Cocoa Power I've told you in the past that the flavanols in cocoa offer numerous health benefits, such as improving circulation and lowering blood pressure. But now German researchers have found a more visually appealing benefit to cocoa: It's good for you skin. Scientists randomly divided 24 healthy women between the ages 18 and 65 into two groups. The first group drank a high-flavanol cocoa drink once a day for 12 weeks, while the other group drank a low-flavanol cocoa drink for the same amount of time. By the end of the study, those who consumed the flavanol-rich drink showed improved skin quality: The flavanols helped improve hydration and decreased skin roughness and scaling. They also offered protection against UV damage, which the researchers attributed to cocoa flavanols' ability to improve blood flow to the skin. Although this news is encouraging, it doesn't give you a free pass to eat candy bars on a daily basis. While cocoa itself may offer some health benefits, chocolate candy is loaded with refined sugar and emulsifiers that are sure to cancel out any of those benefits. You're better off sticking to all-natural, pure cocoa, which you can find in natural food stores. Mix a couple of spoonfuls with some boiling water, sweeten it with stevia (a natural herbal sweetener also found in natural food stores that won't negatively impact your blood sugar levels), and enjoy.
About gout
Q: Do you know of a natural cure for gout? I would like an alternative to my prescription medication. JVW: Although no one is sure why it works, drinking 32 ounces of cherry juice (real cherry juice, with no added sugar) eliminates the pain of an acute attack if you take it at the very first signs of an impending problem. In order to help ward off attacks or to reduce their frequency, I've found that taking 10 to 15 milligrams of low-dose lithium and 2 grams of vitamin C twice a day can be very effective.
What is...gout?
Gout occurs when excess uric acid builds up in the body. The result is pain and a burning or stabbing sensation in the affected joint -- usually in the ball joint of the foot. Vitamin C can be helpful because it significantly reduces serum uric acid levels, and lithium helps prevent uric acid from crystallizing into painful "needles." Sources:
"Long-Term Ingestion of High Flavanol Cocoa Provides Photoprotection against UV-Induced Erythema and Improves Skin Condition in Women," Journal of Nutrition, 2006; 136: 1565-1,569 | 
