How to keep healthy this Spring

Nutritional tips for April

Date: April 2009
Author: Sam Silvester

With Easter here, our thoughts turn to chocolate! A little bit of what you fancy is definitely a good thing, but our modern lifestyle can encourage over indulgence. A small amount of 75% or 85% dark chocolate can be good for us. It is high in antioxidants and has less sugar and milk fat than milk chocolate.

Alternatives to chocolate are carob. Siesta carob flakes are very good (D&D Chocolates 02476 370909 and have no added sugar and are very tasty. However, some carob bars can be high in sugar and are therefore of no benefit unless you are intolerant to chocolate.

Another way of satisfying a sweet craving is with fresh dates or dried fruits such as mango or cranberries. Try and buy ones that have been dried naturally without added sulphur dioxide, and remember with dried fruit that a little goes a long way - 2 dates or a tablespoon of cranberries is plenty.

Rather than over load children with too much chocolate, why not substitute some eggs with a little present such as a cuddly toy, or a trip to the cinema or park.

Raw Chocolate

You can make your own raw chocolate which is a healthy alternative to bought chocolate. Raw chocolate is made from the cacao nibs, which are peeled raw cacao beans.

Raw chocolate is one of nature's Superfoods containing over 300 different chemical compounds with amazing properties, many of which are destroyed by processing. It is a rich source of magnesium, B vitamins, antioxidants and brain chemicals that make us feel good.

"Cocoa" is a British slang term for cacao. The actual present day meaning of the word "cocoa" is the defatted, alkalised powder, which has been roasted, destroying many of the nutrients. The butter and oils are correctly referred to as cocoa butter and cocoa oil.

Raw chocolate contains no sugar. Instead natural sweeteners are used such as Agave syrup or Xylitol.

No cow's milk is added to raw chocolate. Many of us have allergies or intolerances to cow's milk. Also, often it is full of hormones, antibiotics and pesticides, unless it is organic.

You can now buy raw chocolate bars in certain health shops but it is not the same as making it freshly yourself because you know exactly what has gone into it.

Raw Chocolate with Orange Zest

Ingredients (makes 16 hearts)
2 cups (100g) of raw cacao powder*
2 cups (100g) of cacao butter*, grated
Zest of two organic, unwaxed, oranges
2 capfuls (10ml) of organic, vanilla essence
½ cup Xylitol or 4 tbsps of raw agave nectar**

Method
Melt the cacao butter in a Pyrex bowl over a saucepan of warm water and stir with a wooden spoon until melted.
Once, melted, mix in the cacao powder and then the Agave syrup or Xylitol. Stir well.
Add the orange zest and the vanilla essence whilst continually stirring.
Pour the mixture into clean dry heart moulds that have been previously kept in the freezer for two hours beforehand. This helps the chocolate to solidify.
Place in the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours.

* Cocoa Butter and Raw Cocoa Powder can be bought from www.detoxyourworld 08700113119 at a cost of £3.55 each for 100g of each.

** Agave Nectar and Xylitol are available from Waitrose and other supermarkets.

Keep healthy - enjoy life!