What do Halloween, Easter and Valentine’s Day have in common? Besides being holidays, they mark occasions when people stuff themselves with chocolate. Chocolate is undeniably a popular treat, but many have suggested that moderate consumption may have health benefits like brain stimulation and even cancer prevention. Is this wishful thinking, or could a Xocai Protein bar be your ticket to longevity?

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Epicatechin, a compound found in unrefined cocoa, could have health benefits that rival penicillin and anesthesia in terms of importance to public health.

Norman Hollenberg, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, has spent years studying the effects of routine cocoa drinking on the Kuna people of Panama. The Kuna, who drink up to 40 cups of cocoa a week, have a less than 10 percent risk of stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes.

Hollenberg believes that epicatechin should be considered a vitamin, and other nutrition experts believe that epicatechin is so important that it could even warrant a rethinking of how vitamins are defined.

Epicatechin is removed from commercial cocoas because it tends to have a bitter taste. It is also found in teas, wine, chocolate and some fruits and vegetables. Unlike commercially processed chocolate, Xocai is very rich with epicatechin, because of the cold pressing process of the cocoa.

Dr. Mercola: Consuming chocolate could be far more important than anyone, including me, ever imagined. I remember very clearly reviewing the first studies that came out nearly 10 years ago. I was absolutely convinced that since they were funded by Mars candy there was massive conflict of interest and very little truth to the science.

But time has certainly disproved that. Now, there still isn’t any benefit to eating the vast majority of candy that is passed off as chocolate. The major benefits are restricted to the raw and very bitter cacao beans (from which cocoa is processed) and the more they are processed and sweetened the more the benefits are decreased.

Does epicatechin-rich cocoa really reduce the risk of the four most deadly diseases — cancer, heart failure, diabetes and stroke — to less than 10 percent? It’s possible. In fact, some experts believe these diseases may eventually be viewed as the result of an epicatechin deficiency.

Found another great article on this website nutritionandmetabolism.com. Please guys, take a moment to read this article. Eating dark chocolate, like for example the Xocai Power squares, has to be a part of your daily routine.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), as a group, is a leading cause of the death in the United States, and worldwide, causing over 16.7 million deaths globally in 2002. In 1990, greater than 85,000,000 disability-adjusted life-years were lost worldwide due to coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke; this CVD disease burden is projected to rise to 143,000,000 disability-adjusted life-years by 2020. Studies suggest cardiovascular diseases may be preventable by lifestyle modifications, such as exercise and nutrition. Additionally, the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force have each indicated the likely importance of diet for the prevention of CVD.

In the American diet, fruits, vegetables, tea, wine and chocolate are major sources of antioxidants, which have been shown to have protective effects against CVD. One class of antioxidants, flavonoids, commonly found in such foods, have attracted great interest in potentially lowering risk of CVD. Since cocoa products contain greater antioxidant capacity and greater amounts of flavonoids per serving than all teas and red wines, it is important to explore chocolate’s potential effects on CVD. Read full article about healthy chocolate here…