{"id":1182,"date":"2011-04-21T20:46:10","date_gmt":"2011-04-21T20:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/skinnygeneproject.dreamhosters.com\/?p=1182"},"modified":"2011-04-21T20:46:10","modified_gmt":"2011-04-21T20:46:10","slug":"boost-your-metabolism-series-cocoa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/boost-your-metabolism-series-cocoa\/","title":{"rendered":"Boost Your Metabolism Series- Cocoa"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
We are providing a 10-part series on our TOP 10 FOODS TO BOOST YOUR METABOLISM.\u00a0 This is the 1st post. To learn more about the Boost Your Metabolism series, please click here<\/a>!<\/em><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n

BOOST YOUR METABOLISM<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The secret to boosting your metabolism is\u00a0 FEEDING your body what it needs.<\/p>\n

You must eat the right foods, in the right quantities, to\u00a0 get your metabolism working for\u00a0 you, rather than against you. The amount of water, fat, fiber, protein, carbohydrates, sodium, cholesterol, EFAs (Essential Fatty Acids), and vitamins & minerals<\/span><\/strong> you consume on a daily basis will either\u00a0 increase your metabolism or\u00a0 your waistline.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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First up in our TOP 10 FAVORITE FOODS TO BOOST YOUR METABOLISM\u00a0 is COCOA!\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Heart disease is the #1 cause of death of people in your city, state, country, and world<\/strong>. But guess what?\u00a0 Here\u2019s some great news for all you chocoholics! Dark chocolate and cocoa are super foods<\/strong> <\/span>that contain a very high amount of antioxidants and flavanols \u2013 meaning they have been proven to lower your blood pressure and cholesterol , therefore lowering your risk of heart disease! The darker the chocolate the more super the food!<\/p>\n

Another bonus is that cocoa has a low glycemic index (GI<\/em>). <\/strong><\/span>Although it is a sweet treat, it doesn\u2019t impact our blood sugar in the way that other desserts do, which is important when it comes to diabetes prevention.<\/p>\n

So far, chocolate does not seem to be so bad, right? Well, what about all the fat? Chocolate in general does have a lot of fat. Although dark chocolate is different; it contains a special saturated fat from the cocoa bean that is unusual. Research has found that this fat actually acts more like an unsaturated fat <\/em><\/span>in the body, therefore not resulting in increased cholesterol like other saturated fats do. Another chocolate bonus!<\/p>\n

How to use dark chocolate and cocoa to help optimize your metabolism<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. CHOOSE THE RIGHT CHOCOLATE<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

So what makes dark chocolate better for us than milk chocolate?\u00a0 Milk chocolate is by far one of the most popular types of chocolates used in baking and commercial sweets.\u00a0 The concerns with milk chocolate are high saturated fat (the artery clogging type), high in calories (the weight gaining type), and high in sugar (increasing our blood sugar type!)<\/p>\n

Try dark chocolate with the highest percent of cocoa, preferably 60-70% cocoa solids<\/em> (it\u2019s written on the package). It is the \u201cperfect combination between health and taste.\u201d<\/p>\n

When using cocoa in a recipe, limit the fat to 2 tbsp of butter \u2013 Butter is needed to mix with the sugar and cocoa in dessert recipes to give them the right textures \u2013 try I Can\u2019t Believe It\u2019s Not Butter Sticks.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

2. MODERATION<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to reaping all the chocolatey benefits hidden in dark chocolate, one of the most important things to keep in mind is moderation!\u00a0 One dark chocolate bar has 180 calories, of which 108 calories are from fat. The heart healthy benefits from the dark chocolate are there, but we have to be careful with the total calories and fat in combination with the rest of our diet.\u00a0 Keep your portions in check!\u00a0 Try 1 oz or 1\/3 of a dark chocolate bar, about 4 squares or less than 40 grams per serving.<\/p>\n

3<\/span><\/strong>. CAUTION WITH THE \u201cEXTRAS\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Beware of dark chocolate with extra calories, fat, or sugar additives, such as marshmallow, caramel, nougat, nuts, etc.\u00a0 Another red flag in your quest to picking the right chocolate is to beware of the desserts!\u00a0 Most baked goods have added butter, sugar and other high calories ingredients that cancel out any of the health benefits that you may have received from the dark chocolate alone.<\/p>\n

TIP- Get your chocolate fix by adding dark chocolate to your favorite healthy recipes.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of\u00a0 a recipe that uses dark chocolate. \u00a0Enjoy!<\/p>\n

Oatmeal Pumpkin Muffins<\/strong>
\nInspired by <\/em>Carrots-n-Cake<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>About: Lowfat Cooking<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.fitsugar.com\/Healthy-Recipe-Oatmeal-Dark-Chocolate-Chip-Pumpkin-Muffins-5813166<\/a><\/p>\n

Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 1\/2 cups whole wheat flour
\n1 1\/2 cups old fashioned oats
\n3\/4 cup brown sugar
\n1 teaspoon baking powder
\n1\/2 teaspoon baking soda
\n1 teaspoon cinnamon
\n1\/2 teaspoon ground ginger
\n1\/4 teaspoon allspice
\n1\/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
\n1 1\/2 cups canned pumpkin
\n3 tablespoons canola oil
\none large egg
\none large egg white
\n1\/4 cup lowfat milk
\n1\/2 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
\n1\/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)<\/p>\n

Directions<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line muffin tin with muffin cups.<\/li>\n
  2. Whisk dry ingredients and spices together in a large bowl.<\/li>\n
  3. Add pumpkin, oil, milk, and egg and egg white to a medium size bowl and mix thoroughly. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredient and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and walnuts.<\/li>\n
  4. Fill muffin cases evenly and bake for 18 to 25 minutes<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Makes 14 muffins.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    We are providing a 10-part series on our TOP 10 FOODS TO BOOST YOUR METABOLISM.\u00a0 This is the 1st post. To learn more about the Boost Your Metabolism series, please click here! \u00a0 BOOST YOUR METABOLISM \u00a0 The secret to boosting your metabolism is\u00a0 FEEDING your body what it needs. You must eat the right… <\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[637,111,68,222,679],"tags":[194,642,644,73,110,74,201,639,640,641,680,81,82,83],"class_list":["post-1182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boost-your-metabolism-2","category-emily-barr","category-health-topics","category-prevent-diabetes","category-recipes","tag-antioxidants","tag-benefits-of-eating-cocoa","tag-cocoa","tag-educate","tag-emily-barr","tag-empower","tag-healthy-lifestyle","tag-how-to-speed-up-your-metabolism","tag-metabolism","tag-metabolism-boost","tag-metabolism-boosters","tag-prevent-diabetes","tag-skinny-gene","tag-skinny-gene-project"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p90Iz0-j4","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.skinnygeneproject.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}