Chocolate Unwrapped

Publishers Information

About Chocolate Unwrapped

Publisher Web Link: http://www.invisiblecitiespress.com

The Surprising Health Benefits of America’s Favorite Passion

A host of recent studies has revealed news about chocolate that at first seems too good to be true. Chocolate protects you from heart disease. Chocolate improves cholesterol levels. Chocolate may even help prevent some cancers. Can this be? Can America’s most demonized dessert actually be good for you?

In a word, yes. Evidence is piling up that chocolate has a list of health benefits few foods can match. We’re all familiar with antioxidants, the compounds found in fruits, vegetables, red wine, and tea that prevent heart disease, cancer, and premature aging. What we don’t hear is that chocolate has the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food on the planet—ten times that of spinach, five times that of blueberries, and four times that of green tea. Chocolate Unwrapped explains the science behind chocolate’s health benefits, then goes on to dispel the myths swirling around chocolate. Chocolate does not cause acne, allergies, migraines, or hyperactivity. Chocolate has much less caffeine than most people think. And tannins in chocolate actually help prevent cavities, making chocolate better for teeth than other sweets.

Though there is no proof for chocolate’s reputation as an aphrodisiac (both Casanova and the Aztec emperor Montezuma drank it for that purpose), chocolate has clear effects on the brain and mood. Chocolate contains anandamide, a substance that activates the same receptors in the brain as marijuana, as well as other chemicals that causes feelings of excitement and well-being, explaining the natural craving many people feel for it.

Chocolate Unwrapped not only explains the positive physical and psychological effects of chocolate, but goes on to explore the colorful history, botany, and chemistry of chocolate, so you’ll understand what to look for and what to avoid. A recipe section provides a multitude of healthy ways to eat chocolate, from flourless chocolate cake to Mexican mole, and a comprehensive list of resources tells you where to find the best-quality chocolates in the world. All this and more makes Chocolate Unwrapped a book that will change the lives of chocoholics everywhere.

Author Information

About Rowan Jacobsen

Author Web Link: http://www.rowanjacobsen.com/

Rowan Jacobsen is the James Beard Award-winning author of A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur’s Guide to Oyster Eating in North America, Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis, and The Living Shore, about our ancient connection to estuaries and their potential to heal the oceans. He has written for the New York Times, Newsweek, Harper’s, Outside, Eating Well, and others. Whether visiting endangered oystermen in Louisiana or cacao-gathering tribes in the Bolivian Amazon, his subject is how to maintain a sense of place in a world of increasing placelessness. His new book, American Terroir, was recently named one of the Top Ten Books of the Year by Library Journal. He lives in Vermont. (http://www.rowanjacobsen.com/)

Cookbooks by Rowan Jacobsen

0

Your rating: None

My Cookbook

American Terroir

by Rowan Jacobsen

0

Your rating: None

My Cookbook

A Geography of Oysters

by Rowan Jacobsen

0

Your rating: None

My Cookbook

Chocolate Unwrapped

by Rowan Jacobsen

0

Your rating: None

My Cookbook

Fruitless Fall

by Rowan Jacobsen