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I'm barely getting used to the pleasure of my Sipping Xocolate, and I'm already building excitement for the next big thing.  In February, we will be introducing Xocai XoBiotic Chocolate.  That is chocolate with healthy bacteria of the same types we are used to getting in our yogurt.  Below I have copied what Marty Brooks, our founder and CEO, has to say about probiotics and about XoBiotic healthy chocolate.

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There are many natural functional foods in virtually every food group. As we all know, chocolate itself is a functional food if it contains sufficient antioxidants and flavonoids. However, it is now possible for manufacturers to create functional foods by fortifying and enhancing their products to give them added health benefits never before possible. A new growing segment of functional food is called “probiotics."

Probiotic means “fit for life,” or “pro life." Probiotics are living microorganisms which when administered effectively in adequate amounts confer health benefits. The adult intestinal tract is home to approximately 100 trillion microorganisms. More than 400 different bacterial species have already been identified in the intestinal tract.

First, in order to be effective Probiotics must contain bacteria which are resistant to stomach acids and bile salts. Secondly, the bacteria must have the capacity to compete successfully with the indigenous intestinal bacteria. So, either the bacteria must be protected by the use of encapsulation techniques, or new types of foods must be developed which offer increased protection for the bacteria. The key to the effectiveness of probiotic treatment is for the bacteria to be able to pass through the stomach and the small intestines reaching the large intestines with sufficient strength to colonize and flourish.

SHIME stands for “The Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem." This in vitro system was created to simulate the activities and conditions found in the stomach, small intestines, and large intestines. This enables scientists to monitor the quantity of bacteria that survive the journey to the large intestines. And, it also enables them to monitor the development of the bacterial colonies in the large intestines.

According to the American College of Gastroenterology, 95 million Americans suffer from digestive problems. Some 60 million have heartburn, 50 million have irritable bowel syndrome, and 20 million suffer from stomach ulcers.

Many, many new probiotic products have been launched in North America and Europe. But, we have a distinct advantage. Chocolate appears to be the ideal delivery system for probiotics. As shown in this chart dark chocolate has been shown to be far superior to milk as a delivery system for Probiotics.

The Xoçai™ XoBiotic™ chocolate will be in the form of an 11-gram square and will deliver 200,000,000 microorganisms of two types—lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium lactis. These probiotics have been selected for our probiotic chocolate because of their stability in chocolate and their guaranteed nine-month shelf life if properly stored as recommended for all Xoçai™ products (40*F – 75*F). By marrying the health benefits of dark chocolate with those of these two probiotic cultures, which have a positive influence on immune and gut health, we gain new opportunities with health-conscious consumers. Presently there are no approved health claims on probiotics in the US. Our label will most likely state, “Contains acidophilus and bifidolactis; probiotics have been shown to benefit digestive and immune health."

Once available, we’ll be providing more information on XoBiotic™, the 1st healthy, probiotic chocolate!

Sweet Success!

Martin Brooks
Founder & CEO

Thanks so much.  Drop me a line with any questions.  Or give us a call at 270-969-0035.  In the meantime, visit our websites at www.chocolateplease.com and www.myfitchocolate.com  Ask about our FREE variety pack.

Xocolate

 

Wow, October is a busy month for me but one filled with fun.  I love the fall weather, the turning leaves and Halloween.  We have a big party for all our friends every year and throughout the month I am always busy cleaning, decorating and planning food and activities.  But this October has another fun and happy occasion.  The introduction of our new Sipping Xocolate.

On Wednesday night in Nashville we attended a launch where all we got our first look at the chocolate and got to taste some of the odd little beads of chocolate without ever actually mixing them with anything.  I knew right away it was going to be habit forming.  Johnny looked at me and said, "I'll never be able to afford to keep you in this stuff".  And that's just straight out of the can!  See, in reading the details of the Sipping Xocolate for the last few weeks I had pictured a product similar to our Activ, in powder form.  Instead I was greeted by little beads of dark chocolate, coated in cocoa powder.  They quickly began to melt and make a mess in my hand, but hey, popping them straight out of the can is not what they're designed for.  I'm sure we were a sight, sitting there licking the melted chocolate from our palms.

 I knew it was good, but I had been a little skeptical after reading the instructions that it was going to be a little too much trouble to make because you had to mix it in two steps.  A great distributor got up and described for us how she made the most wonderful mocha latte with it, and she certainly made it sound worth the trouble for all it's decadence.  Needless to say, I couldn't wait to get home and mix some for myself and I have enjoyed a cup right before bedtime every night since.  It really was no trouble at all.  Now, you can get as creative as you'd like in mixing your sipping chocolate by using water, milk, coffee or any other warm beverage of your choice.  But I opted for an old fashioned cup of hot chocolate made with skim milk.  Your first step is to mix one and a half tablespoons of water with about a tablespoon of water or milk, I used water for this step.  Then you microwave, or heat the water on the stove if you have a thing about microwaves, the water and chocolate beads for about a minute until the water boils.  Then you mix it into a thick chocolate syrup and make sure you get the chocolate all melted and creamy before you add the next step, which is your heated 3/4 cup of "beverage of your choice".  Man o man, I can't describe for you what a wonderful drink this was.  And each cup contains over 1,000 mg. of flavonoids.  I can tell you I had two better nights sleep than I have had in weeks by having this drink before bedtime.  Barely waking thru the night, when I usualy get up at least 2 or 3 times.

The new Sipping Xocolate has all the differences from commercial hot chocolate that it does with it's solid counterparts.  It's raw, unprocessed and high in antioxidants.  The ORAC score is 9,268 perserving, with 1,045 mg. of flavonoids.  Now, if you have been keeping up with what makes chocolate healthy your first question might be, "what about the loss of flavonoids when you heat it".  Well the folks at MXI have accounted for that, the Brunswick certified flavonoid content is that of the finished product. (Meaning when we were munching on it dry, we were getting even more!) 

One of the most beautiful features of this chocolate is that anybody can make it to their taste.  It has a small amount of sugar, plenty for me, but you can sweeten it to your taste if you desire.  Also, if you are still trying to aquire your taste for the darker chocolate you can cut back on the amount of chocolate beads you use to make your drink, or dilute it with more liquid.  If you use less chocolate, you will have to consider that you are getting proportionately fewer flavonoids as well.  And the variety of choices to mix it with assures almost anyone can find something they will fall in love with.

Thanks as always for taking the time to read my blog.  I know by now you're curious about the Sipping Xocolate.  If you have any questions, let me know.  In the meantime check out our websites at www.myfitchocolate.com, where you can buy the chocolate, and www.chocolateplease.com.  Or, just call us up at 270-969-0035 and say "hey, what's the deal with this Healthy Chocolate".

Many Blessings to You.

Terri

October is my favorite month.  Okay, maybe part of it is because it's my birthday, but I love the cooler weather, the changing colors and of course HALLOWEEN!  It's always one of my busiest months.  We have been having a halloween party for all our friends since first moving into this house about 14 years ago.  Us, the house and the party of definitely evolved over the years.  But one thing for sure, a great time is had by all.  I am always worn out, but most happy, because it's the most fun "work" I do all year.

This week I have dragged out the many boxes of decorations from the attic and transformed the place into a spookhouse throughout.  I'm down to some just a few more things to find a spot and hang.  Next I'll get all the food planned for and decide if, and as what, I will dress up.  And this is a special year because once every few years the party, always the Saturday before Halloween, falls on my birthday, and this is the year!

I'm so excited and can't wait to live it up and dance the night away, and eat, drink and be MERRY!

 

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

Albert Einstein

I enjoy posting my blogs and notes on Healthy Chocolate.  It's all good with that.  But sometimes I just want to post a little personal note, something to let my friends know me a little better.  Tonight I am contemplating the end of what I believe has been a turning point weekend in my personal life and I want to share a little of that.

I'm sure everyone knows how we can fall into those comfortable ruts that life will sometimes tend to bog you down in.  And for the last several months, my rut has become muddier, and muddier.  But sometimes even when the rut gets muddy, we can't quite figure out why we still cling to it instead of stepping out of that beloved "comfort zone". Without troubling you with or divulging too many personal details, suffice to say I've had one of those life lessons embodied in the statement "the best laid plans of mice and men..."  So in my reluctance to let go I continued to cling to a relationship long after my logical being realized it was over.  I mourned the days we'd had and the days we never would.  And keep in mind this is not a lovers relationship we are speaking of, but a friendship.  A BFF situation if you will.  So, as this holiday approached i dwelled on our traditional celebrations, doing the same things, with the same people, that we had done for the last 15 years or so.  But I knew the discomfort level on both sides of this situation was going to be high, raising the discomfort level for everyone due to the tension. So I steeled myself and declared, "this weekend we are not going to any of the old places, we are going to step up out of this rut and do the opposite".  And we did.

I say that to say this; I am feeling so refreshed.  I feel as thought I have shed an old skin and started the new day with a shiny one, bright eyed and smooth.  But you should know that it was not easy and in a way it was down-right scary. As humans we prefer to stay with the status quo.  But all the great "gurus" tell us, if we want to continue to grow in life we must continuously step out of our comfort zone.  We cannot be afraid of a change.  We must learn to accept that people inevitably change and not always for the better. And most importantly we must learn not to get ourselves stuck in the mud of another person's rut.  For our whole lives we change.  People move in and out of our lives, and I believe they come and go with divine timing.  There's a reason they enter and exit when they do and some that we think will be there forever, won't. My husband and I have discussed many times that had we found each other at any point in our lives that we would never have been together.  We met when we did because that was how it was supposed to be.

I guess this is just my rambling but I want to say, don't be afraid to turn loose of something that has gotten stale.  If you keep the past clinched in your hand, you cannot open it up to grasp the next great thing. Whether it's your love life, your social life or your business, always look beyond the edge of the rut.

This article is some good news for anyone who's expecting.  You hear so often of young women who suffer from preeclampsia during their pregnancies.  Point your browser to the following article to learn more about consuming healthy chocolate during pregnancy.


http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKCOL86039220080428?sp=true


Then don't forget to order the right kind of chocolate at:

www.myfitchocolate.com

Thanks and many blessings.
Xocolate (Terri)

Here's another link.  Have you been wondering what makes Xocai different from other chocolates?  Let our expert, Dr. Steve Warren explain...

http://goodnewsaboutchocolate.com/?p=22

Well, Of course my answer is NEVER!  But, that's not always the case.  You might not have too much chocolate, but you can certainly have too much of the stuff that's sometimes added to chocolate.  As always, Dr. Steve has some good info on what to look for in dark chocolate, and whether there's a possibility of eating too much Healthy Chocolate.

Check out Dr. Warren's answer to the questions, "Can you eat too much Healthy Chocolate?"

http://goodnewsaboutchocolate.com/?p=19


Just click to hear this, and browse Dr. Warren's other blog entries.

Thanks,
Terri
www.chocolateplease.com

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