– “How to Make Your Valentine’s Day Healthy”
“In lieu of flowers, I’d suggest getting your sweetheart a box of high-quality dark chocolate. What better way to say ‘I love you’ than with a gift that is actually good for your heart …

Chocolate – specifically the dark unprocessed raw cacao kinds – actually reduces the risk of cardiometabolic disorders, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome — along with related problems like hypertension, elevated fasting glucose and triglycerides, high cholesterol, and abdominal obesity.¹²

In one study, the highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with a 37 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29 percent reduction in stroke compared with the lowest levels!¹³ Other research has also shown that the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds in chocolate may lower your risk of heart attack and stroke considerably.

* Small amounts of dark chocolate can cut your risk of heart attack because, like aspirin, chocolate has a biochemical effect that reduces the clumping of platelets, which cause blood to clot.¹⁴ Platelet clumping can be fatal if a clot forms and blocks a blood vessel, causing a heart attack.
* Specially formulated raw cocoa powder has the potential to prevent cardiovascular disease in diabetics. When diabetic patients were given a special high-flavonol cocoa drink for one month it brought their blood vessel function from severely impaired to normal. The improvement was actually as large as has been observed with exercise and many common diabetic medications.¹⁵
* Researchers also discovered that a compound in dark chocolate, called epicatechin (a flavonoid), may protect your brain after a stroke by increasing cellular signals that shield nerve cells from damage.¹⁶ A stroke is similar to a heart attack, but occurs when the blood supply to your brain becomes blocked or reduced, as opposed to blocking the blood supply to your heart,” quoting Dr. Mercola.
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– UPDATE: May 15, 2015
“Dark chocolate increases attention and alertness while improving blood flow”
“… a new study carried out by researchers from Northern Arizona University reveals that the intake of dark chocolate with at least 60 percent cacao could be the key to improving attention and alertness and get you through the afternoon slump.”

“The study was published in the journal NeuroRegulation and sponsored by American chocolate manufacturer the Hershey Company. The study is actually the first of its kind to investigate the influence that chocolate has on brain activity and attention using the electroencephalography (EEG) technique. With EEG, it is possible to take images of the brain’s activity while performing cognitive tasks,” by Amy Goodrich, Natural News.
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– Ramtha on the value of chocolate in today’s diet
“We find that in the beginning natural fruits — figs, sweetmeats when you could get them — were a delicacy. They made us smile like chocolate does today to you. Chocolate is, in its own prepared form, an amino acid that does something very similar that tobacco does. Where we draw the line is that chocolate is so sweet that when we consume a lot and get vitality and energy from it, we also have to make room for its by-products, all of those things that went into making it chocolate.

And if we do not become activated enough after consuming chocolate, because its power is an activated ingredient all of its components will go to nurture energy. So if you eat chocolate and just sit down and jack your jaws, there is a good chance that the by-product of chocolate is going to end up on your hips.”
– Ramtha
February 19-21, 1999
Yelm, WA
Advanced Retreat