How might you change your relationship to chocolate and make it a part of your every day life in the spirit of health, energy and self-empowerment? Janice Taylor, Chief Beliefnet Chocoholic tells all!
A great many of us are chocolate lovers and have been known to indulge and sometimes even over-indulge. One tiny handful of M&Ms leads us to another handful, and while we fight the urge, in the end, we mysteriously find ourselves holding an empty 1-pound bag. (“How did that happen?”, we wonder.) Remorse sets in and the self-deprecating chatter takes over.

Now … Imagine savoring one truly amazing square of chocolate, knowing that it is anchoring you to your best self, your energized self, and that it is fueling your fortitude and resolve. (Wow! That’s some chocolate!) Here’s how you can indulge, savor, incorporate, live with and love chocolate on a daily basis, as you stay healthy, wealthy and wise!
The Ten Truths of the Power of Pure and Earthly Chocolate
1. Sacred Roots. Unadulterated, untainted, unmodified, pure cacao beans, the source of pure raw chocolate, is where it’s at! They are still used for rituals, in medicine and celebration in the Yucatan Peninsula. (Here is a real estate link, if you are interested is moving. I am!)
2. Love and Sex. Cacao beans are a natural drug. They contain up to 2.2 percent phenylethylamine, the ‘love and sex’ chemical, AND cacao beans contain other compounds that enhance mood, joy, creativity and imagination. Imagine that!

3. Buyer Beware. The main ingredient in most commercial chocolates bars is sugar, not cacao. Read the labels!

4. Suppresses Appetite. Go know – a shocker!! Good fats are present in pure chocolate that that help to suppress appetite and stimulate the digestive system.
5. Ward Off Vascular Disease. Chocolates contain a compound called Flavanoids, which can ward off vascular disease that can lead to heart attacks and strokes. The darker the chocolate, the more bitter tasting it is, the higher the Flavanoids.
6. Milk Chocolate Nullifies. Milk chocolate is created when milk is added to chocolate liquor. While it creates that creamy taste and texture that we all love so much, it cancels out all the healthful benefits of the cacao. In fact, technically it’s milk candy not chocolate!
7. Mental Acuity. Research at West Virginia’s Wheeling Jesuit University suggests that chocolate may boost your memory, lengthen your attention span, shorten your reaction time and strengthen your problem-solving skills as it increases blood flow to the brain.
8. Natural Joy. Unfortunately, we have been cut off from the natural joys of chocolate, due to mass produced candies that are cooked at high temperatures, whose ingredients include refined sugars, processed milks, stabilizing agents, extra caffeine and waxes. Chocolate with high levels of cacao is naturally joyful.
9. Meant to be Savored. I suspect that chocolate was not put on this earth to help you escape. It is a sacred way of connecting – to the moment. To the beauty. To the ability to taste. Savor the moment.
10. Know Your Limits. Plan on your one square per day, no more than one-ounce, and again make it a ritual of beauty, peace and centeredness.
OLofWL’s High End Chocolate Favorites …
Dagoba
Vosges
Gnosis
Spread the word (NOT the icing!),
Janice
Join us as we chew the fat and share chocolate secrets at the Kick in the Tush Club community.
For more chocolate melting motivation, pick up a copy of All Is Forgiven, Move On: Our Lady of Weight Loss’s 101 Fat-Burning Steps on Your Journey to Sveltesville (high praise from the Los Angeles Times, Health Magazine).