Would you give up chocolate?

Apparently blogging is very *woman-centric*. According the Center for Media Research, a recent study about women and blogging was done by BlogHer and Compass Partners.
Women are so passionate about blogging, says the report, that large percentages said they would give something up to keep the blogs they read and/or write:

• 55% would give up alcohol
• 50% would give up their PDAs
• 42% would give up their i-Pod
• 43% would give up reading the newspaper or magazines
• only 20% would give up chocolate

Time shift from traditional media is accelerating in the general Internet population:
• 24% of women surveyed watch less television because of blogging
• 25% read fewer magazines because they are blogging
• 22% read fewer newspapers because they're blogging

In addition:
• More than half of women surveyed consider blogs a reliable source of advice and information
• Half of women surveyed say blogs influence their purchase decisions

How do you feel about blogging? A reliable source of information? Worth giving up chocolate or alcohol for? Let us know!

To see more facts from the study, visit http://www.blogher.com/files/BlogHer.CompassPartners.Social%20Media%20Study.ppt.pdf

Vitamins, Minerals and Chocolates - Oh My!

According to a new survey from food giant ConAgra, 51 percent of women count on fortified foods to get their essential nutrients and more than a third would also like to get these from indulgent foods like chocolate.

Personally, I would prefer to get ALL my nutrients from chocolate. But I’ve tried – so far, it hasn’t worked. Maybe Swiss Miss will be my saving grace. ConAgra is targeting women by expanding its Swiss Miss line of hot chocolates to include functional offerings, saying these products tap into the needs of this important – and lucrative- consumer group.

The new beverage offerings include Swiss Miss Pick-me-up cocoa swirls, which ConAgra says have as much caffeine as a cup of coffee, as well as the same amount of calcium and vitamin D as a glass of milk. The food manufacturing giant also says Swiss Miss Great start cocoa is enriched with 15 essential vitamins and minerals.

Additional survey findings from ConAgra include:

-- Almost seven in 10 (69 percent) of women 25-44 consume caffeine at least once a day
-- 40 percent of women consume caffeine more than once a day.
-- Almost all women (95 percent) consume caffeine at least occasionally.
-- 37 percent of women look to caffeine for those mid-morning and mid-afternoon lulls in between meals when they need a pick me up.
-- Most women have caffeine before lunch -- 41 percent when first awakening, another 20 percent mid-morning.
-- Women want their caffeinated beverages to be low-cal and sweet. 70 percent say the ideal caffeinated product has to be low in calories and the majority (56 percent) want it to be sweet.


-- More than half (54 percent) of women 25-44 say they don't get enough
vitamins and minerals from the foods they eat.
-- Women look to fortified foods to get the essential nutrients their
diets lack (51 percent).
-- More than a third (35 percent) said they would like to get their
essential nutrients from "indulgent" foods.


-- Chocolate is the sweet that women crave most (68 percent); more than ice cream (48 percent), followed by cookies (40 percent), candy (33 percent) and cake (31 percent).
-- Moods affect women's cravings for chocolate. 67 percent of respondents said stress drives cravings, followed by "experiencing PMS" (59 percent) and "need a pick-me-up" (58 percent).



http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/10-23-2007/0004687892&EDATE=

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/news/ng.asp?n=80858-conagra-swiss-miss-chocolate