WHY (and how) KIDS SHOULD EAT CHOCOLATE! SPREAD THE WORD!
And before you get excited or disappointed, this article is probably not what you think it’s about. I highly encourage the consumption of chocolate by children - as long as it’s the RIGHT sort of chocolate. If you have a son, daughter or little brother or little sister, it may be worthwhile switching their sweet ‘treats’ like store-bought chocolates, candies and desserts to wholesome, nutritious, sugar-free chocolate.
☃ Meet my friend “Raw Cacao”
Organic raw cacao powder isn’t something that many people know a lot about. When people hear ‘cacao’, some may ask ‘don’t you mean cocoa?’ Nope. See how the ‘a’ comes before the ‘o’? That’s the way it should be - right? That’s the way it is in the alphabet! And that’s the way it should be when it comes to cocoa/cacao.
✏ Difference between cacao and cocoa.
I won’t keep you for long, so, long story short, cacao is ‘cocoa’ before it’s processed and rid of all its nutrients and antioxidants. It is the superfood! And what is chocolate? It’s cacao that has been roasted and mingled with sugar and fats and other unnecessary things! Don’t get me wrong - have some Cadbury or Lindt every now and then, but can you really afford to treat your body to this every day? I don’t think so. But with cacao, you can!
✓ We all like benefits…
- Healthy blood vessels - lower blood pressure and improve circulation!
- Digestion - can stimulate digestive enzymes!
- Contains - Antioxidants, lkaloids, proteins, beta-carotene, leucine, linoleic acid, lipase, lysine, theobromine —> SEROTONIN - the HAPPY HORMONE! ツ
- Energy - can help give you energy to conquer your day and/or workout!
- Wake up - don’t have a bucket of it daily, or you may not be able to sleep at night, but a sensible amount is definitely great to kill the unwanted ZzZzZs!
- Brain power - forget the ‘I need a choc bar to give me brain power which will stop me from craving sugary treats and make me focus on my work’ - get some cacao!
- For girls - during THAT dreaded time of the month when we all crave chocolate - cacao contains magnesium which may stop the cravings!
- Versatile - there are so many ways to include it in your diet …
웃 Back to the kids!
I’d certainly be best friends with raw cacao if I could! So try to introduce it to children from a young age in place of the sugar stuff like Nutella, milkshakes and chocolate bars (Once again, not saying you should deprive them of that stuff, but introduce them to cacao before you introduce them to the stuff on the market that their friends at school will be raving about). Here are some ideas on what chocolatey treats you can give them:
- Chocolate spread - instead of Nutella on white bread, spread raw cacao on wholegrain/rye bread or organic crackers (Mix some raw cacao, stevia and almond/hazelnut/peanut butter! Yummy)
- Milkshake - instead of the sugar-filled popular drinks, make a milkshake using raw cacao powder, stevia, milk (raw milk if you can, or coconut milk with some water). Sprinkle with some shredded coconut or chia seeds! Yum!
- Chocolate blocks - get some silicon moulds or icecube trays and fill them with a mixture of raw cacao powder, coconut oil, organic nut butter, stevia, chopped almonds (for a ‘milk chocolate’, you can add a splash of coconut milk!
- Chocolate fondue - chop up some fruit and dip it in a mixture of cacao, stevia, coconut oil and/or nut butter!
- Chocolate icecream - if you have an icecream maker, this will work amazingly! Mix a bit of raw cacao powder into some natural yoghurt and add some stevia to sweeten!
- Chocolate oats - instead of sugary breakfast cereals, if you want to get some grains into your kids, make some oats and mix through some cacao and stevia or honey! Leave in the fridge overnight for a ‘cold’ breakfast idea (which they can take to school in small containers!)
- Chocolate muffins - Instead of sugary muffins or muesli bars, bake choc muffins using grated zucchini, almond-meal, stevia and organic eggs!
❤ OH MY GOD THAT’S AMAZING WHERE DO I GET THIS STUFF!?
Raw cacao can be expensive (but why would you not invest in the health of your loved ones?!) and it’s better purchased in bulk. I usually buy this one here - http://www.lovingearth.net/products/12/raw-organic-cacao-powder
☆☆☆☆☆ so now that you’re educated on the benefits of raw cacao, go and buy some and try these recipes for your little ones - and try not to eat them yourself since they’re so yummy - but hey, you probably will ;)
(Source: healthysnax)
⚛ SMiLE. Be HEaLThY. Be HaPPy. ⚛
It’s so important to be confident in who you are, because that’s who you’ll be for the rest of your life - so why not focus on being yourself and being the best ‘you’ that you can possibly be?
If you’re insecure about something right now, then don’t worry, because that may change! I used to be so insecure about things like my cheekbones, my eyes, my nose and my hair, but now they’re my favourite features! They’re what make me ‘me’ and I ❤ that. Things like body shape can always be changed and improved by healthy weight loss and exercise, so don’t ever tell yourself that you’re ‘fat’. You may have fat, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t lose it!
(via nellafromhealthysnax)
Morning exercise after a glass of lemon water and before my healthy breakfast!
What kids should REALLY be eating!
I get so fired up when I see parents of children under 5 years feeding their children candy or processed icecream or anything else which has ZERO nutritional value. And the excuse is always ‘it’s their treat for the week’ - quite frankly, children’s palettes are not yet experienced enough for them to think ‘I’ve been good, so I feel like eating the Happy Meal that I’m craving’. IF parents would just train their children to recognize vibrant, colourful, nutrition-packed fruits and veggies as ‘treats’, then imagine how healthy we’ll all grow up to be?
I do not take credit for the photos above, as I’d found them online, but I just LOVE this idea. It looks like a mini rainbow artwork in an ice cube tray! How appealing does it look! I don’t have kids myself yet, so let me as you all a favour if you have kids - Please give this idea a go - even if your kids are a bit older - aesthetically pleasing food is always more fun to eat!
Sincerely, Nella from Healthysnax.
(Source: healthysnax)
Completely cleaned up my breakfast, and now just making my way through some blueberries 1 hour later…(3egg omelette fried with coconut oil, 250g cottage cheese with cinnamon, green tea).
DAY 5 OF MY CAVEMAN DIET - FEELING SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!
It’s been almost a week and I haven’t touched a processed/packaged food! I haven’t binged, I’ve felt full, the food has been delicious, I’m toning up in places I hadn’t been able to tone before - and all without exercise so far! (Only had dance training once this week!) I could get used to this =D
LOSING WEIGHT? HAVE ACUPCAKE!
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No, seriously. If you’re trying to lose weight and you’re all about ‘No sugar, no salt, no this, no that’, well you’re only human and chances are that you’ll cave very soon. And then will come the storm. Don’t deprive yourself of the things you love. Check out this cute little cupcake that Candice is holding. It’s ONE portion. And eating it once or twice a week WON’T make you suddenly gain 10 kilos! So nurture your soul and treat yourself to something nice =)
Miley’s LEGS!
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I don’t know why I keep posting Miley pics - I’m really not even a fan of hers…actually wait, yes, I DO know - because she’s got a LOVELY body! She had a stage where she really got out of shape, but lately she’s really been working hard to get back into shape! And I know she genetically has long limbs which makes her look even slimmer, but look at her thigh gap! Wait, what? THERE IS NO THIGH GAP! Well, not in this picture anyway. So for all of you who are worrying about getting a thigh gap ASAP, well, you don’t really need one to look slim and sexy! Some people genetically have one, some don’t! It don’t mean anything yo ;D
