When you go to the store you see package after package of snack cups, crackers and cereal bars that basically say "superfood to go". It is possible to find healthy snacks among these but be sure to read the labels. You should find at least 10% daily value of at lease one nutrient and fruits or veggies within the top three of the ingredient list. If it's not, it's probably not worth your while as nutrition goes. Although, it may fulfill your wishes for low-fat or low-sugar. Omega-3 fortified juices, pastas and cheese are better than their non-enriched counterparts, but you'd have to drink about 30 glasses of juice to equal the benefit of one three ounce serving of salmon.
They are great to fill in the gaps but are not adequate to replace whole food choices. Probiotic yogurt is one of my favorites. It is one of the first steps I took when I made the decision to start doing small things to improve my own health. And it made a big difference in the way my body worked. I even began to lose a few pounds just because of it. But don't buy the advertisement that says any one brand is the only brand you need. You need a variety of different bacteria and most companies only add one or two to their brand. So again, read your labels on probiotic foods and mix it up a little. You'll also find probiotics in unexpected places like soy sauce, which is fermented. So sprinkle it on compatible foods like chicken and veggies.
But probably the most exciting superfood to ever come around the corner is chocolate. Who wouldn't jump for joy when they see their first article touting chocolate as health food. Chocolate, or cacao more accurately, has been recorded to have literally hundreds of medical uses over the last 3500 years of human history. It's still the most widely used medicine in the world for controlling childhood diarrhea. We don't realize this in our highly developed society because we are accustomed to grabbing something off the store shelf.
But if you live in a small village in a less developed country, with no Walgreens on the corner, you might crush up a few cocoa beans to mix with water and give your sick child. King Montezuma's soldiers were known to exist for days on nothing but a chocolate drink made from their crushed cacao beans and have energy to spare. But, as always, the key to the health benefits of chocolate is in the processing. It should be dark, it should not be cooked and it should not be mixed with refined sugars and hydrogenated fats. And here is where chocolate and probiotics meet.
No matter what you put in your body the important thing is your body recognizing it, keeping the good stuff and getting rid of the rest. This depends on the function of the digestive tract. From ingestion to elimination things need to be in good working order. About one pound of your body weight is made up of germs. In fact there are 10 times more bacteria in the body than there are cells. There are about 400 types of bugs and about 85% of them are beneficial. They combat everything from heartburn to chronic yeast infections.
There's new evidence that they increase metabolism, aid in weight loss and alleviate symptoms of metabolic disease. They boost the immune system, fight cavities, alleviate the side effects of antibiotic therapy and the list goes on and on. And if they are encapsulated and enrobed in raw, dark chocolate, it has the unique property of protecting them as they make their journey through the acidic environment of the stomach. Generally about 2/3 of the good bacteria we consume are destroyed long before they make it to the large intestine where they can actually do their work.
Modern consumers are far more knowledgable about food than ever before. They have discovered functional foods which exist in virtually every food group. Perhaps most importantly, foods and beverages can now be fortified to give added health benefits never before possible. In the field of probiotics microencapsulation is key. By microencapsulating the beneficial bugs, they can then be incorporated into high quality dark chocolate. Stability studies show they are shelf stable in chocolate at room temperature for up to a year.
So, no refrigeration needed. Also, a three fold increase in stability was found when compared to dairy. Chocolate is proving to be the desired carrier for probiotics. Yogurt and other dairy sources of probiotics are not to be discounted due to other nutrients such as calcium and vitamin D. They definitely have their place in your daily diet. But a carton of yogurt alone will not give you the amount of probiotics you need for optimal digestive health. And popping a couple of squares of probiotic laced chocolate will surely be welcomed into the nutritional plan of all ages.
As a society we are perhaps more knowledgable about nutrition than ever before, however it does not show among statistics. We still eat junk and go home at the end of the day to collapse in front of the TV or the computer. We are lazy and we look for easy ways to improve our health and feel better about ourselves. If we can't start out easy, we tend to let it go altogether. It is important to realize that even the little things can make a difference.
We don't have to clean out our cabinets all at once and restock them with nothing but organic, raw foods. And we don't have to spend every day at the gym. If we make small changes and begin to see results, it encourages us to go on to the next step and the next. And even if it doesn't, at least we've done that one good thing. So, buy the fortified juice, the enriched cheese and the baked chips. And by all means, find yourself some healthy probiotic chocolate.
Terri_Nesbitt
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