CACOU

Cacao is the basis on which all chocolate is made. It can be bought at health and whole food stores in many forms. I bought a box which has made it into shavings or what they call nubs. It is not sweet, in fact it's difficult to eat without sweetener. So for now, I have added a couple drops of honey to a teaspoonful and it's a lot better. You can substitute a dark chocolate instead that contains at least 60% cacao, but you will not get the same health benefits. You only need a little of this as too much has been linked to weight gain. Here are some facts about Cacao;

• Cacao is said to help stabilize blood sugar
• Cacao should be consumed without sugar and can be used in "nib" form or crushed
• Cacao contains flavonoids and can reduce cholesterol and LDL to keep your arteries clear
• Cacao also contains antioxidants which help fight disease
• Cacao can elevate serotonin and decrease depression
• Cacao is about 40 to 50 % fat and is high is carbs and calories, however it's also high in fiber
• Cacao thins the blood and that helps to prevent clots which are bad for the heart
• Cacao has about 150 calories to the ounce, depending on where and how the bean is grown.

If you simply cannot stand the bitterness of raw Cacao, try Hershey's Reserves Bar. This is a small candy bar and I have seen it in two forms, one has 35% cacao and the other 65%. The 65% is what you want, it has 240 calories and tastes quite wonderful.

CABBAGE

Cabbage is one of the new Superfoods! It contains indoles which are compounds that reduce risks of breast, colon, and stomach cancer significantly. It can also purify your blood, kill viruses and bacterias, and help to improve your immune system. Red cabbage has an added bonus, because of the color it has antioxidants that also help fight cancer. Also in the cabbage family is broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, collards, kohlrabi, and bok choy.

Like everything else too much of a good thing can be bad. Excessive eating of cabbage could lead to thyroid problems.

Cabbage juice is also used to treat peptic ulcers because of the vitamin U.

When you shop for your cabbage try to pick one that is heavy with crisp leaves that are not wilted or discolored. When you get it home you can put it in a plastic bag in the frig for no longer than three weeks. Try to eat it sooner and it will have more nutrition and better flavor.

Tips for Red Cabbage,

• You can prevent discoloration of red cabbage by cutting it with a stainless steel knife
• adding vinegar to the water during cooking will help keep its color
• use a little vinegar for adding raw cabbage for a salad
• lemon juice will also help retain color while cooking
• red cabbage takes a little longer to cook than the green or other varieties

Try not to cook cabbage longer than 8 minutes. If it is shredded 3 or4 minutes is long enough. Overcooking will cause it to loose nutrients and will cause an unpleasant odor. To cut down the odor put a whole walnut or stalk of celery into the water with it. Spices should be added before the cabbage is added to oil and herbs should be added after cabbage is done cooking.

As far as nutritional value for 1/2 cup shredded cabbage you'll get about 17 calories, 3.3 grams of carbs, and 1.4grams of fiber. These numbers will vary a little depending on what type of cabbage you are using. There are world-wide over 400 kinds.

DOES MICROWAVING FOOD AFFECT IT'S NUTRITIONAL VALUE ?

I have read articles on the pros and cons of microwave cooking and heating. Most of them are at either extreme. From what I've gathered different foods and different nutrients react differently. In other words it may not be a good idea to heat baby's bottle in the microwave because not only can the milk inside the bottle be hotter than the outside of the bottle and scald baby, but also it may lessen the valuable properties of the formula or breast milk.

When looking at the three main parts of heating food, temperature, water content added, and length of time cooking, microwaving seems to be an outright winner. Some nutrients are destroyed by high heat, cooking for too long a period, and adding water because the nutrients seep into the water and out of the food. However there are some vitamins that are very sensitive to high heat, like B and C, and they fare much better in the microwave versus stove top.

Other articles and studies claim that consuming microwaved foods cause chemical changes in the immune system and the blood itself. They even suggest that microwaving increases cholesterol.

We do know that heating or cooking foods in plastic can be unhealthy in a microwave, because it can cause some plastics to leach chemicals into the food. It's recommended that you use wax paper or glass containers.

So we're back to where we started from, deciding for ourselves using the most reliable information we can find.