9 replies to this topic

[celavie]

Well, it's come to this: in the long search for the elixir of health and eternal youth, we get down to a nice cup of cocoa...

So I bought two packs of cocoa powder yesterday; 250g of the good stuff, expensive organic certified pure raw cacao powder from Peru, and 375g of the (probably) not so good stuff, the generic supermarket "home" brand, simply labled "cocoa powder" from Indonesia.

The organic stuff is almost 5x as expensive per gram as the cheap stuff; both claim to be pure cocoa powder. It will be interesting to see if there is any detectable difference.

I tried to dissolve some powder in water -- no go. More success with about 1/4 mug of milk. I used a heap desertspoon to measure a portion, which I'm guessing is about 30 grams or so.

Anyway, if this is an antioxidant silver bullet, it's pretty painless. I haven't noticed much of a nooptropic effect -- but then again, we _are_ talking about cocoa and milk here, so I guess I shouldn't be expecting too much! ;-)

Edited by celavie, 24 May 2008 - 09:07 AM.

[celavie]

There have been some studies that indicate that milk proteins bind with the polyphenols in tea, dramatically reducing the health benefits. I'd be wary about the possibility that the same is true for cocoa.

Yeah, I saw this theory in the other thread. As a hypothesis it still seems a bit, er, thin - a line of reasoning that still needs a bit of work. Anyone have anything a bit more definitive to offer? Until then I think I'll stick with the milk... life's too short to try to dissolve cocoa in water! ;-)

[katzenjammer]

I wonder why it won't dissolve? I've never had that problem. I put three tablespoons of organic, raw cocoa powder in a mug. I get the water near, but not at, boiling; I pour it in, and stir. It makes a delicious, frothy cup of cocoa. No milk or sugar is needed. For me it would get in the way of the taste. Gives me massive amount of focus, makes me feel good.

[celavie]

I wonder why it won't dissolve? I've never had that problem. I put three tablespoons of organic, raw cocoa powder in a mug. I get the water near, but not at, boiling; I pour it in, and stir. It makes a delicious, frothy cup of cocoa. No milk or sugar is needed. For me it would get in the way of the taste. Gives me massive amount of focus, makes me feel good.

I wasn't using hot water. The organic stuff makes a big deal of it being cold pressed, etc. It seems like you are potentially defeating a lot of what you are paying for by boiling the water. Maybe it doesn't hurt at < 100C... it would be good to know what at what temps you risk serious nutritional loss.

[katzenjammer]

I pour it way before it boils, but yeah I was wondering that too. It would be good to know about what temp results in significant nutri loss.

[luminous]

There have been some studies that indicate that milk proteins bind with the polyphenols in tea, dramatically reducing the health benefits. I'd be wary about the possibility that the same is true for cocoa.

Yeah, I saw this theory in the other thread. As a hypothesis it still seems a bit, er, thin - a line of reasoning that still needs a bit of work. Anyone have anything a bit more definitive to offer? Until then I think I'll stick with the milk... life's too short to try to dissolve cocoa in water! ;-)

Here's an article about a study finding that milk nullifies the antioxidant value of chocolate. I wonder if you'd run into the same issue with soymilk.

http://www.newscient...ant-levels.html

Eating chocolate can boost the level of heart-protecting antioxidants in the blood, but consuming milk at the same time cancels the potential health benefits, according to a new study.

"Those volunteers who had dark chocolate had a 20 per cent increase in antioxidants in their plasma," says Alan Crozier, one of the team at the University of Glasgow. "But those who had milk chocolate, or milk with their dark chocolate, showed no increase in epicatechin plasma levels,"

Four hours after eating the chocolate, all the volunteers' blood antioxidant levels had returned to normal. To gain the maximum potential benefits from chocolate, Crozier suggests it may be advisable to refrain from milk products during that period.

"Presumably the epicatechins are binding to the milk proteins," he told New Scientist. "Dairy products may inhibit the body's absorption of flavonoids from other foods as well."

[luminous]

There are conflicting reports about interaction between milk and cocoa. This study concludes that milk does not significantly affect cocoa flavonoid bioavailability.

Milk Does Not Affect the Bioavailability of Cocoa Powder Flavonoid in Healthy Human

http://content.karge...;file=000111473

Well, that's great news! I certainly prefer the taste of milk chocolate over dark chocolate.

Here's something to consider:

Flavanol content of cocoa cut during manufacturing

18-Apr-2008 - Alkalising cocoa beans reduces the total flavanoid content by two-thirds, reducing the antioxidant potential of the product, according to new research.

http://www.foodprodu...ol-alkalisation

Does anyone here know of a brand of cocoa that does not undergo flavanoid reduction from alkalization?

[celavie]

Does anyone here know of a brand of cocoa that does not undergo flavanoid reduction from alkalization?

Anything that describes itself as "Dutched" cocoa powder will have been alkylized. Alkylization makes the cocoa less bitter and easioer to dissiolve in water, amongst other things. A pure cocoa powder (organinc or not) shoudl not have been alkylized. I think it's probably a case of doing your research on individual sources, and deciding if the claims they make seem credible.

If all else fails, there's the water soluability test. If that test means anything at all I've got a _fynamite_ batch of cocoa powder here! ;-)

Heat processing is the other potential problem in terms of nutritional loss. As I mentioned above, the organic cocoa powder I sourced makes a big deal out of being cold pressed, etc.