374 replies to this topic

[health_nutty]

I add some turmeric to my cocoa as a chelator for the lead.

yuck.

[s123]

I add some turmeric to my cocoa as a chelator for the lead.

That's an interesting idea. Do you have a reference to support the strategy?
Thanks!

I don't have a reference. [sad]
It's one of my own ideas.

I add some turmeric to my cocoa as a chelator for the lead.

yuck.

It’s not that bad.

[lucid]

Lucid, are the beans peeled or unpeeled?
ETA: Sunfood sells both types. Looks like the unpeeled version is the whole bean.

They are the peeled variety. Here is a link to the product.
http://www.sunfood.c..._id=0878&m=home

[OutOfThyme]

Lucid, are the beans peeled or unpeeled?
ETA: Sunfood sells both types. Looks like the unpeeled version is the whole bean.

They are the peeled variety. Here is a link to the product.
http://www.sunfood.c..._id=0878&m=home

Thanks for the link.

I didn't think cacao could be such an effective iron supplement. My nibs from Navitas do mention iron on the product description, but nothing in regard to quantity, whatsoever.

As a bonus, the label boasts 40mg of vitamin C. ... [huh]

[doug123]

It seems the media is still excited about cocoa:

LA times: News Source



Cocoa's sweet reward
Chocoholics rejoice: Foods rich in cocoa appear to reduce blood pressure, a study finds
By Janet Cromley, Times Staff Writer
April 16, 2007

CHOCOLATE — that traditional antidote for broken hearts — now has another use. Foods rich in cocoa appear to reduce blood pressure, according to researchers at the University Hospital of Cologne in Germany.

Testing the hypothesis that plant compounds known as polyphenols found in cocoa and tea have a beneficial effect on blood pressure, researchers analyzed five studies on cocoa and five studies on tea published between 1966 and 2006.

The report, which appears in the April issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that chocolate lowered systolic blood pressure by about 4.7 points on average and diastolic pressure by about 2.8 points. In short, a healthful daily dose of chocolate could reduce blood pressure of 140/80 to about 135/77.

Curiously, tea did not have a similar effect, possibly because the composition of the polyphenols in tea is slightly different. "It's likely that the phenols specific to cocoa represent the active ingredients," lead author and pharmacologist Dr. Dirk Taubert said in an e-mail. "A possible candidate are the so-called procyanidins, which are a group of complex phenols."

So a little chocolate a day may keep the doctor away? "Regular consumption of polyphenol-rich cocoa products like dark chocolate may be considered part of a blood pressure lowering diet, provided" — here it comes — "that there is no gain in total calorie intake," he says. Natch. There's always a catch.

*
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
janet.cromley@latimes.com

Take care.

[lucid]

Just ran into a cool article about ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorption Content). This is used to measure the effectiveness of anti-oxidants. It does not however take into account bioavailability and molecules ability to pass through membranes however it is a good yard stick for measuring anti-oxidant power.

At any rate, here is a link to a site:
http://optimalhealth.../OracLevels.htm
This site has old data though from '04. The highest values are from spice oils which are toxic when consumed in moderate quantities. Cocoa is really high up there on the list.

From the back of my cocoa powder I read that the cold pressed powder is much more bio-available and has a much higher anti-oxidant content than the nibs. It has about 20% more anti-oxidant content than the nibs. Based on this combined with the high iron content... I am now dead set on getting the powder in the future compared to the nibs.

[stephen_b]

Funny, I'm reading your post drinking a cup of cold pressed cocoa powder. Anyone know if this stuff is addictive, or just really easy to get used to?

Stephen

[Athanasios]

I am still in love with it as well. I like to put it in my green tea sweetened w/ xylitol sometimes, depending on my mood. Sometimes I will make a shot out of it and green tea for a pickme up, instead of drinking it as a full drink. Either way, I use about a teaspoon.

[stephen_b]

A teaspoon?! I'm using several heaping tablespoons. I really haven't paid too much attention to dosing, figuring that the people who live in the regions of Panama that showed the initial benefit would have taken more.

Stephen

[Athanasios]

Yeah, I am letting the tea do most of the work, but the flavor is great.. I do get an energy effect from just a teaspoon though. If I took a tablespoon I would be through the roof.

[OutOfThyme]

I've got some good news on Navitas raw cacao nibs . I inquired about the iron content and was told 6% RDA--1.08mg p/serving. 1 serv=1oz (28g.)

Its worth checking out a few more places to determine whether or not the high iron content in Sun Food nibs is an anomaly. Lucid, I confirmed your label with a sales rep. The label is accurate, so it seems. I still don't understand why it's so high in comparison with my nibs.

Some additional info: Beans are certified organic by Skal International. Imported from Peru. Packed in the USA. As a bonus, they're the Criollo variety.

Navitas is reluctant to provide consumers with a C.O.A. so I plan on getting one through my health food store. The guy went on about how much of a hassle it would be to provide them to just anyone... to which my response was, "put it on your website and automate the updates". I'm sure the words of one consumer will fall on deaf ears. Considering the problems with cacao in the past, I don't feel my request was out of line.

[lucid]

Great work! I can't imagine how nibs can differ by 50x in their iron content, go get em. I'm still sold on the powder since there is more anti-oxidants in it than in the nibs. The nibs are fun to munch on though.
I will also point out that 2 Tablespoons of powder have 11g of fiber, so cocoa powder makes a nice fiber supplement. It also has 7 g of protien. Cocoa powder is too cool. I'm not sure if it was mentioned already, but cocoa is also an appetite suppressant. The list goes on.

[OutOfThyme]

Great work! I can't imagine how nibs can differ by 50x in their iron content, go get em. I'm still sold on the powder since there is more anti-oxidants in it than in the nibs. The nibs are fun to munch on though.

Thanks.
I keep some powder around too, for the occasional use, but consume nibs daily. I love the texture--cold & crunchy--keep'em in the fridge. I'll post any new info I get.
ETA: Del emoticon

Edited by thymeless, 01 May 2007 - 09:37 PM.

[OutOfThyme]

One more quick note-

Mercola sells Way Healthier nibs on his website.

http://www.mercola.c..._nibs.htm#order

Scroll down some to the product label and you'll find the iron content listed as 0% Daily Value for a 5 gram serving. Up that to say...28 grams (1oz) and we're likely in the same range as the Navita nibs--1-2%.

[doug123]

Hmmm...

Earthtimes.org: News Source



WASHINGTON, April 27 Chocolate lovers are fighting a proposed change to U.S. chocolate standards that would allow other fats to replace cocoa butter.

The current Food and Drug Administration standard says chocolate must contain cocoa butter. The proposed change -- listed in a petition supported by the chocolate lobby -- would make it possible to call something chocolate even if it had vegetable fat instead of cocoa butter, The Washington Post said Friday.

The newspaper said the products would still need to contain chocolate liquor.

Critics of the proposed change have started a grassroots letter-writing campaign to the FDA. They say some big chocolate manufacturers support the proposed change because vegetable fat, which contains trans fats, is less expensive than cocoa butter, which does not.

Copyright 2007 by UPI

[s123]

Hmmm...

Earthtimes.org: News Source



WASHINGTON, April 27 Chocolate lovers are fighting a proposed change to U.S. chocolate standards that would allow other fats to replace cocoa butter.

The current Food and Drug Administration standard says chocolate must contain cocoa butter. The proposed change -- listed in a petition supported by the chocolate lobby -- would make it possible to call something chocolate even if it had vegetable fat instead of cocoa butter, The Washington Post said Friday.

The newspaper said the products would still need to contain chocolate liquor.

Critics of the proposed change have started a grassroots letter-writing campaign to the FDA. They say some big chocolate manufacturers support the proposed change because vegetable fat, which contains trans fats, is less expensive than cocoa butter, which does not.

Copyright 2007 by UPI

Here in Belgium it’s forbidden to use other fat than cocoa butter.

[stephen_b]

In Belgium, the chocolate must be pure. In Germany, the beer must be pure. In the US, we just add high fructose corn syrup to everything.

Stephen

[malbecman]

This paper is a good read. This group used a more gentle method to make their cocoa powder in the lab and got ~5X more concentrated phenolics (some even better) and enhanced bioavailability/blood levels in their human subjects. I think a lot of the big food/candy companies will be following suit soon, in terms of making higher phenolic cocoa. Dark chocolate sales have been through the roof lately! [tung]


J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Apr 18; [Epub ahead of print]Click here to read Links
A New Process To Develop a Cocoa Powder with Higher Flavonoid Monomer Content and Enhanced Bioavailability in Healthy Humans.

* Tomas-Barberan FA,
* Cienfuegos-Jovellanos E,
* Marin A,
* Muguerza B,
* Gil-Izquierdo A,
* Cerda B,
* Zafrilla P,
* Morillas J,
* Mulero J,
* Ibarra A,
* Pasamar MA,
* Ramon D,
* Espin JC.

Research Group on Quality, Safety and Bioactivity of Plant Food, Department of Food Science & Technology, CEBAS-CSIC, 30100 Campus de Espinardo, Murcia, Research & Development Department, Natraceutical Group, 46930-Valencia, Department of Clinic Nutrition, UCAM, 30107-Murcia, and Department of Biotechnology, IATA-CSIC, 46100-Burjassot, Valencia, Spain.

Cocoa is a food rich in polyphenols, mainly the flavonoid procyanidins and flavan-3-ols. The improvement of the cardiovascular function in humans upon cocoa consumption has been specifically linked to the presence of flavan-3-ol derived metabolites in plasma, especially epicatechin glucuronide. In this context, a flavonoid-enriched cocoa-derived product could potentially exert stronger health benefits. The aim of the present study was to obtain a cocoa powder with a higher flavonoid content (mainly enriched in monomer compounds) and assess its flavonoid bioavailability in humans. For this purpose, an unfermented, nonroasted, and blanch-treated cocoa powder (A) was obtained. The powder contained four times more procyanidins than a conventional (B) cocoa powder. Powder A contained eight times more epicatechin and procyanidin B2 than powder B. Cocoa milk drinks were prepared with powder A (MDA) and B (MDB). The bioavailability of flavonoids in both drinks was assessed in a crossover intervention with healthy volunteers. The content of epicatechin glucuronide, the main metabolite detected in plasma, was five-fold higher upon consumption of MDA as compared with MDB. The urinary excretion of metabolites, mainly methyl epicatechin sulfate, was higher upon MDA consumption as compared with MDB, ranging from two- to 12-fold higher depending on the metabolite. These results, together with previous reports regarding the cardiovascular benefits linked to the presence of procyanidin metabolites in plasma, suggest that further clinical trials to validate the health benefits of a flavonoid-enriched cocoa powder are warranted. Keywords: Theobroma cacao; processing; cocoa; procyanidins; metabolism; bioavailability; cross over; plasma; urine; human.

PMID: 17439235 [tung]

[Brainbox]

I just got my nibs delivered. The taste does only remotely remind me of chocolate. It's slightly bitter, but I expected a bitterness compared to 90% dark chocolate, which simply isn't the case. It also has a slight sour taste. I wonder if this is normal.

I revived an old coffee grinder, works perfectly although the powder does not solve in water.

[chris_h]

A sour taste is not abnormal. Acid is produced during the fermentation of the beans.

[s123]

The cocoa powder does not solve in water because it's not been alkalinized.

[lucid]

Yeh, it doesn't dissolve well at all. I eat mine in 2 different ways. Sometimes I put a tablespoon or so in my mouth, then take a big sip of water and swoosh it around and swallow that works ok. I hope that it still gets digested in my stomach. Then sometimes I eat it with yogurt in the morning, it mixes in pretty well.

[trance]

Jarrow just came out with a new chocolate (cocoa extract) supplement called ChocoMind:

http://jarrow.com/pr....php?prodid=453

[health_nutty]

Jarrow just came out with a new chocolate (cocoa extract) supplement called ChocoMind:

http://jarrow.com/pr....php?prodid=453

This product is standardized for the stimulant theobrine in chocolate, not the flavanoids. It is the flavanoids which produce the benefits
in the original article.

[malbecman]

Jarrow just came out with a new chocolate (cocoa extract) supplement called ChocoMind:

http://jarrow.com/pr....php?prodid=453

This product is standardized for the stimulant theobrine in chocolate, not the flavanoids. It is the flavanoids which produce the benefits
in the original article.

Right, the last thing I need is more stimulants/theobromine. [lol]

I'm holding out for the new, improved cocoa powders with increased flavanoids that should be coming soon (besides CocoVia from Mars, Inc.).....

[edward]

I'm still taking a couple tablespoons a day... still worrying about the lead content though.. . What is the group consensus on this? I have tried to get lab tests from Hersheys and others but there has been no response... Wondering (hoping) the Cocoa companies have cleaned up their act since the reports of high lead came out a few years ago.

[paragon]

I agree malbecman. I wish they could eliminate the theobromine and phenylethylamine in cocoa, and concentrate only the catechins. Also, the label of the product you mention says there is 40mg of caffeine per serving.

The caffeine from cocoa resides only in the skins of the beans, and if cocoa is processed correctly, there should be virtually no caffeine at all in the finished product. Therefore, in my opinion, caffeine content in ChocoMind is an indication of inferior processing methods.

Jarrow just came out with a new chocolate (cocoa extract) supplement called ChocoMind:

http://jarrow.com/pr....php?prodid=453

This product is standardized for the stimulant theobrine in chocolate, not the flavanoids. It is the flavanoids which produce the benefits
in the original article.

Right, the last thing I need is more stimulants/theobromine. [lol]

I'm holding out for the new, improved cocoa powders with increased flavanoids that should be coming soon (besides CocoVia from Mars, Inc.).....

[shifter]

If something is 'certified organic' surely the areas they grow cocoa must be 'x' amount of km away from industrialised areas. So from something 'certified organic' there should not be cars and trucks etc buzzing around the cocoa farms????

I'll see if I can get my nibs tested.

[edward]

All organic means is that they grow the product without pesticides and artificial fertilizers and free from artificial ingredients. There still could be lead in the soil, the air and the water around where the crops grow.

[tintinet]

Oddly, lead often appears after the cocoa is harvest- perhaps introduced or concentrated in roasting/processing.

I queried NOW Foods and Navitas regarding lead. NOW responded immediately, assuring me they continuously did assays for all types of contaminants in their products, including cocoa, as part of their rigorous QA program (see their website).

Navitas ignored my email, thus far.....