If you're health-conscious (and even if you're not), a great holiday gift for anyone (and yourself) could be a box of Raw Goddess Chocolate. Raw food entrepreneur Amy Yockel has concocted a stunningly scrumptous raw recipe for this traditional treat. Made completely from raw ingredients, such as carob, agave nectar and coconut oil, Raw Goddess Chocolate is enjoying a booming early success. "It's a dessert, so you eat one or two pieces...it's kind of hard to just stop at that, though. It's very yummy," understates Miss Yockel. Her company represents a surge of interest in the raw food lifestyle, and Amy has something to say about it. READ ON

Chi Bracelets are back!
We're very happy to announce that our popular Chi Bracelets are back better than ever. We've produced them to be much more durable, with the same high quality gemstones. Uniquely charged with the Subtle Energy frequency of each of the seven chakras, the gemstones' vibrations are greatly enhanced. Each bracelet is energetically ablaze with Chi, which is imbedded into the atomic structure of the bracelet's elements, using the Subtle Energy technology of Russian physicist, Dr. Yury Kronn. The effect is subtle yet powerful--you won't want to take it off! Very powerful for chakra clearing and enhancement of energies for the corresponding body functions to the chakras. [CHECK 'EM OUT]

Welcome Our Newest Product!
We love these soaps! These soaps fill up a room with their lovely scents. From a family business located in a log cabin in the beautiful British Columbian countryside, Venables Valley Soaps are handmade, pure, natural soaps. The herbs and oils used in the making of these soaps will nourish your skin, balance your emotions, left your spirits and get you clean--all at the same time! Made daily in small batches using olive oil, coconut oil, certified organic herbs and pure aromatherapy essential oils. We're offering them in a set of five as a great gift set to those you love, including yourself! [INFO]

Lungs love chocolate...
Continuing on our chocolate theme for the month, recently a UK research study showed that an ingredient in chocolate may actually be a more effective cough medicine than traditional remedies. And not only that, the cocoa-derived compound had none of the side effects associated with standard drug treatments for persistent coughs. "These sorts of coughs, often lasting for weeks after a viral infection, can be difficult to treat, especially since it is not possible to give large doses of opiate-based medication to patients due to the side effects," says Peter Barnes, professor of thoracic medicine at Imperial College London, UK, who led the study. Barnes and colleagues gave 10 healthy volunteers tablets containing: theobromine, a constituent of cocoa; or codeine, the cough suppressant against which other drugs are measured; or a placebo. The volunteers were then asked to inhale a gas containing capsaicin--a derivative of chili peppers which induces coughing, and is used as an indicator to test the effectiveness of cough medicines. Those given theobromine needed about one-third more capsaicin to produce coughing than those who took codeine. Codeine was only marginally more effective than the placebo at preventing coughing. Notably, theobromine appeared to have no unwanted side effects. This is not true of codeine, which is a narcotic and lists drowsiness and constipation among its negative effects. "We gave them the equivalent of about two cups of cocoa," Barnes explains: "The next stage will be to look at different doses." The researchers believe theobromine acts on the sensory nerve endings of the vagus nerve, which runs through the airways in the lungs to the brain. [ARTICLE]

The heart-healthy optimist...
There are a universe-full of reasons to be pessimistic, but an equal amount of reasons to be optimistic. The body knows the difference, and it shows. Patients who described themselves as highly optimistic had lower risks of all-cause death, and lower rates of cardiovascular death than those with high levels of pessimism, according to an article in the November issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry. According to the article, major depression is a known risk factor for cardiovascular death. However, the relationship between optimism and death has not received as much attention. Erik J. Giltay, M.D., Ph.D., of Psychiatric Center GGZ Delfland, Delft, the Netherlands, and colleagues analyzed data from the Arnhem Elderly Study to test whether participants who are optimistic live longer than patients who are pessimistic. Participants were aged 65 to 85 years (999 men and women) and completed a 30-item questionnaire on health, self-respect, morale, optimism and relationships. Of the participants, 941 (466 men, 475 women) had complete information on questions regarding optimism, and these patients were divided into four groups based on their level of optimism. Over the follow up period of 9.1 years (1991 to 2001), there were 397 deaths. Compared to participants who reported a high level of pessimism, participants reporting high levels of optimism had a 55 percent lower risk of death from all causes, and a 23 percent lower risk of cardiovascular death. The researchers also found an inverse relationship between level of optimism and risk of death, with a stronger protective effect of optimism in men than women for all-cause mortality, but not cardiovascular mortality. "In conclusion, we found that the trait of optimism was an important long-term determinant of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in elderly subjects independent of sociodemographic characteristics and cardiovascular risk factors," the authors write. "A predisposition toward optimism seemed to provide a survival benefit in elderly subjects with relatively short life expectancies otherwise." [ARTICLE]

Crazy fat...
A sobering research study done on medically obese women has found that long-standing obesity is leading to brain cell loss that is linked to dementia. A Swedish team followed 290 women over 24 years and found that women who were obese during this period were much more likely than slim women to show brain atrophy--the abnormal loss of neurons--by the end of the study. The researchers found that almost half of the women (with a Body Mass Index of 30 +) showed brain cell death in the temporal lobes in 1992, and on average these women had a higher percentage of body fat than those who showed no brain cell loss. Brain shrinkage in this area is associated with Alzheimer's disease and loss of cognitive function. The researchers calculated that every 1 to 1.5 point increase in BMI was associated with a 13% to 15% increase in risk of temporal lobe shrinkage. "We do know that obesity contributes to vascular problems which can lead to neuronal death and a higher dementia risk," said Deborah Gustafson from the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden. "And obesity may increase the secretion of cortisol, which could also lead to brain cell atrophy." [ARTICLE]

Drive a grease-mobile...
Beth Pulcinella has ridden a bike all her adult life, but when it came time to finally buying a car, she wanted one that wouldn't run on fuel connecting her to the oil industry. "I tried to look for alternatives to solve [my] transportation needs and be a more responsible human," says the 29-year-old West Philadelphian. That search took her to grease--the kind fast-food restaurants use to fry food. Pulcinella's not alone, either locally or nationally, as more and more Americans are converting diesel vehicles into "veggiemobiles," which allow motorists to turn gas stations into distant memories. Luckily for them, many restaurants are more than happy to give used oil away since it cuts down on disposal fees. Before you rush out and pimp your ride into a veggiemobile, know that critics not only wave it off as an unproven fad, but warn it could hike insurance rates, void car manufacturers' warranties and result in inconsistent performance. That hasn't stopped several companies from offering conversion kits on the Internet for $500 and up. Nor has it discouraged roughly 3,400 people from altering their vehicles, as estimated by Charles Anderson, president of Missouri-based Greasel. Sales for Greasel's kits have doubled in the last six months, Anderson said, attributing the spike to high fuel costs and word-of-mouth. "The next couple months, we'll probably double sales figures again," Anderson said by cell phone as he and a co-worker cooked at 60 mph in a veggie-oil-burning Ford Excursion. They were on their way to Little Rock, Ark. to learn about a fuel-injection pump that could improve the conversion system. "We just pass by all the gas stations and keep on smiling." [ARTICLE]

BELIEF-O-MATIC
Even if you don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing. [CHECK IT OUT]

DIETS ANYONE?
We recently received this informative diet comparison chart developed by the University of Wisconsin. It compares the dietary plan, the downsides, and the pluses. [CHECK IT OUT]