Eat MUFA's for Good Health!

Are you wondering what MUFA's are?  MUFA's are Monounsaturated Fatty Acids that are the good-for-you fats that have a wide variety of health benefits.  MUFA's help promote heart health and can also help reduce belly fat. Healthy MUFA"s include foods like Avocados, nuts and seeds, olive oil, olives, and dark chocolate.  Add a couple of these healthy fats today!  Your body will thank you!
For a tasty treat that provides all the benefits of chocolate, along with green tea extract, amino acids, and antioxidants in an easy grab and go 60 calories package, try IsaDelights.  IsaDelights come in a variety of flavors like dark chocolate, dark chocolate with mint, milk chocolate, and milk chocolate with sea salt and caramel.  All are delicious!  Try a box today!

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Why Chocolate is Good for Managing Your Weight!

You should never have to fully abstain from the foods that bring you the most joy. The good news: A little chocolate daily can actually support you in achieving your weight-loss goals.

The reason chocolate can be helpful has to do with indulgence, satisfaction, and balanced eating. When individuals take on the approach of complete restriction of certain foods like chocolate, they often end up with just the opposite: temptation, mental exhaustion, self-sabotage, and weight gain (1, 2).

Balanced eating, on the other hand, is not about complete restriction. It allows for controlled, portioned, and moderate indulgences, such as indulging in a small amount of chocolate. Balance is what makes weight loss sustainable. You can maintain balanced eating, believe it or not, by having a little chocolate daily.

Small, regular indulgences keep you enjoying life without guilt and without compromising your weight-loss goals – as long as you also make your daily consumption something to look forward to as a reward for a job well done in healthy eating.

Don’t Deny Yourself

The key is to avoid feelings of guilt, which can have the potential to lead to additional feelings of helplessness or loss of control (3). Instead, research into the psychology of dieting suggests that those who associate sweet indulgences like chocolate with “celebration” have a better time losing weight (3).

Consider adopting a balanced eating plan for weight loss – one that’s higher in protein, higher in nutrients, and lower in unhealthy fats and refined carbohydrates – but then leave some room in your plan for chocolate daily. By treating small indulgences of chocolate as a “celebration,” you will be more successful in losing weight because you will maintain a feeling of being in control of your nutrition.

Much like managing money, when you pay close attention to your budget, you can feel comfortable buying something special once in a while. This rule applies to dieting as well, as it is sometimes acceptable to have a little treat after a day of hard work.

Chocolate on Cleanse Days

If you’re a regular chocoholic seeking out a way to best satisfy your cravings, then look to  IsaDelight® chocolates – now available in Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate and Dark Chocolate with Mint. Each 60-calorie IsaDelight is individually wrapped for convenience and to help with self-control.  Open an IsaDelight and enjoy...knowing you are doing something good for  you!

References

1. Karim N. Dieting Makes People Fat. J Obes Weight Loss Ther 2015; 5(242): 2
2. Tindale B. The Magic of Sensible Dieting: Healthy Weight Loss without Hunger or Deprivation. Balboa Press, 2015.
3. Kuijer RG, Boyce JA. Appetite. Chocolate cake. Guilt or celebration? Associations with healthy eating attitudes, perceived behavioural control, intentions and weight-loss. 2014 Mar;74:48-54. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2013.11.013. Epub 2013 Nov 23.

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Article from: Isagenix Nutritional Sciences

8 Reasons to Eat Chocolate. Like We Need More Than 1!

Chocolate.  That wonderful gift that if we were honest with ourselves, we could eat daily. Most people know that chocolate tastes delicious, but did you know there are lots of health benefits to consuming chocolate.  Now I am not talking about eating a bag of M&M's a day, but consuming the dark chocolate that doesn't contain all the cream and sugar found in the candy found abundantly in every supermarket, or drugstore.

Here are 9 reasons to add dark chocolate to your list of healthy foods:

1.  Heart Health:
Chocolate has tremendous cardiovascular benefits due to the flavonoids found in the cacao. The benefits to the heart are a result of the increased flexibility of the arteries and veins.  In a Swedish study of over 31,000 women, the results showed that over a 9 year period, eating one or two servings of dark chocolate a week reduced their risk of heart failure by a third.

In another study,  conducted over a long term in Germany, it was discovered that blood pressure, and heart attack risk was decreased by 39%  when the participants consumed a square of dark chocolate a day.

It has also been shown that chocolate and exercise work extremely well together.  A study coming out of Australia, shows that blood pressure-raising effects during exercise, on individuals that were overweight, were reduced after consuming chocolate.  On a happy note:  chocolate has 5 times the flavonoids when compared to an apple.

2.  Assists with Weight Loss
Dark chocolate is a great addition to any weight loss plan, as it helps decrease cravings for salty, sweet, and fatty foods. So enjoy a square or two, and know you are doing your body, and weight loss plan good.

3.  Happy Kids
Dark Chocolate is a great food to eat while pregnant. Pregnant women admitted that eating dark chocolate helped them handle stress better.  It was also found, in a Finnish study, that the children smiled more, and were happier in general.

4.  Prevention of Diabetes
According to Claudio Ferri, M.D., a professor at the University of L'Aquila in Italy, "Flavonoids increase nitric oxide production.  And that helps control insulin sensitivity." It was shown in a small study out of Italy that participates who consumed a candy bar size of dark chocolate daily for 15 days, saw a drop of nearly half in their potential for insulin resistance.

5.  Stress Reducer
This should be our new mantra. when times get tough the tough grab the dark chocolate.  It was shown in a study out of Switzerland that when people, who are very anxious, consumed an ounce and a half of dark chocolate once a day for 2 weeks, their stress hormone levels were radically reduced, and partially mitigated the metabolic effects of stress.

6.  Protection from the sun
A three month English study found that dark chocolate, with high levels of flavanols, showed that the subjects skin took twice as long to develop that red effect that indicates the beginning of the sunburn.  NOTE: look for dark chocolate that states it has high levels of the healthy flavanols.

7.  Brain Power Boost
Feeling not only a little stressed, but also need a little brain power boost? Grab a little dark chocolate as it has been shown to improve alertness and performance by boosting blood flow to the brain for 2-3 hours.

8.  Relief from coughs
Dark Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine, which can help quiet coughs almost as good as codeine.  According to Professor Maria Belvisi, from Imperial College London and Royal Brompton Hospital says, "Not only did theobromine prove more effective than codeine, at the doses used it was found to have non of the side effects.  Normally the effectiveness of any treatment is limited by the dosage you can give someone. With theobromine having no demonstrated side effects in this study it may be possible to give far bigger doses, furthering increasing its effectiveness".  Have a cough...grab the chocolate!

Dark chocolate, for many reasons, is a great addition to your diet.  Enjoy a square, or two, and know that you are doing your body good.  My favorite dark chocolate is IsaDelight Plus. IsaDelight Plus, which also comes in milk chocolate, contains added ingredients like green tea extract, amino acids, antioxidants, B vitamins and minerals, that all work together to ease those cravings.  Enjoy!

Sources:

Just Us Modern Girls  623-282-4955  justusmoderngirls@gmail.com

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8 Reasons To Eat Chocolate! Like We Needed More Than 1!

Chocolate.  That wonderful gift that if we were honest with ourselves, we could eat daily. Most people know that chocolate tastes delicious, but did you know there are lots of health benefits to consuming chocolate.  Now I am not talking about eating a bag of M&M's a day, but consuming the dark chocolate that doesn't contain all the cream and sugar found in the candy found abundantly in every supermarket, or drugstore.

Here are 9 reasons to add dark chocolate to your list of healthy foods:

1.  Heart Health:
Chocolate has tremendous cardiovascular benefits due to the flavonoids found in the cacao. The benefits to the heart are a result of the increased flexibility of the arteries and veins.  In a Swedish study of over 31,000 women, the results showed that over a 9 year period, eating one or two servings of dark chocolate a week reduced their risk of heart failure by a third.

In another study,  conducted over a long term in Germany, it was discovered that blood pressure, and heart attack risk was decreased by 39%  when the participants consumed a square of dark chocolate a day.

It has also been shown that chocolate and exercise work extremely well together.  A study coming out of Australia, shows that blood pressure-raising effects during exercise, on individuals that were overweight, were reduced after consuming chocolate.  On a happy note:  chocolate has 5 times the flavonoids when compared to an apple.

2.  Assists with Weight Loss
Dark chocolate is a great addition to any weight loss plan, as it helps decrease cravings for salty, sweet, and fatty foods. So enjoy a square or two, and know you are doing your body, and weight loss plan good.

3.  Happy Kids
Dark Chocolate is a great food to eat while pregnant. Pregnant women admitted that eating dark chocolate helped them handle stress better.  It was also found, in a Finnish study, that the children smiled more, and were happier in general.

4.  Prevention of Diabetes
According to Claudio Ferri, M.D., a professor at the University of L'Aquila in Italy, "Flavonoids increase nitric oxide production.  And that helps control insulin sensitivity." It was shown in a small study out of Italy that participates who consumed a candy bar size of dark chocolate daily for 15 days, saw a drop of nearly half in their potential for insulin resistance.

5.  Stress Reducer
This should be our new mantra. when times get tough the tough grab the dark chocolate.  It was shown in a study out of Switzerland that when people, who are very anxious, consumed an ounce and a half of dark chocolate once a day for 2 weeks, their stress hormone levels were radically reduced, and partially mitigated the metabolic effects of stress.

6.  Protection from the sun
A three month English study found that dark chocolate, with high levels of flavanols, showed that the subjects skin took twice as long to develop that red effect that indicates the beginning of the sunburn.  NOTE: look for dark chocolate that states it has high levels of the healthy flavanols.

7.  Brain Power Boost
Feeling not only a little stressed, but also need a little brain power boost? Grab a little dark chocolate as it has been shown to improve alertness and performance by boosting blood flow to the brain for 2-3 hours.

8.  Relief from coughs
Dark Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine, which can help quiet coughs almost as good as codeine.  According to Professor Maria Belvisi, from Imperial College London and Royal Brompton Hospital says, "Not only did theobromine prove more effective than codeine, at the doses used it was found to have non of the side effects.  Normally the effectiveness of any treatment is limited by the dosage you can give someone. With theobromine having no demonstrated side effects in this study it may be possible to give far bigger doses, furthering increasing its effectiveness".  Have a cough...grab the chocolate!

Dark chocolate, for many reasons, is a great addition to your diet.  Enjoy a square, or two, and know that you are doing your body good.  My favorite dark chocolate is IsaDelight Plus. IsaDelight Plus, which also comes in milk chocolate, contains added ingredients like green tea extract, amino acids, antioxidants, B vitamins and minerals, that all work together to ease those cravings.  Enjoy!

Sources:

Just Us Modern Girls  623-282-4955  justusmoderngirls@gmail.com

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