This chocolate isn't candy - it's health food

Linda Winters wanted to feel better, and she wanted to lose weight.

Although she and her husband Ernie operate Pow Wow Fitness, a 24-hour gym in Camby, Winters said she's never been able to lose as much weight as she would like. As she's reached middle age, Winters said her energy level is not what it once was.

"One day, my sister came in and said she felt great and had lost some weight. I asked her about it, and she told me she was drinking this juice that was rich in nutrients and antioxidants (appetite suppressors). The stuff was expensive, and it tasted terrible," Winters said. "And it wasn't really doing anything for me. Ernie didn't want to drink it, either."

Ernie Winters rolled his eyes. "It was pretty bad," he said.

"I decided to look for something that was better tasting and had the same effect," Linda said. "I went online and discovered Pure Delight Chocolates. The only problem was, it had gone out of business."

Winters continued her online research. She began reading about the new company, Xocai-The Healthy Chocolate, and went to Reno, Nev., where it was based, to check it out.

She met the founder and founding distributor. She and Ernie came back convinced they wanted to market the product at their gym.

Winters said Xocai is a dark chocolate minus the added milk, refined sugar and wax additives.

"It's a healthy food not candy," she said. "It has a good taste, though. There are only 100 calories in three squares. It's cold-pressed, not heat-pressed, and the chocolate comes from unprocessed, undamaged cacao powder."

She said the product comes from the Amazon Rain Forest where it is grown and combined with the acai berry on co-op farms. There are 47,000 distributors nationwide.

The product is made in several smooth-tasting forms: X Powerhouse Cookies, X Power Squares, Xocai Omega Bars, Protein Bars and Activ, a Xocai drink. The ORAC value (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) or level of antioxidants in the drink is far higher than for other fruit and nutrient drinks, Winters said - a little more than 4,000.

Ernie said he started on three squares a day; you can eat up to five.

Linda said both of them no longer have arthritis pain, their cholesterol has gone down significantly in just a few months, and Ernie has lost weight.

Leading physicians

talk about dark chocolate

Dr. Steven Warren, quoted in the "Wellness Report," said the benefits of dark chocolate are "multi-fold," from a decrease in high blood pressure and bad cholesterol, to an increase in good cholesterol and relaxation of blood vessels in the body. He said it helps decrease heart disease, decreases plaque in the arteries and improves the body's ability to use insulin.

As an antioxidant food, it can help protect against certain cancers, decrease allergic reactions and stabilize your mood. According to Dr. Norman Hollenberg of Harvard Medical School, the health benefits of epicatechin, a compound found in cocoa, include protection against stroke, heart failure, cancer and Type 2 diabetes (ScienceDaily, March 12, 2007).

Cindy Bauman, Consumer Family Science program assistant for Morgan County Extension, and dietician, Karen Scroughan, agreed that acai berries and other wild berries, such as blueberries, blackberries and cranberries, as well as prunes and raisins are high in antioxidants and low in calories. Other vegetables that have these properties are kale, spinach, broccoli, red peppers and beets.

Bauman said sweet potatoes, walnuts and almonds have these qualities, but people need to watch the amount of these items they eat because of the higher fat content. Winters said that problem is solved with healthy chocolate.

Although she said this can be a money-making venture, she and her husband are selling the product because it improves their clients' health.

Winters said customers pay a fee and then can order the products online at wholesale prices by the case. They can cancel their monthly orders at any time. Winters said she can also show customers how to start their own business.

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