crumb trails

Who doesn’t love chocolate? Me, I so love, love chocolate! I prefer dark over milk, white and other chocolate varieties. The darker and bitter a chocolate is, the more I love munching it.

A regular intake of dark chocolate is healthy and it has been proven in many studies. When eating chocolate remember that its main ingredient, cocoa, is made from plants, therefore it contains health properties found in many vegetables. Opposed to other varieties, dark chocolate has flavonoid, an antioxidant chemical that protects the body from harmful elements that cause early aging and heart diseases. In addition, flavonoids also balance certain hormones in the body.

Generally, dark chocolate is good for the heart. The right amount of intake (a small bar or around 1.6 ounces) everyday can keep the heart and cardio system functioning properly. Heart health benefits include lowering blood pressure and lowering cholesterol level in the body. A small bar of dark chocolate everyday has been proven to lower the blood pressure in people with hypertension. It can also reduce bad cholesterol (LDL or low density lipoprotein) in the body by almost 10 percent. Sweet news, right?

Apart from taking care of the heart, dark chocolate has other advantages. One, it gives one a feeling of happiness because it stimulates the production of endorphin. Two, it lifts ones spirits since it has serotonin, a neurotransmitter that act as anti-depressant. Lastly, chocolate tastes good, who can resist it?

Read the rest of this entry »

Last night two of my colleagues and I covered an event in Katipunan called “One Smoke-Free Night,” a benefit concert for project Brave Kids. It was also an avenue to raise public awareness on the health hazards of cigarette smoking. One of the event’s organizer was FCAP or Framework Convention on tobacco control Alliance Philippines. Currently, the organization is pursuing the passing of House Bill (HB) 3364 or the Picture-Based Health Warning Bill, which, when approved, graphic photos of the effects of smoking to ones health will replace the usual text warning in cigarette packs. The picture-based warning will be placed on the back panel of the cigarette package, the picture will occupy at least fifty percent of the back panel and the text warning must be in Filipino. In addition, no misleading descriptions should be placed in cigarette packs like “light or low tar,” because no matter how “light” or “low” the tar content is, it will still have the same effect in a person’s health.

a sample of how the picture-based warning will look like in cigarette packs

Read the rest of this entry »