Customer Reviews

The Healing Powers of Chocolat

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Ounce for ounce, dark chocolate has 19 times the amount of antioxidants as blueberries. It contains 2 times the amount of those cancer-fighting chemicals found in red wine and 3 times found in green tea! Who knew? It is indeed a superfood. The ancients knew this and so does Cal Orey. Her new book, `The Healing Powers of Chocolate', is a testament to that which all of the rest of us know merely by a discriminating palate. Her recipe for the writing of this book using the ingredients of eye-opening facts, fascinating subjective observations and superb culinary formulas weave together that which is pure success. She blends all the delectable informational flavors together so well in this work that I felt as though I was blanketed in chocolate mousse for the mind.

Read my article for Cal's new book on [...]

Cal Orey has done it again! She's delivered another fabulous "Healing Powers" book (the others are The Healing Powers of Olive Oil: A Complete Guide to Nature's Liquid GoldandThe Healing Powers of Vinegar: A Complete Guide to Nature's Most Remarkable Remedy only this time, it's on a subject near and dear to many hearts (Valentine and otherwise)- chocolate! Orey takes us on a wonderful Willy Wonka adventure in discovering America's greatest chocolates while extolling the virtues and health benefits of the delectably delightful indulgence. In this book, Orey traces the origin of chocolate, from bean to bar, from centuries ago to the present day. In creating this informative and fascinating book, she interviewed America's top chocolate makers and chocolatiers, nutritionists, medical researchers, and chocolate lovers to find out how this ancient "food of the gods" can prevent and fight common ailments and diseases. And she indulged in chocolate (all types, shapes and in a variety of dishes) from the West Coast, East Coast, Midwest, Deep South and even Ireland...

You'll love this book, devour it quickly and go back for seconds! A wonderful gift, but a must have book on every kitchen shelf as well - don't miss it, you'll never eat chocolate the same way again!

Here's what others have said:

"The right kind, the right amount of chocolate may just save your life."

--Ann Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., author of New York Times bestseller The Fat Flush Plan

"Fine chocolate is about taste, style, and integrity, and fine chocolate is the medium for our message. It is delightful to find an author who understands all this!"

--John Down & Joe Guiliano, founders of Christopher Norman Chocolates

"Chocolate is a taste of divine ecstasy on Earth. It is our sensual communion. Orey's journalistic style and efforts share this insight with readers around the world."

-- Jim Walsh, founder of Intentional Chocolate

I have to admit that I didn't finish reading this book. I made it to page 167 of 294 (the last 60 of those pages are recipes and places to buy chocolate). It is so poorly written that I just couldn't read it. My initial impression was that it needed a good editor, but after the first couple of chapters, I realized that what it really needed was a good author.

There is very little original writing in this volume. Most of the material in it was previously published in Ms. Orey's previous two books. It is obvious she merely copied and pasted passages from those books into the manuscript with no regard to narrative flow.

She uses tables of information lifted directly from other sources (with proper attribution) without any discussion. The most egregious fault I found was her description of a tour of a chocolate factory. She was unable to make the tour, so she used the notes of a friend who did go on the tour. Just the notes in raw form, again copied and pasted into her manuscript.

Some of her writing reads likes notes also. I found it very jarring to encounter sentences that were grammatically incorrect or that had no point. She tells the same stories over and over, each time as if it were the first time that the story has been used.

Her tracing of the history of chocolate is marred by her lack of geographical knowledge. Countries wander from Central to South America and back again, depending on which page you are reading.

As for those "healing powers", she is correct in citing the trace nutrients found in chocolate. However, reputable scientists have pointed out that they are found in such minute quantities that you would have to eat 25 pounds of chocolate every day to gain any benefit from them. Ms. Orley smoothly skates past this little detail by recommending a "dosage" of 1 to 2 squares of dark chocolate per day as part of a healthy diet (she recommends either the Mediterranean diet or the French diet) along with regular exercise. She neglects to mention that it is the diet and exercise, not the chocolate, that is providing the health benefits.

She lives in the San Francisco area and takes us on a tour of the chocolatiers in that city, breathlessly describing their incomparable chocolates, recommending that readers choose those chocolates rather than chocolates from anywhere else. She then goes on to admit that she eats plain old Hershey's Dark Chocolate. From Pennsylvania.

Then you must get a copy of The Healing Powers of Chocolate book in your hands! Cal Orey has out done herself (once again) by showing us how to healthfully incorporate chocolate into our life styles. Debunking the myths about chocolate has given me a whole new outlook about it's list of health benefits including the positive physical and psychological effects of chocolate.

I love this book. Now I know chocolate can be an enjoyable addition to my diet with numerous health perks to boot... Sweet!

I just love Cal Orey's books: The Healing Powers of Olive Oil and The Healing Powers of Vinegar. I just can't wait for her new book; The Healing Powers of Chocolate to arrive in my mail. Just from reading these previous two books I know I will just love reading this one too. Every book I've read of hers is so very interesting. It is so much fun to find out all the details about the origins of each of these books titles. Plus each of them are geered towards helping me stay healthy. It's so wonderful to learn more about the benefits of the foods that I love to eat. Buying this book is something everyone should do. You won't be disappointed. She's a great writer!!!

So wonderful the way Cal Orey allows us to embrace chocolate and stop blaming it for our weight problems. I love her quote, "Rather than running from the chocolate, we should embrace it with both arms." So true! We Americans are an overweight society, but this book really shows how chocolate is not the evil so many people make it out to be. Read and find out how much it can benefit us and you'll soon be a convert!

I provide the Mediterranean Dietary Approach for Americans. As such, we advise the people who want to lose weight and maintain optimal health to adopt foods from the Mediterranean Food Guide Pyramid (Harvard, Oldways). But it's not always easy, because people want to know why lovely delicious chocolate has suddenly gone from a know Vice to a know Virtue!!

The Healing Powers of Chocolate does precisely this -- it educates us on this most delicious of heart-healthy foods. Like her preceding works (The Healing Powers of Olive Oil, and The Healing Powers of Vinegar), these provide ample rationale for eating the foods that the thin and vibrant Mediterranean people eat every day.

And, as in the wonderful maxim ... Life Is Uncertain, Eat Dessert First ... you should start with the Healing Powers of Chocolate, and then please do move to Cal Orey's work on Olive Oil and Vinegar.

In full disclosure, I wrote the Introduction to Healing Powers of Chocolate, and did so because of the consistent sound scholarship (and easy-to-read prose) that Cal shows. I hope you enjoy it!! [...].

Cal Orey had done a great job with this very comprehensive, entertaining and delightful book. I never knew there was so much to know--and like--about chocolate. This book will nourish my soul, as well as my body.

Chocolate lovers all over rejoice! Many thanks to Cal Orey for revealing the many benefits while dispelling the guilt associated with our favorite #1 feel-good food, chocolate. Her book is filled with interesting facts and history on chocolate, health benefits backed by research, home remedies, and a great selection of delicious recipes. It's a must-have book for anyone who loves chocolate!

Intuitively I have always known chocolate was good for my health.After reading Cal's new book I will definitely eat more chocolate.( Not that I needed more excuses to indulge).Trauma from a head-on car collision December 10th left me with high blood pressure, severe bruises, fractures and pain. Blood pressure medication created new health problems.After reading chocolate lowers blood pressure what could be better than slow breathing and dark chocolate to lower my numbers. Thank you Cal Orey, your book is informative, fun and definitely a book for health conscious people to purchase. It wouldn't hurt the medical and pharmaceutical industry to take note of your research as well since "natural" or grandma's solutions to health problems always worked way back when. . .