• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Sue Hardman

Nourish + Rejuvenate

  • Start here
  • About Sue
    • Praise
    • Naturopathy & Herbal Medicine
  • Work With Me
    • 90-min Clarity Consultation
    • Total Transformation
  • Free Resources
    • Ditch the bloat in 3 days
    • End Your Sugar Cravings
  • Blog

chocolate

Chocolate – Is A Superfood (so it’s good for you)

February 13, 2017 By admin

Chocolate. Yes it is good for you and here’s why!

Cacao or raw chocolate has been used in South America for centuries for its healthy benefits and energising properties.

Cacao is the dried seed from a South American tree and which is used to make cocoa, chocolate or cocoa butter. Cacao contains many of the same health benefits of the dark green leafy vegetables, however it all depends on a few key things; like how it’s prepared, how you eat it or what you eat it with.

Why is Raw Chocolate good for you?

raw chocolate superfoodRaw cacao beans are full of flavonoids that act as natural antioxidants. Antioxidants protect the body from ageing and disease caused by free radicals. Raw cacao contains up to four times the antioxidants of traditional cocao powder.

Scientists from Cornell University in the US recently discovered that raw cacao contains nearly twice the antioxidant content of red wine and up to three times the antioxidant content of green tea.

Benefits

These are the amazing benefits of good quality raw chocolate:

  • It’s a top food source of antioxidants.
  • Top source of magnesium – nature’s tranquilliser for helping you deal with stress.
  • Contains the compound that scientists believe is released when you’re in love (Phenylethylamine) – now we all need more of that!
  • Boosts serotonin & endorphins – improves your mood and the feel good emotions.
  • Supports good heart health, helps lower blood pressure and it reduces inflammation – i.e. stops ageing read more about that here

Avoid this chocolate!

Commercial chocolate (bars, sweets etc.) is usually roasted to high temperatures that ends up destroying all the goodness – the anti-oxidants, enzymes and nutrients whereas raw chocolate is not heated above 45°C to maintaining it’s health benefits.

Store bought chocolate bars also mostly contain a lot of sugar and milk which if you don’t know all the negative effects that sugar has on your weight, your skin and ageing then read more here.

The lower the cocoa content in the chocolate bar or sweet the lower the antioxidant level e.g. A 75% cacao bar has approx. 25% sugar.

Uses

Cacao powder is finely ground and easy to add to recipes or smoothies, homemade energy balls and raw chocolate cakes.

The cons

You can have too much of a good thing.  Raw cacao is a stimulant, contains some caffeine and can over stimulate the nervous system, especially if you are sensitive. Don’t consume more than four heaped teaspoons a day.

HEALTHY CHOCOLATE RECIPES

Raw Chocolate Nut Smoothie – Energiser

raw chocolate smoothie

½ cup almonds

2 cups dairy alternative milk i.e. rice milk or coconut milk

2 medjool dates

1 teaspoon raw organic cacao powder

1 banana (frozen if desired)

Directions

Place all ingredients into your blender and mix until smooth and enjoy!

 

Chocolate & Kale Smoothie – Hormone Balancing

chocolate and kale smoothie

  • 1 cup coconut, hemp, or almond milk
    1 frozen banana
    1 cup of kale
    3 tablespoons cacao nib
    1 tablespoon raw cacao powder 5-6 ice cubes

Directions

Throw all ingredients in a high-powered blender and blend until smooth.

 

 

Healthy Chocolate Bar Recipe

raw chocolate nut square

-2 cups of mixed nuts, seeds and dried fruit
– 1/2 cup of coconut oil
– 1/2 cup of cocoa powder
– 1 tablespoon raw honey

 

Directions

Chop nuts into smaller pieces.
Mix all ingredients together, flatten in a baking tray and refrigerate a minimum of 4 hours.
Cut into squares.
Store in a refiergate.

To help you get started on your journey to better health, you can start with one of the free resources, whether you’re looking for help with your digestion or gut, choose the first free guide or if you need more energy then be sure to choose the  guide to Endless Energy

 All the resources on this page  are FREE for you to download.

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: anti-ageing, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, chocolate, energy, heart health, metabolism, Natural Medicine, Plant medicine, recipe, Stress lowering, superfood

Coconut Oil – Is It Good For You?

November 22, 2016 By admin

Coconut Oil and Why It’s a Healthy Choice

South Pacific Islanders and Polynesian communities whose diets are high in fully saturated coconut oil,  were found to be healthy and trim, while heart disease was virtually non-existent. Obviously, coconut oil was benefiting the health of these islanders.

I sure you know by now that saturated fats are bad for your health and can lead to a host of negative consequences – like high cholesterol, obesity, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. But not all saturated fats are the same!

Why Coconut Oil You May Ask? 

It improves heart health, balances your thyroid, boosts your metabolism, increases lean body mass and supports the immune system. It’s very beneficial for the skin coconut-oil-benefitsand has been found to have anti-aging and regenerative effects.

How does Coconut Oil Work in Your Body?

This is of a type oil rarely found in nature called lauric acid, a “miracle” compound because of its unique health promoting properties and it’s also nature’s richest source of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs). These MCFA’s are small, easily digested and are immediately burned by your liver for energy – like carbohydrates, but without the blood sugar spike.


MCFA’s in coconut oil also boost your metabolism and help your body use fat for energy, as opposed to storing it, so it can actually help you become leaner
.

Coconut oil has actually been shown to help optimise body weight, it boosts your metabolic rate to improve your energy, accelerates healing and improves your overall immune function and just to top it all – it’s incredibly good for your heart.

The truth is this: it is unsaturated fats that are primarily involved in heart disease and too much sugar and processed foods, not the naturally occurring saturated fats, as you have been led to believe.

How to use Coconut Oil in Your Kitchen
Personally, I mostly use only two oils in my food preparation.

The first, extra-virgin olive oil is the best monounsaturated fat and works best as a salad dressing. However, olive oil and other common vegetable oils such as corn, soy, safflower, sunflower and canola, are absolutely the worst oils to cook with because they oxidise with heat and form trans-fats, that are not good for your at all.

So when it comes to cooking, frying etc., I use mostly coconut oil because it’s the ONLY oil stable enough to withstand the heat of cooking.

So, do yourself a favor and cook with coconut oil.

You can substitute it in most recipes calling for oil; put it in your smoothie or protein powder drink.

A Healthy & Delicious Dessert Using Coconut Oil – even kids would eat

Heat the following together:-

1 TBSP of coconut oil,
1 TBSP coconut milk,coconut banana dessert
1 TBSP cacao or raw chocolate
1 TBSP half teaspoon of honey and

Pour the mixture and coat a frozen banana.

You can roll it in coconut flakes and ground macadamia then freeze for another 30 minutes. It makes a delicious frozen dessert!

Energy Boosting COCONUT POWER BALLS – perfect for when you’re on the go

 

Grain-free protein coconut snack

1/2 cup sunflower or nut butter
2 tablespoons raw honeyor stevia
2 tablespoons cocoa nibs
2 tablespoons shredded coconut
3/4 cup natural, unsweetened hemp/pea protein powder
1 teaspoon organic, alcohol-free vanilla
2 tablespoons hemp seeds

 

 

Mix sunflower seed or nut butter, protein powder, honey, and vanilla until smooth
Then add remainder of ingredients.

Form into 1-inch balls and place in an airtight container . Store in the fridge.

 


If you’re struggling with any kind of hormone imbalance, tiredness, low energy or wanting to lose your excess weight. I’ve  put together a FREE guide for you, so you can start to learn how and why specific foods, and drinks, can help you have more energy and lose weight naturally. 

You’ll find it is easy to add these ingredients into your diet on a daily basis – get your downloadable guide here

In fact, at the end, I’m going to share one simple recipe you can make in under five minutes that incorporates all of these foods.

5foods-loss-weight

Get your copy of the FREE guide:
5 Foods that will help boost Your Energy Levels and Lose Weight Naturally.

 

HERE

Filed Under: blog Tagged With: chocolate, coconut, energy, fats, heart health, immune system, Liver, metabolism, Natural Medicine, oils, olive oil, recipe, smoothie, weightloss

Primary Sidebar

  • Most Women Over 40 Aren’t Eating Enough Protein –Are You?
  • Do you have lines between your eyes? Did you know that there’s a link between your liver, hormonal disharmony and the emotion of anger?
  • Magnesium – Natural Tranquiliser
  • What Stage Are you In? Flat, Exhausted or Chronically Fatigued?
  • Are you allergic, hungover? Does your liver need more support?

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis Sample on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in