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Sweet news ... chocolate can be good for you!
Easter. A time for religion, families - and chocolate. As we prepare to tuck into our Easter eggs, Health Reporter Katie Baldwin reports on a new way to work out to work off all those extra calories, as well as a way to enjoy chocolate without eating it
EIGHTY million chocolate Easter eggs are expected to be scoffed in the UK over the next few weeks.
Chocolate is the original naughty-but-nice food. Though it's loved by millions of chocoholics, too much of the sweet stuff can be bad for your health, contributing to conditions like obesity and diabetes.
But now scientists are beginning to find out there are some benefits to eating chocolate.
Research has suggested that it might help keep blood pressure down and the heart healthy.
When you've eaten your heart-helping chocolate, a new website can show you how to work off those extra calories - on average over 1,000 per egg.
Carbon offsetting has become a buzzword as a way for people to make up for the damage they're doing to the environment through driving or flying long distances.
Now chocolate offsetting could become just as popular thanks to www.chocolateoffsetting.com
By typing how much milk or dark chocolate you have scoffed, the free site will tell you how many calories that equates to as well as providing ways to make up for it by choosing healthier options or exercising.
For example:
To burn off one average sized 248g egg, the six tips include swapping a fried egg for boiled, chips for green salad and 60 minutes dancing;
To compensate for five eggs, the 27 tips include swapping three biscuits for a portion of dried fruit, playing 35 minutes of football and trying apples, celery and raisins with low fat mayonnaise in a salad instead of tuna and mayo;
To make up for a single Cadbury's creme egg, you should replace your bag of sweets with a bag of cherries, grapes, dried dates and other fruit.
Enjoyment
The site has been designed by Eat in Colour, a new three-year campaign aimed at putting the enjoyment back into eating fruit and vegetables.
Chairman Anthony Levy said: "We're not saying that people shouldn't eat chocolate, all we're doing is informing people of ways they can offset the effect of that chocolate.
"This offsetting clearly has to be a combination of eating sensibly and taking exercise, not just at Easter but all year round. And, as people who try out the offsetting calculator will find out, the amount of fruit and veg they need to eat and the level of exercise they need to take, gets bigger the more chocolate they are planning to consume."
Eat in Colour is also looking for a West Yorkshire family who wants help to get more fruit and veg into their diet.
Experts will create one lucky family a tailor made meal plan based on what they normally eat but made healthier.
Pizza could be accompanied by homemade coleslaw instead of chips and bolognaise could be boosted with grated carrot, courgette and beetroot.
The family would be asked to keep a diary of how it goes and would get their groceries free for the week.
To apply, e-mail Aisling Mustan at amustan@brayleino.co.uk .
The Eat In Colour website is at www.eatincolour.com
... and you don't even need to eat it
A LEEDS spa is showing that chocolate doesn't have to mean piling on the pounds - it can be slathered on your face instead.
Waterfall Spa, in Brewery Wharf, pictured right, is offering a cocoa facial for chocoholics, so they can succumb to their cravings free of guilt.
At the ladies-only spa, the facial uses magnesium-rich cocoa beans to detoxify and promote relaxation.
Cocoa's antioxidant properties help to unblock pores and raspberry and rose oils exfoliate and purify the skin.
Afterwards guests can tuck into the delectable Belgian chocolate fountain where scrummy fruit and marshmallows are provided for dipping.
For more information call 0800 731 1995 or log on to www.waterfallspa.co.uk
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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