[nutritionfacts.org]

[nutritionfacts.org]

"Chocolate: beauty, the beast, or both? Although cocoa itself is frequently found in foods like chocolate which can contain high levels of fat and sugar, the cocoa powder itself may have beneficial effects in a number of chronic disease conditions including heart disease.

Flow-mediated dilation, measured in the main artery of the arm, is considered one of the best measures of arterial function, a predictor of cardiovascular mortality. A little bit of cocoa doesn’t do anything, but a little more, or a lot gives one a significant boost in arterial function within hours of consumption. How much does it take? Not much, just about a teaspoon of natural cocoa powder, which would be like a tablespoon or more of Dutched cocoa.

Now, makes you a little suspicious that the author works in Hershey, Pennsylvania, at the Hershey Medical center, and indeed has accepted money from our largest chocolate manufacturer’s Center for Health and Nutrition, conveniently located near the intersection of Chocolate and Cocoa Avenue.

Putting together all of the best available evidence, though, dozens of randomized controlled trials, arterial function was significantly improved immediately, within hours, and after weeks and months of chronic cocoa consumption. It’s always difficult to tease fact from fiction when such powerful financial interests are involved. Many of these studies were funded by industry as well, and as in all areas of research, evidence suggests that industry funding is associated with pro-industry conclusions, but even after removing those studies funded by industry, they found the same protective effect.

The reason they measure arterial function in the arm rather than where you really need it—the coronary arteries of the heart, is that that would require an angiogram, which is a much more invasive procedure. But if you were able to find people already scheduled for an angiogram anyway… Double-blind randomized trial finds that dark chocolate actually opens up coronary arteries. And when they did what’s called a cold pressor test, where they plunge your hand into a bucket of ice water, which normally causes your arteries to constrict, after dark chocolate, they dilated.

Because chocolate also contains fat and sugar, we have to be careful, though. Furthermore, most chocolate products are manufactured with milk, a compound known to influence antioxidant capacity in serum. Even if milk chocolate had the same flavonoid phytonutrient content as dark chocolate, the antioxidant effect of cocoa is potentially weakened in the blood when milk is consumed.

So not only are there triple the antioxidants in dark compared to milk chocolate, but the milk actively works against the effects in the human body. Give dark chocolate, and get a nice spike in the antioxidant power of your bloodstream within an hour. Give milk chocolate, nothing, but if you eat that same dark chocolate with a cup of milk, the benefit is suppressed. The addition of milk, either in your stomach or in the chocolate, inhibits the within body antioxidant activity of chocolate and the absorption into the bloodstream of one of the target phytonutrients.

The sugar isn’t good for us either. Sugar impairs arterial function. One bottle of soda’s worth of sugar can cripple arterial function. That’s why sugar-free cocoa improves arterial function better than the same amount of cocoa with sugar added. So, eliminating sugar appears to amplify the beneficial effects of cocoa.

Bottom line, although the positive effects of chocolate and cocoa products seem apparent, precautions exist when we’re talking about the calories, fat, and sugar in chocolate. Cocoa powder, then offers the best of both worlds. Although not as tasty, cocoa-based products with little or no sugar or fat are certainly preferred. And you can make them tasty as I note in my healthy chocolate milkshake recipe, and my healthy chocolate ice cream video."

Just had some raw cacao today I do chocolate about once or twice every two weeks.

cacao is one of the most alergenic foods (tonsilitis, etc). If nothing bad happens, it is "good" (it also has negative effects)

Panchito Wrote:
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> cacao is one of the most alergenic foods
> (tonsilitis, etc). If nothing bad happens, it is
> "good" (it also has negative effects)


Like anything, it has negative effects when eaten out of moderation. But it's loaded with minerals and antioxidants, has lots of documented health benefits (such as your link) and has a link to longevity. Thankfully I don't have allergies to it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/2014 09:59PM by jtprindl.

jtprindl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just had some raw cacao today I do chocolate
> about once or twice every two weeks.


That sounds like a sensible idea.

tobacco!!! good in a salad ! loaded with minerals and antioxidants!

I have bella donna once a week! good medicine for what ails you, motion sickness, painkiller. full of antioxidants too.

I've had cacao too, but I don't try to rationalize it as a health product. stimulates then depresses..

plus david wolfe promotes it, it HAS to be good...

Fresh, don't confuse the mass produced candy bar with real chocolate. If one can find some without the dairy and sugar, its probably ok to eat in small amounts or moderation. If one can obtain raw chocolate that isnt overpriced thats even better.

fresh Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tobacco!!! good in a salad ! loaded with minerals
> and antioxidants!
>
> I have bella donna once a week! good medicine for
> what ails you, motion sickness, painkiller. full
> of antioxidants too.
>
> I've had cacao too, but I don't try to rationalize
> it as a health product. stimulates then
> depresses..
>
> plus david wolfe promotes it, it HAS to be good...

LOL! It's amusing to imagine tobacco salad. Blech.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/03/2014 01:39AM by banana who.

some interesting stuff here

[www.sallybernstein.com]

[www.thechocolatelife.com]

I was going to say that raw coco nibs make me sick, but I didn't want to be negative. I think I am doing pretty good maintaining a vegan diet in a town where nearly 100% of the residents eat meat and or dairy in every single meal. Maybe raw chocolate isn't really raw, or healthy. But I don't object to anyone eating it if they think they really need or want it. Just don't get the dairy filled, whipped sugar stuff from the vending machine, thats all.

I have this raw cacao powder that I am getting rid of before I quit caffeine. It seems to take forever to finish this bag. I got it on the cheap online--I think it wasn't more than $12 for the pound with shipping--organic and raw. Amazon goofed (or I did) and sent me two bags (and charged me for them) but I kept them anyway. The fat is in the cacao (it gets processed out with that typical Dutch process) and when I make chocolate milk with unfortified organic soymilk and cacao, I actually add water to make it less thick.

Another idea is raw avocado cacao pudding: 1/2-1 avocado, a little vegan "dairy" milk, dates or raw sugar to sweeten and a little raw cacao powder. It is very strong stuff--I don't know exact measurements. I just do it to taste. Oh and a bit of a raw vanilla bean.

Banana Who,
That sounds great. I used to mix coco powder with avocado to make little coco balls, or used soaked raw walnuts. they turned out great. There is a recipe for vegan coco pudding using tofu, coco power and date sugar. (ground dates) I know its not raw, but I thought it sounded good. Light years healthier than standard chocolate pudding, but I am sure that anything raw has got to be better!

How are you these days? I haven't been on the board in awhile. I did a year of vegan, and now I am wondering if I could or should try raw again. I moved to a small town where the food choices are very limited. But even here I think it might be surprisingly do-able. Its just not on the radar here. Most people eat animal foods and processed foods and think little of it. So I think I am the odd person out socially here, but at least my partner is vegan and we dont eat processed stuff, or very very limited.

Mislu Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Banana Who,
> That sounds great. I used to mix coco powder with
> avocado to make little coco balls, or used soaked
> raw walnuts. they turned out great. There is a
> recipe for vegan coco pudding using tofu, coco
> power and date sugar. (ground dates) I know its
> not raw, but I thought it sounded good. Light
> years healthier than standard chocolate pudding,
> but I am sure that anything raw has got to be
> better!
>
> How are you these days? I haven't been on the
> board in awhile. I did a year of vegan, and now I
> am wondering if I could or should try raw again. I
> moved to a small town where the food choices are
> very limited. But even here I think it might be
> surprisingly do-able. Its just not on the radar
> here. Most people eat animal foods and processed
> foods and think little of it. So I think I am the
> odd person out socially here, but at least my
> partner is vegan and we dont eat processed stuff,
> or very very limited.


Hey, Mislu! I wrote on another thread that I was just thinking of you when you posted, believe it or not. Recently I was thinking about how you used to post pretty often. Glad you've been succeeding on vegan. I don't know if you are like me but I prefer going it alone when I am trying to accomplish something. Getting "support" doesn't really help me, strangely enough. I have to go it alone and not compare myself to other people and their experiences.

If I may, what part of the country are you in? For some reason I have always thought the West Coast. I am just wondering if it's in an area with a lot of meat eaters like the South or some rural Midwestern areas.

How do people know this? It seems really god like to know the human body and how it really works. Is someone out there interviewing arteries?