Alcohol, chocolate, water OH MY!

Here’s a little bit of information if you are wondering if you can still incorporate chocolate into your diet:

Fitness Facts: CHOCOLATE:
🔹Excessive consumption of Chocolate can definitely be counter productive to a healthy lifestyle, but when added to a diet in small amounts it can provide benefits to both health & fitness!
🔹Most of the benefits from chocolate come from it’s primary ingredient cocoa, so the more cocoa in the chocolate the more benficial it can be. Out of the main 3 types of chocolate (dark, milk, & white), dark chocolate contains the most cocoa.
🔹Chocolate contains notable amounts of Potassium, Iron, & Magnesium, which help with muscle function and preventing cramps.
🔹Chocolate contains the flavonoid Epicatechin, which binds to muscle receptors and may help them resist fatigue.
🔹Chocolate increases blood flow to the heart as well as to the brain, so it can help improve cognitive function and muscle memory.
🔹Chocolate can decrease levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) and raise good cholesterol (HDL), as well as decrease blood sugar levels.
🔹Eating a small amount of chocolate 2-3x/week can help lower blood pressure, as well as help prevent Type 2 Diabetes, blood clots, stroke, and arteriosclerosis.
🔹Dark chocolate contains caffeine! A 1.5 ounce bar contains about 27 mg.
🔹To add healthy doses of chocolate into your diet, you can add chocolate chips to trail mix, or add a few scoops of cocoa to your protein or meal replacement shakes to increase the flavor and health value!

Additionally here is some information pertaining to alcohol consumption while dieting:
Fitness Facts: ALCOHOL:
🔹Excess amounts of alcohol can definitely be hazardous to the health & well being of the consumer, but in moderate amounts alcohol can be beneficial!
🔹Moderation with alcohol is defined as no more than 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women. One drink can be a beer, 6 fl oz of wine, or shot of liquor.
🔹Moderate drinkers tend to live longer than people who don’t drink at all or those who drink in excess.
🔹Low amounts of alcohol can increase levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and lower levels of bad cholesterol (LDL).
🔹Alcohol acts as a blood thinner, like aspirin. So when consumed in moderation, it can reduce the likelihood of developing blood clots or coronary heart disease.
🔹If your goal is to gain muscle, don’t drink alcohol immediately pre or post-workout since it causes a drop in testosterone levels while increasing cortisol, a hormone that destroys muscle.
🔹When it comes to alcohol & weight loss, moderate drinking should be cut back to no more than 1-3 drinks/week. Not only does alcohol contain calories (7 calories per gram- that’s more than protein or carbs), but because it takes longer to metabolize in the body than other substances it can slow the metabolism down.
🔹The best way to minimize caloric intake in alcoholic drinks is to either drink the liquor straight, or use a low calorie mixer such as tonic, club soda or watered down fruit juice.
🔹To minimize the damaging effects alcohol can have on your body, drink 1 glass of water for every drink you drank. Especially if you drank close to bedtime! The digestive process slows down when you sleep so diluting the alcohol will ease it’s absorption. And of course this will also make for a less intense hangover 😉

Lastly I will expand on the subject of water consumption:
1st topic of many Fitness Facts to come: WATER:
🔹The human body is 50-65% water. Men contain more water than women.
🔹 Drinking a full glass of water before a meal has been proven to increase weight loss.
🔹 Warm water makes you feel full.
🔹 Ice water boosts your metabolism & immune system.
🔹 Cold water stimulates your brain to release mood-boosting endorphins.
🔹 Dehydration is one of the leading causes of headaches, cramps, lack of energy, constipation, and high blood pressure.
🔹 If you’re thirsty, you’re probably already mildy dehydrated. Don’t wait to be thirsty to drink water- drink it throughout the day.
🔹 Divide your weight (in pounds) in half= that’s at least how many fluid ounces of water you should drink a day.
Example: If you weigh 150lbs, 150/2= 75 fl oz (about 4.5 average bottles of water)
🔹 When consuming protein powders to build mass, you need to increase your water intake.
🔹 Excess protein puts extra stress on the kidneys and liver, and water helps the filtration process.