During exercise your metabolism generates not only energy from glucose with the mitochondria of your muscle cells, but also a by-product known as free radicals.  These are small oxygenated molecules that have only one purpose in their short life:  to grab electrons from their nearest neighbor and in so doing, destroy them.  Hence, muscle cells are destroyed and have to be replaced.

In addition to free radical oxidative damage, tissues such as your joints, tendons and ligaments can become damaged during hard exercise and competitive performance. This initiates the inflammatory response of the immune system leading to swelling, inflammation and pain. A certain amount of inflammation occurs with most exercise, although it is not always noticeable.

The first benefit of organic cocoa is its high antioxidant content(1).  It contains more flavanoids than highly antioxidant foods such as blueberries and tea(2), and can be used by more than  just athletes seeking to reduce the oxidative stress initiate by training and competition. Antioxidants destroy free radicals on sight – in fact as soon as they are formed. Not only do they prevent the oxidative stress of exercise, but they also prevent atherosclerosis, where free radicals render low density lipoproteins water-insoluble so that they precipitate from the blood and form cholesterol plaques on arterial walls.

With regard to exercise and recovery, however, the antioxidants in organic cocoa prevent damage to muscle cells and the proteins that form muscle tissue. The same phytochemicals also possess anti-inflammatory properties, and so help to reduce the effects of inflammation. It is ironic that the inflammatory response of your immune system is intended to protect your body tissues from damage, but doesn’t know when to stop and ends up causing swelling and pain. Anti-inflammatories are used to alleviate the effects of inflammation that can retard recovery after exercise. Experimental evidence indicates that organic cocoa contains powerful anti-inflammatory effects(3).

Another benefit of organic cocoa is that it can promote cardiovascular health. By dilating your arteries and other blood vessels it can improve blood flow, and hence help to maintain muscle oxygenation during exercise.  This in turn not only permits longer and more effective athletic performance, but also helps to convert exercise into more powerful muscle density. It regulates your hear rate and lowers your blood pressure, and generally promotes athletic prowess and effective exercise.

Another benefit that is not truly appreciated is offered by the neurotransmitter content of cocoa. Remember that great feeling you get after jogging a few miles?  Referred to as ‘jogger’s high’ it can be provided by the endorphin content of organic cocoa. Endorphins are ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitters and cocoa, in providing that plus others such as serotonin promote a positive outlook and a general feeling of well being.

These attitudes are important to athletes, and another that cocoa offers is anandamine, a chemical released by the brain that promotes relaxation and enables you to relax easier after extreme exercise, thus promoting more rapid recovery. Finally, phenylethylamine helps you to focus on the objective in hand, and together with the other neurotransmitters that cocoa either contains or promotes in the brain, can put you in the right mood for hard work and athletic achievement and improve the symptoms of fatigue, particularly of chronic fatigue(4).

1. British Journal of Nutrition (2009), 101, 931-940

2. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Dec 3, 2003.

3. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2006;47 Suppl 2:S163-71; discussion S172-6.

4. Endocrine Abstracts (2006) 12 P68

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Athletes, dieters and body builders stand to benefit from taking coconut oil because its fat content is converted easily into energy, it does not promote accumulation of fat in the heart and arteries, it helps promote healthy thyroid functioning, and accelerates metabolism by reducing pancreatic stress.

Turmeric has been described in Turmeric: A Brief Review of Medicinal Properties, by R.C. Srimals, as possessing the ability to protect the liver against toxic substances, in particular heavy metals such as lead, as well as preventing the formation of gallstones, decreasing the size of stones already formed, and increasing the flow of bile.

Turmeric alcohol extracts have been found to reduce blood sugar levels, and may soon be used in the treatment of diabetes. Clinical trials in China have shown turmeric to reduce serum cholesterol. Turmeric use has been recommended by the World Health Organization.

Lipopolysaccharide, isolated from turmeric root, has been shown to stimulate and increase the activity of the immune system and the cucurmin found in turmeric is being studied as a possible preventative treatment to cancer.

Our immunoglobulin concentrate provides two and one-half times the Immunglobulin G (IgG) found in colostrum, and fifteen times that found in whey isolate. IgG responds against pro-inflammatory cytokines, binding to pathogens and protecting the body from their effects. It has been shown to reduce pro-inflammatory cytokines by up to 95%, resulting in significant improvement in colon health and a systemic reduction of whole body inflammation.

Immunoglobulins have also been shown to help improve liver function, leading to a reduction in LDL (bad) cholesterol. A recent study found that men and women with moderately high cholesterol, 210 to 270 total count, had a 6% drop in total cholesterol after just three weeks of taking an immunoglobulin supplement. More importantly, LDL cholesterol, or the “bad” cholesterol most closely associated with heart disease, decreased by 7% while HDL, the “good” cholesterol, remained constant.

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tion and cellular replication and detoxification reactions. One of its therapeutic uses is to treat high homocysteine levels in the blood, which is a powerful risk factor in cardiovascular disease. It has also been used to aid digestion, treat depression, and treat types of liver disease involving inflammation.

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