[www.lewrockwell.com]

1. remember, stimulants are GOOD ! according to mercola

and

2.

don't worry about destroying many valuable nutrients via processing and cooking MEATS AND EGGS AND VEGETABLES in the mercola diet!! only happens to cacao.

"Processing Destroys Many Valuable Nutrients
As noted in the Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity paper,37 the nutrients found in raw cacao are easily altered and destroyed through processing."

Is there any evidence which shows that the stimulatory effects of cacao have any negative health effects?

[www.secrets-of-longevity-in-humans.com]

"Despite the overwhelming evidence for the health benefits of chocolate, their are still many grumpy and prudish people out there "cocoa-bashing"

These people never have any evidence to support their opinions. This is simply because there are no scientific studies that show any detriments to consuming chocolate! Raw cacao benefits all people who consume it unless their constitution is imbalanced. There is anecdotal cases of people having bad reactions to it. This is what these anti-chocolate campaigners go on and on about, yet little do they know that people can have bad reactions to any food depending on their own unique constitution. The amount that they take and/or whether the raw chocolate (or cooked chocolate) product is contaminated in some way will affect different people in different ways. Much in the same way people can have negative reactions to the Chinese herbs ginseng or astragalus if they are imbalanced, a strong Jing foundation must be developed first to support the very Shen building qualities of raw cacao beans and other raw chocolate products. The theobromine content of raw chocolate nibs and all other chocolate products is the chemical commonly vilified as being toxic. However no death or liver injury from theobromine poisoning in healthy humans has ever occurred! Over 20 pounds of pure raw chocolate would need to be consumed all at once to reach toxic levels of this phytochemical. The alkaloid theobromine is a cardiovascular stimulant that has little to no affect on the nervous system. It dilates blood vessels which naturally lowers blood pressure (taking strain off the heart) and increases nutrient uptake during digestion (when combined with adaptogenic herbs and other live superfoods, raw cacao benefits and potentiates these other phytochemicals).

Theobromine also kills streptococci mutans, one of the main types of bacteria responsible for tooth decay and improves asthmatic type conditions by opening up the lungs. Of course anyone with liver damage should avoid chocolate products because of their high copper content and not so much because of their theobromine content. Stimulants in an of themselves are not a problem, as all foods contain various depressing or stimulating factors within them. Caffeine which is actually more harmful than theobromine is either very low or absent in chocolate (depending on the variety of cacao beans used to make the product). Virtually all plant foods contain different alkaloids which are toxic when isolated from the plant and taken in large doses. This does not mean that the plants that contain them need to be blamed in any way. When a persons body begins accumulating too much of a certain alkaloid, a natural aversion to that food begins to develop until the metabolism of the body has removed that compound."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2016 10:12PM by jtprindl.

jtprindl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there any evidence which shows that the
> stimulatory effects of cacao have any negative
> health effects?


cacao is very high in diotary copper

[en.wikipedia.org]

Quote

Acute symptoms of copper poisoning by ingestion include vomiting, hematemesis (vomiting of blood), hypotension (low blood pressure), melena (black "tarry" feces), coma, jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of the skin), and gastrointestinal distress.[9] Individuals with glucose-6-phosphate deficiency may be at increased risk of hematologic effects of copper.[9] Hemolytic anemia resulting from the treatment of burns with copper compounds is infrequent.[9]

Chronic (long-term) effects of copper exposure can damage the liver and kidneys.[10] Mammals have efficient mechanisms to regulate copper stores such that they are generally protected from excess dietary copper levels.[10][11]

Those same protection mechanisms can cause milder symptoms, which are often misdiagnosed as psychiatric disorders. There is a lot of research going on regarding the function of the Cu/Zn ratio in many conditions, neurological, endocrinological and psychological.[12][13][14] The diagnostic difficulties arise from the fact that many of the substances that protect us from excess copper perform important functions in our neurological and endocrine systems. When they are used to bind copper in the plasma, to prevent it from being absorbed in the tissues, their own function may go unfulfilled. Such symptoms often include mood swings, irritability, depression, fatigue, excitation, difficulty focusing, feeling out of control, etc. To further complicate diagnosis, some symptoms of excess copper are similar to those of a copper deficit.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in drinking water is 1.3 milligrams per liter.[9][15] The MCL for copper is based on the expectation that a lifetime of consuming copper in water at this level is without adverse effect (gastrointestinal). The US EPA lists copper as a micronutrient and a toxin.[16] Toxicity in mammals includes a wide range of animals and effects such as liver cirrhosis, necrosis in kidneys and the brain, gastrointestinal distress, lesions, low blood pressure, and fetal mortality.[17][18][19] The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has set a limit of 0.1 mg/m3 for copper fumes (vapor generated from heating copper) and 1 mg/m3 for copper dusts (fine metallic copper particles) and mists (aerosol of soluble copper) in workroom air during an eight-hour work shift, 40-hour work week.[20] Toxicity to other species of plants and animals is noted to varying levels.[16]

for those who think that free energy exists, theobromine will not be shown to cause any negative effects.

for others, the experiential and logical evidence will indicate that cacao can often have detrimental effects.

so it depends on the dose, depends on how often used, etc.

(caffeine and theobromine are similar)

"caffeine withdrawal has been linked with feelings of fatigue, increased depression, and anxiety (Smith, 2002)."

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

>>As with caffeine, theobromine can cause sleeplessness, tremors, restlessness, anxiety, as well as contribute to increased production of urine[citation needed]. Additional side effects include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, and withdrawal headaches.

none of those are negative effects I guess.

fresh wrote:
"caffeine withdrawal has been linked with feelings of fatigue, increased depression, and anxiety (Smith, 2002)."

I think that describes most of the posters on this board

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Effects of theobromine and caffeine on mood and vigilance - "At every dose tested, theobromine failed to consistently affect mood state or vigilance (P > 0.05), but 100-mg caffeine significantly decreased lethargy/fatigue and increased vigor (P = 0.006 and 0.011, respectively). These findings indicate theobromine does not influence mood and vigilance when administered in nutritionally relevant doses, despite sharing many of caffeine's structural characteristics."

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]
Health Benefits of Methylxanthines in Cacao and Chocolate - "The combination of theobromine and caffeine in cacao/chocolate seems to be appropriate for having many of the expected benefits of methylxanthines with few drawbacks. In fact, chocolate/cacao does not generally produce insomnia or cause anxiety. The reason why the main methylxanthine in cacao, theobromine, has a differential effect when compared with caffeine or theophylline merits further investigation".

stimulants have an excitatory effect on the neural system

a adrenaline depletion effect on the adrenals

and withdrawal effects

these things must be recovered from by using energy.

of course eating , walking, running use energy and recovery must take place.

we all make decisions on the actions we wish to pursue the costs thereof.

it's very difficult (and appears not to have been done in any studies that I can find) to set up a study to find damage or fatigue from stimulants. the studies posted above do not address the issues imo.

if a person does not feel a negative from a substance, that does not mean one does not exist.

if a person feels good enough while taking a substance it's understandable that the ingestion would continue.

"stimulants have an excitatory effect on the neural system

a adrenaline depletion effect on the adrenals

and withdrawal effects"

Is there any evidence which shows that the stimulatory effects of cacao have any negative health effects, including withdrawal symptoms or adrenal depletion?

"it's very difficult (and appears not to have been done in any studies that I can find) to set up a study to find damage or fatigue from stimulants. the studies posted above do not address the issues imo."

Perhaps you shouldn't imply that cacao is damaging then? The studies above contradict the source-less Wikipedia statements regarding the effects of theobromine, including anxiety, insomnia and mood.

>>Is there any evidence which shows that the stimulatory effects of cacao have any negative health effects, including withdrawal symptoms or adrenal depletion?

I imply negative outcomes based on physiological facts and experiential evidence.

re:withdrawal.

already posted that.

there is little difference except strength between caffeine and theobromine.

if you feel that withdrawal symptoms are not negative, I cannot help you.

adrenaline is used when ingesting caffeine and theobromine.

whether it is depleted to damaging levels depends on many factors.

[www.examiner.com]

this is just an article of interest.

I do not have a double blind placebo controlled study to answer your question.

the physiological effects on the adrenal glands are known. real world effects - too many variables and no studies "proving" damage.