…With Green Tea
A couple weeks ago, a friend of mine who imports tea handed me a bit of chocolate to taste. It was dark chocolate with green tea. Milk chocolate tends to overwhelm my tastebuds with sweetness, but dark chocolate has a more complex, interesting flavor. And this particular chocolate wasn’t made with green tea just to be cute or ride a trend, but rather I could actually taste the green tea. And, perhaps more interestingly, I could see the green tea. There were little twisted pieces of tea in the chocolate, and they created a nice crunch while eating the chocolate. I wish I knew what kind of chocolate it was, as I neglected to write down the name and haven’t touched base with my friend since then. Last night, I stopped by my favorite local eco-store. After I had already checked out, I spotted some organic dark chocolate with green tea made by Vivani. I picked up a bar and went back to the counter to make my purchase. It wasn’t long before I was unwrapping the chocolate to take a bite. The flavors were all there, but the crunch wasn’t. This was a different chocolate. Still, I wasn’t disappointed. In fact, this is really good stuff. And I like the company, too. According to their website, all of the ingredients they use are organic and purchased from Third World regions to promote small-scale farming and sustainable agricultural practices. They also have some interesting information about Catechins: CATECHINS protect the heart. Catechins belong to the flavonoid family – a group of biological pigments. They have strong antioxidant capabilities, which have more of an effect than Vitamin C and E. Catechins may help to protect against heart disease and cancer. Catechin content in mg: Neat, huh? Hurray for chocolate and green tea!
Catechins effectively catch free radicals and prevent deposits in the blood vessel walls*, regulate the blood pressure**, and stimulate the immune system.
The positive medicinal effects of Catechins are also found in green tea and red wine.
Dark chocolate (100 g)
53,3 mg
Milk chocolate (100 g)
15,9 mg
Green tea (1 cup)
ca. 25,8 mg
Posted by Rachel at Monday ~ October 01, 2007 |
Category: Health Benefits, Tea, Green Tea