Salad

Eating salads is a super-convenient way to work in a couple of servings of vegetables and/or fruit. Green salads are on the menu of almost every restaurant. You can even buy a side salad (with Romaine lettuce, carrots and tomatoes, available with fat-free or reduced-calorie salad dressing) for a buck at many fast food chains these days. And you can make a green salad at home in 5 minutes, armed with a bag of pre-washed salad greens, a few carrots or other veggies, and a bottle of light salad dressing.

Dark chocolate

Dark chocolate is loaded with nutrients that can positively affect your health.Made from the seed of the cocoa tree, it is one of the best sources of antioxidants on the planet.Studies show that dark chocolate (not the sugary crap) can improve health and lower the risk of heart disease.If you buy quality dark chocolate with a high cocoa content, then it is actually quite nutritious.It contains a decent amount of soluble fiber and is loaded with minerals.

A 100 gram bar of dark chocolate with 70-85% cocoa contains

·         11 grams of fiber.

·         67% of the RDA for Iron.

·         58% of the RDA for Magnesium.

·         89% of the RDA for Copper.

·         98% of the RDA for Manganese.

·         It also has plenty of potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium.

Of course, 100 grams (3.5 ounces) is a fairly large amount and not something you should be consuming daily. All these nutrients also come with 600 calories and moderate amounts of sugar.

For this reason, dark chocolate is best consumed in moderation.

The fatty acid profile of cocoa and dark chocolate is excellent.The fats are mostly saturated and monounsaturated, with small amounts of polyunsaturates.

It also contains stimulants like caffeine and theobromine, but is unlikely to keep you awake at night as the amount of caffeine is very small compared to coffee

Bottom Line: Quality dark chocolate is rich in Fiber, Iron, Magnesium, Copper, Manganese and a few other minerals.