Tag: chocolate

  • Experience Nutrition: Chocolate Goji Berry Cream Pie: Delicious Plant-Based Desserts by Melanie Albert, Part 2 of 4

    Experience Nutrition: Chocolate Goji Berry Cream Pie: Delicious Plant-Based Desserts by Melanie Albert, Part 2 of 4

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    Continuing to share with you delicious, beautiful, and “healthy” plant-based desserts: Berry Cashew Cream Pie, Chocolate Goji Berry Cream Pie, Aromatic Apple Berry, and Raw Carrot Cake. The desserts feature berries, chocolate, goji berries, and amazing aromatic culinary experiences with hand-grinding spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom.

    We created these desserts at our hands-on Holiday cooking class at The Farm at South Mountain and I have to say they were all so created with so much mindfulness and heart. Plus, they were delicious.

    Today’s dessert, featured on the cover the the January 2019 issue of Natural Awakenings  Arizona, is the Chocolate Goji Berry Cream Pie. Links to the other plant-based dessert recipes:


    Chocolate Goji Berry Cream Pie

    Try this simple chocolate dessert recipe for your family and friends. This gourmet-quality pie is so much fun to make and is beautiful and delicious. Learn to quickly and easily melt chocolate chips right in your oven. Enjoy the pie with superfood goji berries. If you have extra chocolate pie, cut it into small pieces and freeze for snacks.

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    Chocolate Goji Berry Pie

    Pecan Crust

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2 cups raw pecans
    • ¼ cup maple sugar
    • 1½ tbsp coconut oil
    • ½ tsp sea salt

    Simple Steps

    • Pulse pecans and maple sugar in food processor.
    • Add coconut oil and sea salt.
    • Pulse to combine well.
    • Press and shape mixture into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan.

    Thanks to my friend Nathalia, from Brazil  for capturing the focus of making the crust for the chocolate pie.


    Filling

    Simple Ingredients

    • 2½ cups vegan dark chocolate chips
    • 2 packages organic soft silken tofu (260g packages)
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
    • Pinch of sea salt

    Simple Steps

    Melt Chocolate Chips

    • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
    • Pour the chocolate chips in a single layer onto a flat baking sheet.
    • Place in the oven to melt for no more than 3-4 minutes or until melted. Be careful that you don’t burn them.
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    Melt Chocolate Chips in the oven.

    Blend the Filling

    • Place tofu, vanilla, sea salt, and melted chocolate chips into a food processor.
    • Blend until smooth.
    • Pour mixture into pie crust and chill for at least 30 minutes.
    • Top with nuts, and fresh fruit or goji berries.

    Chocolate Pie Plating Mise en Place

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    Chocolate Goji Berry Pie Plating Mise en Place
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    Simplicity of the Chocolate Goji Berry Pie

    In awe of the beautiful chocolate pie created at the Dessert Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain.

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    The beauty of the Chocolate Goji Berry Pie prepared during the Dessert Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain.

    While making this pie for the Arizona edition of the January 2019 issue of Natural Awakenings magazine, I had the fun opportunity to create a “birthday pop-up celebration” for urban farmer, Billy Anthony, of the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain.

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    My honor to celebrate Billy Anthony’s Birthday with the Pie Pop-up.
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    Thanks so much to Billy and Bailey for the Soil & Seed CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

    What fun celebrating Billy’s Birthday…thanks so much for “playing”!

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    Billy Anthony’s Chocolate Goji Berry Pie is ready to enjoy.

    The beauty of food…Chocolate Cream Pie with Persimmons & Berries


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    Enjoying the Chocolate Goji Pie creations.

    Yummm…And, the perfect setting, at The Farm at South Mountain to enjoy…

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    Thanks Billy Anthony for growing the beautiful produce at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm. And, Happy Birthday.

    Happy Birthday to you, Billy Anthony…wishing you another wonderful year. Thanks so much for so passionately growing all of the incredible beautiful, tasty food at the Soil & Seed Garden at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix.


    Thanks to Natural Awakenings AZ magazine for featuring my Plant-Based Chocolate Pie on the cover and Plant-Based Dessert recipes in the January 2019 issue.

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    Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019
    NaturalAwakeAZ-Jan19-Pages-IMG_7717 (2)
    Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019. Start the New Year Off Right

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page


    Purchase Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”


    PUBLIC COOKING CLASSES IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA

    Phoenix friends…hope you or your kids can join us at one of our hands-on intuitive cooking classes this season… Vision Board & Appetizers,  Foods for Addiction Recovery, Spring Farm-to-Table,  Raw Farm-to-Table, and Kids Food Art.


    BB-01-A-13-VisitPhoenix-ExperienceNutrition-TeamBuliding-MelanieDessert-IMG_2119

    Purchase Tickets for the Get Clear for the New Year Vision Board & Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Saturday, January 12, 2019, 1-3pm

     

     


    BB-002-MelanieAlbert-TomShanahanTheFarm-Feb17-2019

    Purchase Tickets for Whole Foods for Addiction Recovery with New York “Spiritual Adrenaline” Author Tom Shanahan and Phoenix cookbook author Melanie Albert. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, February 17, 2019, 11am-1pm


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    Purchase Tickets for Spring Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking with Melanie Albert and Soil & Seed Garden Farmer Billy Anthony. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, March 3, 2019, 10:30am-1pm

     


    BB-04-A-06-VisitPhoenix-ExperienceNutrition-TeamBuilding-Lasagna-IMG_2111

    Purchase Tickets for Raw Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking with Melanie Albert and Soil & Seed Garden Farmer Billy Anthony. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, April 7, 2019, 10:30am-1pm


    BB-05-Kids-MelanieAlbert-A-DSC_0453 (2)Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, February 10, 2019, 11am-noon


    Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, March 24, 2019, 11am-noon

    Happy Cooking!

     

     

  • Experience Nutrition: Super Berry Cashew Cream Pie: Delicious Plant-Based Desserts by Melanie Albert, Part 1 of 4

    Experience Nutrition: Super Berry Cashew Cream Pie: Delicious Plant-Based Desserts by Melanie Albert, Part 1 of 4

    By Melanie Albert, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition, Intuitive Cooking Expert, and Award-Winning Cookbook Author

    Excited to share with you four amazing, delicious, beautiful, and “healthy” plant-based desserts for you to enjoy creating with your family and friends: Super Berry Cashew Cream Pie, Chocolate Goji Berry Cream Pie, Aromatic Apple Berry, and Raw Carrot Cake. The desserts feature berries, chocolate, goji berries, and amazing aromatic culinary experiences with hand-grinding spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom.

    We created these desserts at our hands-on Holiday cooking class at The Farm at South Mountain and I have to say they were all so created with so much mindfulness and heart. Plus, they were delicious.

    The first dessert is the Super Berry Cashew Cream Pie. Links to the other plant-based dessert recipes:

    Choose a recipe that you are excited about and then come back and make another one.


    Berry Cashew Cream Pie

    Create a stunning cream pie that’s simple to prepare and full of flavor. Enjoy the process of adding superfood berries, acai and maqui, to add a beautiful purple layer of color to the pie, and have fun plating with your favorite fresh berries.

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    Berry Cashew Cream Pie

    Walnut Crust

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 cup walnuts
    • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
    • ½ tsp coconut oil
    • ¼ tsp vanilla
    • Pinch salt

    Simple Steps

    • Process walnuts into a flour in a food processor.
    • Add cinnamon and salt and pulse to combine.
    • Add vanilla and coconut oil, and process until dough is crumbly, but sticks together.
    • Press crust into the bottom of an 8×8 parchment-lined pan.
    • Chill in refrigerator or freezer to set.

    Filling

    Simple Ingredients

    • 1 cup raw cashews, pre-soaked in water 2-4 hours.
    • 2 tbsp lemon juice
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 2 tbsp light agave
    • 2 tbsp coconut oil
    • Pinch sea salt
    • 2-3 tbsp cashew milk or water, as needed to blend

    Simple Steps

    • Blend cashews, lemon juice, vanilla extract, agave, and sea salt in a high speed blender.
    • Add coconut oil, and blend.
    • Add cashew milk, as needed for smoothness.
    • Pour filling on top of crust in chilled pan. (Save ¼ cup of the filling to make superfood filling.)
    • Chill in refrigerator or freezer to set.

    Superfood Filling

    Simple Ingredients

    • ¼ cup of cashew filling
    • ½ tsp acai powder
    • ½ tsp maqui powder

    Simple Steps

    • Put cashew filling, acai powder, and maqui powder into a small bowl.
    • Stir with a spoon until thoroughly mixed.
    • Pour the filling onto the top of chilled pie in the pan.
    • Chill in refrigerator or freezer.
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    Berry Cashew Cream Pie: Maqui and Acai Filling

    Plating

    Simple Ingredients

    • ½ cup fresh blackberries or blueberries

    Simple Steps

    • Cut pie into squares or rectangles.
    • Plate with fresh blackberries or blueberries.

    Plating Mise en Place…

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    Berry Cream Pie Mise en Place for Plating

    The Superfood Berry Pie…

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    The Superfood Berry Cream Pie Beauty

    A few photos from the Holiday Dessert Cooking Class at The Farm. Thanks to my photographer friend, Nathalia from Brazil for capturing the event.

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    Melanie Albert, Holiday Desserts Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain
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    Blackberries onto the Berry Cream Pie

    A few more fun photos from the Holiday Dessert Cooking Class at The Farm

    Thanks to Natural Awakenings AZ magazine for featuring my Plant-Based Chocolate Pie on the cover and Plant-Based Dessert recipes in the January 2019 issue.

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    Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019
    NaturalAwakeAZ-Jan19-Pages-IMG_7717 (2)
    Natural Awakenings Arizona, January 2019. Start the New Year Off Right

    Join our Simple Daily Plant-Based Eating Tips Facebook Page


    Purchase Melanie Albert’s award-winning cookbook, “A New View of Healthy Eating:  Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods”


    PUBLIC COOKING CLASSES IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA

    Phoenix friends…hope you or your kids can join us at one of our hands-on intuitive cooking classes this season… Vision Board & Appetizers,  Foods for Addiction Recovery, Spring Farm-to-Table,  Raw Farm-to-Table, and Kids Food Art.


    BB-01-A-13-VisitPhoenix-ExperienceNutrition-TeamBuliding-MelanieDessert-IMG_2119

    Purchase Tickets for the Get Clear for the New Year Vision Board & Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Cooking Class at The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Saturday, January 12, 2019, 1-3pm

     

     


    BB-002-MelanieAlbert-TomShanahanTheFarm-Feb17-2019

    Purchase Tickets for Whole Foods for Addiction Recovery with New York “Spiritual Adrenaline” Author Tom Shanahan and Phoenix cookbook author Melanie Albert. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, February 17, 2019, 11am-1pm


    Mel-Billy-Grid-1

    Purchase Tickets for Spring Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking with Melanie Albert and Soil & Seed Garden Farmer Billy Anthony. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, March 3, 2019, 10:30am-1pm

     


    BB-04-A-06-VisitPhoenix-ExperienceNutrition-TeamBuilding-Lasagna-IMG_2111

    Purchase Tickets for Raw Farm-to-Table Plant-Based Intuitive Cooking with Melanie Albert and Soil & Seed Garden Farmer Billy Anthony. The Farm at South Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, Sunday, April 7, 2019, 10:30am-1pm


    BB-05-Kids-MelanieAlbert-A-DSC_0453 (2)Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, February 10, 2019, 11am-noon


    Purchase Tickets for Farm-to-Table Kids Food Art Cooking at The Farm at South Mountain with Melanie Albert, Sunday, March 24, 2019, 11am-noon

    Happy Cooking!

     

     

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Chocolate Avocado Pudding. Arizona Navel Orange.

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    I’m so honored to be presenting monthly cooking classes at the Humana Community Center in Mesa, Arizona. Today’s theme was superfoods. One of my very favorite superfoods is raw cacao, so we prepared the very simple Avocado Chocolate Pudding. We topped the pudding with hydrated goji berries, raw cacao nibs, and hemp seeds. Everyone in the class loved the simplicity of making the pudding, it’s smooth texture and how healthy it is.

    A few fun photos from today’s class:

    Today I was very fortunate to have a few left-over perfectly ripe avocados. When I returned home from the cooking class, I made a small batch of the Chocolate Avocado Pudding. I had fun mindfully plating it with some of my favorite superfoods and a sweet Arizona navel orange. After the recipe from “A New View of Healthy Eating,” scroll down for today’s dessert creation.

    Simple Recipe from “A New View of Healthy Eating”

    Chocolate Avocado Pudding

    Incredible, rich, and creamy vegan chocolate pudding will delight everyone. Make it for dessert or an after-work or after-school snack. Once you’ve made this avocado pudding, experiment by adding some extras, such as bananas, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, homemade nut milk, and freshly ground spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 4 ripe avocados
    • 8 Medjool dates, pitted and sliced
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract or 2 vanilla beans, scraped
    • ½ cup raw cacao powder
    • 2 cups water

    SIMPLE STEPS

    1. Place all ingredients in high-speed blender.
    2. Blend on high for about 2 minutes.
    3. Stop and scrape down sides of blender, if needed.
    4. Blend for another 2 minutes or until completely pureed and smooth.
    5. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
    6. Enjoy topped with fresh fruit, nuts, and seeds.

    Avocado Pudding Mise en Place

    Blend All Ingredients in Food Processor

    Prepare your Plating Mise en Place

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    Fun Chocolate Pudding Plating

    Another look at the final Chocolate Pudding Plate…

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    Having fun with the raw cacao…maybe a little too much…but tasty!

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    If you’re interested in learning more simple culinary skills and healthy recipes, Melanie’s book, “A New View of Healthy Eating” is available.

    If you’re interested in a Workshop, Cooking Class, Team Building Event, or Retreat, contact Melanie: Mel@MelanieAlbert.com

     

     

     

  • A New View of Healthy Eating Recipes: Spiritual Adrenaline Holiday Dessert Guide: Chocolate Avocado Pudding

    By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    It is such an honor to be part of the Spiritual Adrenaline Holiday Dessert Guide. I appreciate Tom Shanahan for the opportunity to share my simple, healthy desserts with you. This Chocolate Avocado Pudding was one of the first “good-for-us” desserts I learned to make with “healthy ingredients.”  I invite you to experiment with this pudding and I have a feeling you might enjoy it long after the holidays.

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    Excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating: Chocolate Avocado Pudding (page 166)

    Incredible, rich, and creamy vegan chocolate pudding will delight everyone. Make it for dessert or an after-work or after-school snack. Once you’ve made this avocado pudding, experiment by adding some extras, such as bananas, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, homemade nut milk, and freshly ground spices, like cinnamon and nutmeg.

    SIMPLE INGREDIENTS

    • 4 ripe avocados
    • 8 Medjool dates, pitted and sliced
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract or 2 vanilla beans, scraped
    • ½ cup raw cacao powder
    • 2 cups water

    SIMPLE STEPS

    1. Place all ingredients in high-speed blender.
    2. Blend on high for about 2 minutes.
    3. Stop and scrape down sides of blender, if needed.
    4. Blend for another 2 minutes or until completely pureed and smooth.
    5. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
    6. Enjoy topped with fresh fruit, nuts, and seeds.

    A New View of Healthy Eating Book is available now. I’m happy to gift-wrap for you and your friends.

     Join our e-mail list and receive simple recipes and culinary techniques for simple intuitive cooking. 

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    Share your healthy holiday desserts with us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Really Enjoy Chocolate!

    By Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, and speaker. Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    The last 3 days we’ve been shooting videos with recipes and concepts from my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating and with my friend Tom Shanahan of Spiritual Adrenaline. In fact, we shot 27 videos, including 13 cooking videos. One of the things I noticed was that we prepared quite a few different amazing dessert recipes with chocolate including:

    • Chocolate Avocado Pudding
    • Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie with Soy (Tofu)
    • Chocolate Sweet Potato Brownie

    In light of the focus on chocolate, I’d like to share with you some valuable information about chocolate and some photos of these amazing desserts.

    Excerpt from A New View of Healthy Eating

    4 Ways to Enjoy Chocolate

    Dark chocolate is distinguished by the percentage of cacao solids in the bar. The higher the percentage of cacao in a chocolate bar, the lower the amount of sugar.

    1. Dark Chocolate Bar: Made with 70% cacao. If you are new to the bitter taste of dark chocolate, start with a 55% cacao chocolate bar. As you become accustomed to the flavor, try chocolate with higher levels of cacao.
    2. Raw Chocolate: Raw cacao is extracted from fermented cacao beans, which are dried without roasting or roasted at low temperatures.
    3. Cacao Nibs: Cacao bean crushed into little pieces. Try a few cacao nibs and experience their bitterness. Add nibs to smoothies or chocolate desserts.
    4. Cacao Bean: The actual bean or seed. It’s definitely an acquired taste; try a bite.

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    If you’d like the recipes for the incredible (really!) tasty and healthy chocolate desserts, my new book, A New View of Healthy Eating is now available: 

    If you’d like to stay up-to-date with recipes, culinary tips, and events, join our e-mail list.

  • 9 Ways 90 Days: 6 Reasons Why Dark Chocolate is a Good for You Superfood

    by Melanie Albert, Nutrition & Food Expert, Author, Speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group

     Excerpt from book, “Enjoy Food & Life. 9 Ways 90 Days Step-by-step action plan for healthy eating & living.”

    BOOK PRE-SALE NOW   www.9ways90days.com

    9 Way 90 Days: Why Dark Chocolate is Good for You

     Why Dark Chocolate is Good for You

    1. Good for Your Heart

    • Studies show that eating a small amount of dark chocolate two or three times each week can help lower your blood pressure.
    • Dark chocolate improves blood flow and may help prevent the formation of blood clots.
    • Eating dark chocolate may prevent arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). 

    2. Good for Your Brain

    • Dark chocolate increases blood flow to the brain, so it can help improve cognitive function. Dark chocolate also helps reduce risk of stroke.
    • Dark chocolate also contains several chemical compounds that have a positive effect on your mood and cognitive health. Chocolate contains phenylethylamine (PEA), which encourages your brain to release endorphins, as a result eating dark chocolate may make you feel happier.
    • Dark chocolate contains caffeine, a mild stimulant. However, dark chocolate contains much less caffeine than coffee. A 1.5 ounce bar of dark chocolate contains 27 mg of caffeine, compared to the 200 mg found in an eight ounce cup of coffee.

    3. Helps Control Blood Sugar

    • Dark chocolate helps keep your blood vessels healthy and your circulation unimpaired to protect against type 2 diabetes.
    • Flavonoids in dark chocolate help reduce insulin resistance by helping your cells to function normally and regain the ability to use your body’s insulin efficiently.
    • Dark chocolate also has a low glycemic index and glycemic load, meaning it won’t cause huge spikes in blood sugar levels.

    4. Full of Antioxidants

    • Antioxidants help free your body of free radicals, which cause oxidative damage to cells. Free radicals are implicated in the aging process and may be a cause of cancer, so eating antioxidant rich foods like dark chocolate can protect you from many types of cancer and slow the signs of aging.

    5. Contains Theobromine

    • Theobromine, which has been shown to harden tooth enamel.
    • That means that dark chocolate, unlike most other sweets, lowers your risk of getting cavities if you practice proper dental hygiene.

    6. Dark Chocolate is High in Vitamins and Minerals

    • The copper and potassium in dark chocolate help prevent against stroke and cardiovascular ailments.
    •  Iron in chocolate protects against iron deficiency anemia
    •  Magnesium in chocolate helps prevent type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.

    ACTION: Eat some good organic dark chocolate with 72% cocao. If dark chocolate is new to you, try it with 55%.