferry we eventually disembarked as "overners" we had moved to live here, and were no longer "grockles" - the Islanders word for holidaymakers. Of course we then had the wait to complete and to be able to pick up the keys from the Estate Agent. This seemed to take an age and after a coule of hours we sat in the car at Sandown (I was crying as per usual) looking across the downs as the sunshine appeared from the clouds. As it did so there was a rainbow - I love rainbows and see them as a symbol of hope. I was sure that our new bungalow was at the end of that one, and sure enough the mobile rang and we had completed and could pick up the keys. We got to the bungalow to find the removals van had been there for half an hour already. We were home, our new home in a place we loved.
All that was 2 years ago and although we have no regrets about moving here and I would rather have to suffer my depression and MS here than anywhere else, a lot has happened. I have actually managed to get a job, even if I am frequently belittled and having it made clear that my Nursing qualification means nothing now and is not a recognized part of my job so I cannot advise anyone on health matters (although you do have to have clinical knowledge to summarize patients notes which is part of my role!) I have a posh title though Clinical Governance Administrator (Audit Clerk for short) I REALLY wanted to get back into Nursing as those of you that follow me here and onTwitter/Facebook know. I don't think I will EVER get over the fact that Multiple Sclerosis affected my hands and fingers to an extent that meant I couldn't perform the tasks needed for my previous job as a Practice Nurse. MS can directly cause depression due to damage to the parts of the brain affecting emotion. This makes it a little more bearable as I have something to blame but it doesn't help when I am in the depths of despair and feeling worthless and useless as a Nurse and a woman.
It is difficult to think of coping strategies for the childlessness and grandchildlessness - although I do have my ongoing fight to increase awareness of the Government and media's desire to reintroduce the wildlife terrorism and murder that they call sport. I see my visiting foxes and badgers as my children and just watching them is better than any anti-depressants the doctors have given me.
Just after my last blog post I signed up for the Psywell Study through NHS choices. I am finding this useful as my own GP hasn't at any point considered sending me for CBT and I have often wondered if it would help. It isn't a study specifically for people with depression but if you are it might help you too. It works on the Mind Gym cCBT principle of WYTIWYF - "what you think is what you feel" If you think you are clinically depressed though and haven't seen your GP yet, by all means do the study but it does recommend that you do see a Healthcare Professional too.
I am actually feeling much better, am relishing some quality "me time" and have decided that although I am not 100% happy in my current job, at least it shows that I want to work and I am more likely to find something with more hands on Nursing if I can show that was prepared to take something in a medical setting and am keeping my Professional knowledge up to date in my own time. I am once again looking out for suitable Nursing jobs but shhhhhh don't tell my current employers!
Maybe what I need is another rainbow........
Jen -x-x-
”And An Uncertain
Future
Yesterday was spent with my two youngest grandsons and my eleven year old granddaughter who is growing up fast!! She has just moved to secondary school and becoming more curious by the day. During the day the conversation turned to what she wanted to do in the future, her hopes and dreams. We are a very close family and talking about these things comes easy, but, trying to keep a smile on my face as she talks about the next few years was hard to do. She asked about future Christmas`s and her growing into a teenager and hopefully becoming a vet but there is time yet to change her mind (as she quickly reminded me LOL)
As many of you know I am not usually stuck for words LOL and especially where my grandchildren are concerned but I must admit I struggled a little yesterday and with the emotional attachment that goes with it, it was a trying time. The look in her eyes of expectation and hope for the future was absolutely wonderful to see and all my hopes and love are invested in her.
But, what about the uncertainty of my future and how do I keep up the facade? It`s certainly a tough one. As we said goodbye to them yesterday I gave my granddaughter a big special hug and thought about what was to come. How do I answer her questions in future? How do I say with confidence and honesty that I will always be there for her as I have always been since she was born? And how do I not lie to her when she says “Promise me Grandad?”
As an Alzheimer’s sufferer when I was first told of this illness nobody but nobody can prepare you for this kind of emotional turmoil. There are no rules or regulations to this awful disease apart from the certainty of the outcome unless they find a cure! Nobody says “Hey!! I know of a book that tells you what to do and how to deal with things like this! Yes there are a few booklets to advise on how to answer any awkward questions from children but the reality of it is when those questions are asked its life changing and so emotional you are never really prepared for it.
My love for my family and children is unquestionable and undying and I will always believe it will be, but at times like this it completely throws you no matter how hard you try to say it doesn’t and the feeling of emptiness and helplessness can completely consume you and throw you into a pit of despair. These are the feelings and things people never tell you about or talk about, these are some of life’s hardest lessons to learn when you are an Alzheimer’s sufferer.
I can deal with the “I am going to die “part as I have had such a wonderful life and couldn’t have wished for a more loving and supportive family. I can deal with “I have so much to do yet” as I have done so much, seen so much and been as lucky as any man can be through life, but what I have trouble dealing with is the fact that chances are I will NOT see my children’s dreams become a reality and be a part of them, and I will NOT see the look on their eyes as they achieve all they want to in life.
Alzheimer’s wants to take all this away from me, but I promise you as I have promised myself, NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT
“Where There is life There Is Always Hope”
Best wishes, Norrms and family xxxxxxxxxxxxx