Eating for Happiness

Happiness centers around several important neurotransmitters: serotonin, dopamaine, endorphins, phenylethylamine, and anandamide. Serotonin is popularly known as the “feel-good hormone,” or your body’s own natural tranquilizer, hence the happiness factor. This is the neurotransmitter that antidepressants target in order to boost overall happiness levels. Up to 90 percent of your body’s total serotonin is located in your gut, […]

Consuming Cocoa

Cocoa is the dried, fermented bean of Theobroma cacao, from which cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted. Cocoa belongs to the  in the Malvaceae family, along with okra, cotton, and hibiscus. The cocoa fruit or pod has a rough, leathery rind about 3 cm thick. It is filled with baba de cacao, a sweet, gelatinous pulp surrounding 30 to 50 large seeds that […]