Dark Chocolate Health Benefits

By Alexis Wolfer: The New York Times [has] reported that chocolate, in moderation is good for your heart. In fact, women (from Sweden in this study) who ate 1 to 2 servings of dark chocolate (between two-thirds of an ounce and one ounce) each week had almost one-third fewer cases of heart failure than those who avoided the sweet stuff. They say that chocolate may lower blood pressure and that the flavonoids in cocoa may reduce blood vessel inflammation.

2010 was a good year for dark chocolate lovers — the news is full of promising research regarding its effects on heart, stress, brain & liver, not to mention tastebuds! — Dr. Cathie

BeautyBean … New York Times … Telegraph (UK) ... Daily Mail (UK) … Medical News Today

Heliocare

Heliocare is a groundbreaking capsule for sun protection made from the fern Polypodium leucotomos.  It offers a degree of additional whole body sun protection and prevents DNA damage.  You still need your sunscreen! But it may be worthwhile if you have fair skin, sun damage, lots of sun exposure, or a personal or family history of skin cancers.

Technically, Heliocare is dietary supplement with antioxidant properties which help maintain the skin’s ability to protect against sun-related effects and aging. It was discovered while scientists were looking for a treatment for vitiligo.

Fernblock™, the principal performance ingredient, works to protect skin structure, modulate immune response, and provide a daily defense against the UV photoaging process. Heliocare acts as a scavenger to mop up free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS), particularly superoxide anions. It helps to repair damaged DNA in the skin. (I’m taking it on a daily basis, year-round.)

You can find scientific info on Polypodium leucotomos at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15583582 and webmd.com

We import Heliocare from New Zealand, and it’s available in our office.