Dark Chocolate

A few years ago I looked at various Nile Cruises and booked myself to go on one, it was a great way to see Egypt in all its glory, meet its people, landscapes, monuments and wildlife.

Cairo is seen as the gateway to Egypt, the sand on the streets serve as a reminder of the surrounding desert. The city full of tradition, customs and friendly people.

My view of the pyramids (Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure) was something I’ll never forget. The large and imposing Sphinx completes the mythical image of the old and former Egypt. After seeing the pyramids I would suggest a visit to the Citadel of Saladin, the home of the Alabaster Mosque and the famous Egyptian Museum.

After flying from Cairo to Luxor, we embarked on our cruise on the Nile stopping at various points including the temple of Luxor and then the grand temple of Karnak. Both of these Egyptian temples convey the feeling of size, wealth, space and the greatness of their conception. The following day we travelled further on our Nile Cruise and visited Necropolis with its more than 60 monumental tombs. The tomb is known as the Valley of the Kings.

Further on the Nile Cruise we travelled to Esna which continues on to Edfu. It is here where you learn about the close relationship between the Nile and Egypt, it marks every moment in Egypt’s history. The Nile Cruises take you to the temple Edfu, where people of all Egypt came to worship Horus, the god symbolised by the wings of a hawk. We then went on to Kom Ombo, visible itself from the Nile. This temple was dedicated to Sobek the God of crocodiles and Horus. If you get the chance to go on one of these Nile Cruises I would certainly recommend it. At the end of the Nile Cruise we flew to Cairo and back again to the UK – the views and memories I have from this Nile Cruise will stay long in my memory.

It is almost lunch time and I have a hankering for Chinese food. After flipping through the phonebook I come across a Chinese place called The Rice Bowl that I have never experienced. I decide I’m going to the Rice Bowl for lunch. Luckily the Rice Bowl is just a couple miles down the road from my place. I quickly shut all the windows and enable my adt security security alarm and I am on my way. If I would have asked around I would have probably discovered why the Rice Bowl only had 2 patrons at lunch time. Nevermind that though, I am hungry and don’t have time for such trivial things. The waitress shows me to a nice corner booth that only has 1 stain on the table cloth. After giving me what seemed like 45 minutes alone, my waitress appeared ready to take my order. I opted for a simple chow mein, rice, and sesame chicken. I should have opted for just a glass of ice water. When my food finally arrived it was actually cold. I don’t mean a little cold, I mean it was like just came out of the refrigerator type cold. So after my chow mein defrosted I choked down as much of it as my body would allow. I will say though, that the rice is excellent at the Rice Bowl. After feeling remorse over my restaurant selection I flagged down the waitress and requested my bill. I was overcharged! I couldn’t believe it. After going back and forth for a few minutes we got everything worked out and I paid my bill and then went my way. Overall, the food was edible.

Dark Chocolate is nothing like its evil twin, milk chocolate. You see, it actually
has health benefits. You may be wondering how CHOCOLATE can be HEALTHY? Well, it contains flavanoids that act as antioxidants which help prevent the body from aging. Aging is caused by free radicals which can cause heart damage and lead to all sorts of cancer even Breast Tumors .

The flavavoids in dark chocolate also produce nitric oxide which releaxes your blood pressure and balances certain hormones. Are you starting to realize how awesome dark chocolate is? Wait, there’s more!

Dark chocolate also stimulates endorphin production which gives you a feeling of
pleasure- it makes you happy! It contains serotinin which acts as an anti-depressant.
It also adds a zip to your day because of theobromine and caffeine which stimulate
your body and mind!

Doctors even recommend eating chocolate daily. They say that eating 1.6 oz bar of chocolate every day can keep your cardiovascualar system running smoothly because it helps reduce blood pressure and lower cholesterol.

As you go spread the great news about dark chocolate to your family and friends
they will probably argue that all the fat in dark chocolate cancels out its health
benefits. But they are wrong. You can explain to them that dark chocolate has three types of fats: oleic acid (monounsaturated, healthy fat), stearic acid (saturated, but doesn’t raise cholesterol), and palmitic acid (saturated, raises cholesterol). As you can see only 1/3 of the fat in chocolate is bad for you!

The greatest part about dark chocolate is that it tastes good! You get healthy benefits
from simply eating a smooth, dark, delectable piece of goodness. How lucky are we?

Now just in case you are currently devising an all chocolate diet in order to stay looking young forever, I must stop you now. You should remember that chocolate still has its calories! In order to skip the reprocussions of eating this treat and only reap its benefits, you must eat it in moderation. Otherwise, all the benefits of flavanoids will fly out the window as you start to balloon up from intaking too many calories- and none of us want that.

Another way to simply enjoy the benfits of dark chocolate is to only eat dark chocolate that contains nuts, orange peel, or other flavorings. Don’t go for the caramel, nougat, etc. These fillings simply add sugar and will cause all benefits to evaporate. One last thing- studies say that washing your chocolate down with milk may prevent you from absorbing the antioxidants dark chocolate provides. So stick to water after your dessert.

Go dark chocolate!