Friday, October 3, 2008

Eat Chocolate And Lose Weight?

By Brian McCoy

It doesn't seem possible that the words chocolate and weight loss could be used in the same sentence. However, with a new product, it just might be possible.

You may have heard about the positive benefits that dark chocolate can have on your body. The idea is becoming more and more widespread. However, the chocolate that you purchase in stores is usually far from healthy. What is the difference? The unhealthy chocolate is full of sugars, fats, and artificial preservatives. This makes the chocolate unhealthy and bad for your overall health.

Traditional chocolate also losses much of its nutritional benefits as it is heated during manufacturing. This causes an 80% loss in antioxidant levels.

There is a company that has come out with an alternative to these unhealthy, poorly manufactured dark chocolates. Xocai is a division of MXI Corp. and is based in Reno, Nevada. They have brought to market an all natural, pure form of cacao that maintains its nutritional value through the manufacturing process. Rather than heat the cacao, it is cold pressed. This allows the dark chocolate to maintain its healthful properties.

The company Xocai has brought to market 6 products. They are the X Powerhouse Cookie, X Power Squares, Omega Bars, Activ, a Protein Bar, and Nuggets. These products are made with unprocessed cacao powder and combined with the acai berry and blueberry for added taste. The products are full of healthful benefits such as flavonoids, antioxidants, high ORAC value, high fiber, and low sugars. They are safe for diabetics as well as vegetarians and vegans.

So just how does any of this have an effect on weight loss? Several studies, including one recent study out of Japan, concluded that consumption of cocoa may fight weight gain. While there are several determining factors in this, a few of them are gene regulation and the potential mood elevating chemicals that cocoa contains. These positive chemicals have the added benefits of possibly helping one to feel more energetic, leading to increased exercise, and ultimately leading to weight loss.

The studies suggest that there are several biochemical processes going on in your body. In addition to that, you are also indulging in a far more healthy, organic chocolate. Let's say that you eat a piece of healthy dark chocolate rather than a 3 Musketeers Bar. What different effects do you think that the 2 would have on your body? The differences are clear. The healthy dark chocolate contains positive benefits such as being low in sugar, fat, and calories. Where it really stands out is the high levels of fiber, antioxidants, ORAC value, and flavonoids. We don't even need to examine how much of a difference this is from the unhealthy 3 Musketeers Bar.

An added benefit is that you don't have to give up taste either. The formulations that Xocai has put together for their line of healthy dark chocolate products has mass taste appeal. People are sharing their positive testimonials as to the fantastic results that they are seeing with the products. Because of this, I feel that it is beneficial for you and your family that you look into how the Xocai healthy chocolate can be good for you.

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