Could it be possible that our beloved chocolate may actually be good for us? This is the nutrition news we have all been waiting for. So here is the scoop on chocolate and its health benefits. Yes, you read right, health benefits!

Recent studies show that cocoa and dark chocolate with a high cocoa content contain many heart-healthy antioxidants. They contain a compound called flavonoids which may help prevent the oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels in the blood. There is also some evidence that these flavonoids may prevent certain cancers.

It is important that we are all on the same page here, not all chocolate have these health benefits. The healthy flavonoids found in chocolate are found in the cocoa butter and cocoa solids. Milk chocolate is diluted with milk and sugar and contains little amounts of these substances, therefore providing fewer health benefits. So, for those of you who love dark chocolate this is your lucky day! The darker the chocolate, the higher the cocoa content and the more antioxidants it contains. The quality of the chocolate you consume is also important. The cocoa butter is quite pricey so less expensive brands will replace the cocoa butter with milk fats and hydrogenated oils which are bad for our health. Look for high quality chocolates with their main ingredients being cocoa butter and cocoa solids. Unsweetened cocoa powder is one of the purest forms of chocolate you can eat and is lower in fat and calories than other chocolates.

Although this is great news for all chocolate lovers, don’t forget that most chocolate (unless you use unsweetened cocoa powder) does still contain sugar and saturated fat.

And please remember calories. An ounce of chocolate contains around 135 calories. So enjoy a cup of hot cocoa or an ounce of chocolate once in awhile to contribute to your health and not to your waistline!

Owner of Real Living Nutrition Services, Meri Raffetto is a recognized professional in the area of nutrition and wellness. She has received a bachelor’s degree in both nutrition and psychology and has extensive experience in nutrition counseling and medical nutrition therapy. She offers individual nutrition counseling and has developed one of the only non-diet online weight management programs available on the internet. Meri specializes in weight management, cardiovascular health, and sports nutrition and consults with professional athletes at Titan Sports Performance Center. Her practice includes teaching people how to eat for endurance, improve vitality, and lose weight healthfully. For more information visit http://www.reallivingnutrition.com

About the Author: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Meri_Raffetto

66 million Americans are clinically obese. That means that they have more than 30% fat by body weight, when a ‘normal’ body should have less than 25%. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions over the past twenty years.

Obesity used to be thought of as a problem of a few states in Appalachia and the Southeast. It is now prevalent across the United States. In 1990, no state had an obesity prevalence rate greater than 20%, and only 4 states had an obesity rate between 15 and 19%. By 2000, 46 states had obesity rates of greater than 20%, and 17 states had obesity prevalence of over 25%.

The US is a leader in obesity, but rates are climbing around the developed industrial world. It is estimated that there are over 300 million obese people in the world. Rates in China, Western Europe and even Japan are increasing.

Morbid obesity, defined as a BMI (body mass index) of greater than 39%, afflicts 3% of all Americans, or about 9 million people. While the number of obese patients has grown by 24% from 2000 to 2006, the number of morbidly obese people has grown by over 50% during the same period.

Even children are not immune. Whereas childhood obesity was virtually unknown before 1990 in the US, the incidence of obesity has climbed to 13% amongst teens and pre-teens in 2006. Type-II diabetes, previously only an affliction of obese adults, has started to become a concern with children as well.

The statistics are incontrovertible. The key questions are: how does obesity affect the health of those who have it, what is causing this epidemic, and how can we reverse its effects?

Obesity leads to a series of problems. The main concerns with the obese are heart and circulatory diseases (including strokes and peripheral vascular problems) and diabetes. These two problems are interrelated, as diabetics have a much higher chance of contracting circulatory diseases. Even the incidence of some cancers, such as estrogen-dependent breast cancer, can be raised by obesity. Those diseases related to diabetes and overweight are also increased; these include blindness, neuropathy, congestive heart failure and valve calcification.

What are the primary reasons for this growth in the number of obese people in the US? While there was always an underlying level prior to 1990 due to problems with the thyroid, heredity or other hormone imbalances, the growth in obesity since then can only be attributed to the consumption of higher-calorie foods and lack of exercise.

High calorie consumption comes through a number of sources, but especially

“super-sizing.” Compare the size of a McDonald’s hamburger from the 1980′s and one served today, it’s three times bigger, on average, by weight.

The presence of sugar and fat in the foods we eat.

We eat out much more often than we did in the past. Restaurants tend to pour on the sugar and fats, and their portions are enormous.

Lower exercise comes from the proliferation of armchair activities we’ve seen since 1990. At that time, there were four or five main TV channels; there are now over 150 on most televisions. Americans are watching much more television today than they did 20 years ago. In addition, the attractions of the Internet have led to a sedentary existence, particularly for pre-teens and teenagers. The habits that these people form in their youth remain with them for the rest of their lives.

What can be done against obesity and morbid obesity? The usual ‘saws’ of “more exercise, less caloric intake” are always valid, but heeded less and less. Despite the proliferation of gyms, commercial diet plans and books on dieting, most diets fails.

For those who are morbidly obese, bariatric surgery is the best alternative. Although dangerous, four percent die during or after surgery, and ineffective in over 20% of the cases, bariatric surgery often represents the best opportunity for the morbidly obese person to escape the serious problems brought on by their overweight condition.

Since 2004, when the Medicare CMS approved reimbursement for bariatric surgery, we’ve seen an explosion in the number of such operations. Whereas there were fewer than 20,000 bariatric surgeries in 1998, that number expanded to nearly 200,000 in 2004. It is estimated that the rate will increase to 800,000 by 2008.

Obesity is a scourge on our modern populace. We should do what we can to address the underlying causes.

Scott Meyers is a staff writer for Its Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit.

Article Source:  Scott Meyers /articlecrack

Also Check Out: Dealing with obesity

Who wishes to be obese? However, do every obese consider getting out of it when time is there? No, nobody wishes to be obese and not everybody has the determination to get out of it. Obesity has a number of health risks associated with it. The major health risks are – premature death, heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, reproductive complications, high blood pressure, gall bladder disease, and depression.

Also Check Out: Dealing with obesity

Obesity is defined “clinically” as being 30 pounds or more over your ideal weight and is recognized, in North America – especially the U.S., to be a major killer taking 300,000 lives each year from heart attack, stroke, cancer and diabetes which have ALL been strongly linked to obesity. 300,000 people die each year because they are fat.

Think about that a minute and put that in proper perspective.

52,000+ American soldiers died in Viet Nam during that 10 year war…
35,000+ Americans die each year from car collisions
100,000+ Americans die each year from prescription drugs

But…
300,000+ Americans die each year from obesity-linked diseases. And that isn’t my uneducated guess, that’s the number given in the 2001 Surgeon General’s Report. The report also said that 31% of Americans are obese. With a population of around 300 million people that means 93 million Americans are walking time bombs. People who may die prematurely from a disease directly linked to being obese. And unfortunately the problem has continued to become worse, not better, with obesity now taking a foothold in children. An estimated 14% of children under 18 are obese.

Instead of eating to live people, more than ever, are living to eat and that fact, along with poor nutrition, is causing a major problem.

What can you do right now, today, to wage war on obesity and lose weight?
Here are 3 strategies that you probably won’t take seriously until you are told you have an obesity-linked disease and even then, you may not do anything to help yourself. But, if you are ready to take control of your life and health these 3 things could save your life.

1)Change your eating habits. Eat to live instead of living to eat. Which means:
a)Eating smaller meals 3 – 5 times daily
b)Exercising portion control
c)Cutting useless, empty calorie foods from your menu
d)Consuming less calories than you burn daily

2)Get Moving!
a)Walk at least 30 minutes per day to burn calories
b)Take the stairs not the elevator
c)Participate in a physical sport at least 3 times per week

3)Use safe diet products to help you:
a)Burn fat
b)Suppress appetite and curb cravings
c)Block excess carbs and fat and
d)Cut calorie consumption…
Also Check Out: Diet Reviews