Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

Shasha — Tue, 15 May 2007 16:38:27 GMT

Hi, MS people love chocolate. I could be the magnesium in it, endomorphs, increased blood flow to the brain, copper in it , antioxidant etc. My MS kicked in when I ate a chocolate covered pretzel and orange juice. The hydrogenated fat may have been the problem. Also alot of chocolate may have wheat in it which I also cannot have due to celiac. I I have not had chocolate for 17 years with fears of my MS kicking in. I would like to find a nonfat, no wheat source of it.

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

RobC — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 07:51:33 GMT

One thing Dr Mercola does not mention surprisingly is that chocolate has high amounts of lead, especially dark. It is not clear how it gets in the cocoa but it appears somewhere between the initial and final processing. The shell has high lead but this is stripped off the bean. There is a fermentation process also. There was an article on this in Science News awhile back.

As far as the milk effect, yes it may bind with some good things but it may also bind with the lead and possibly aluminum and other metals present. So I wouldn't worry so much about it, if it tastes good. And I'd use moderation because of the lead. And a little sugar isn't so bad either because the fat will dampen the absorption anyway. I'd rather have a little sugar than an artifical sweetener.

Also if processed with alkali, it is worthless.

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

DrKaren — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 20:01:06 GMT

I just wanted to share a wonderful source for the "minimally-processed dark chocolate" that this article calls for.

It is made in a place called Yachana Lodge in the Amazon and is simply pure cacao plus a bit of agave sweetener - not too much. And since it's so pure -- it doesn't melt, even in the Amazonian heat! ;-) For more about the chocolate, go here. (Or if the link doesn't work: http://www.yachanagourmet.com/products.htm ).

The Lodge makes this as part of an educational project for students living in the Amazon funded by a non-profit called Funedesin (FUNEDESIN is cited as a world leader in sustainable development and conservation) -- their whole project is quite amazing and it's worth checking their website in general.The projects and high school are run for and by peoples of the Amazon.

Just wanted to share a magical place with fabulous chocolate ;-)

Karen

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

Witch Doctor — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:52:46 GMT

Yes it is true the study is funded by Mars. And most of the studies about resveratrol are funded by pharmaceuticals. Most of what we know about disease processes of diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimers, and body processes like inflammation, bone loss, hormonal imbalances, etc.. are funded by the medical or pharmaceutical industry. And most of what we know about the beneficial effects of so many foods are funded by the food industry.

It seems we are happy to learn from their research and quick to bash them. Why paint everything with one brush? Why not take it all on face value, instead? If they weren't funding these studies, we would know very little. We don't have to buy their products.

Certainly, be aware that the funding source possibly biases the data. But others will come along and look deeper, happy to expand on or refute the data. Since the data is made public, open to scrutiny, it is a good thing.

I say don't look a gift horse in the mouth. They have a profit incentive, to be sure, but at least in a free market it is a two way transaction. No one is forcing you to buy their product - EXCEPT WHEN GOVERNMENT GETS INVOLVED.

Just my opinion.
Duane

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

Vera_203 — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 12:17:17 GMT

Lindor has a choclate bar made from 85% cocoa. It is pretty darn good, I must say. That is my vice..Chocolate, especially that Lindt bar. Has anyone tried it? Delicious!

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

mrlee — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 07:55:59 GMT

I have learned 85+% cocoa is the most beneficial, no more than 10-100 g/d. I wonder what g.r.a.s. additives Mars corp. are using to block the bitter taste? There is no benifit from milk chocolate unfortunately. There is some good chocolate out there as some of the other members have noted, you just have to look carefully. I actually prefer the more bitter taste since I've changed my habits. Cacao nibs are pretty good too.

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

rawsomeperson — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:19:32 GMT

I am in a position to have some influence on whether a project will be started in my city where young children will be given lollipops containing ingredients which supposedly fight bacteria that cause cavities. I am one of two people that voted against this but now I am on a search to find out what I can about the ingredients. That is how I came up with this article as the first ingredient is hydrogenated starch hydrolyate (HSH). The other ingredients are citric natural orange flavor, colors FD & C yellow #6, and acesulfame potassium. It is obvious the colors are not good but can anyone give me information on the other ingredients?

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

Pat Ormsby — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 05:27:47 GMT

Does anyone here know about cacao mass? I presume it is processed somehow. Is there any way to tell if it has been alkali processed or otherwise made unhealthy? Lindt has a dark chocolate bar which is 99% cacao mass with a smidgen of sugar. It is eminently tasty. Meiji has a 99% cacao mass bar with no sugar (some emulsifier, I think). Lotte has a 99% cacao bar, but they cheated and added a bit of sucralose. For Valentines Day, I gently melted some pure cacao mass, added a bit of stevia with coconut and almonds, and set aside half the batch, to which I added a 70% cacao mass bar for people unaccustomed to unsweetened chocolate. Then I poured it all into heart-shaped molds. I gave some to everyone I met that day. They raved. Word has gotten out in Japan that dark, high cacao mass chocolate is healthy and can help control weight. My experience is that a little piece (10 g) in the afternoon satisfies my appetite nicely.

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

Sammy_203 — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:06:38 GMT

As a Mark's Daily Apple article states, most popular American chocolate candy "is hydrogenated oil, sugar, chemicals, and some cheap cocoa powder and flavoring. It is not chocolate - it is addictive junk, but it’s not chocolate."

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

Josh Rubin — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 00:38:19 GMT

Yes I agree, straight chocolate is very healthy for the body and brain. But, companies ruin it with sugar and all the other crap that they put in it!

re: re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

MarksDailyApple — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 21:03:08 GMT

Yet another great example of the food industry taking what could be healthy and ruining it with cheap ingredients, dishonest marketing and over-processing. Most American chocolate is a joke - not really chocolate at all, but an addictive, deadly blend of trans fat, sugar, chemicals and, oh yes...a little bit of cheap cocoa powder or flavoring. True chocolate is so decadent, you really only need a bit, and you can feel its effects. In fact, I'd recommend chocolate over wine for people looking to boost antioxidant intake - chocolate doesn't have the addictive nature, toxicity and high simple carbohydrate/glycemic impact of alcohol. It's nice to finally see the kind of chocolate one can enjoy in Europe making its way to U.S. shelves. And Nestle, Mars, et al are in a panic (as they should be for shamelessly shilling junk at us for so many years and billing it as "chocolate). For a fun rant check out the Fuming Fuji's expose of the latest panicked marketing attempt by Nestle

To see just how manipulative and Pavlovian food marketing gets, visit www.foodprocessing.com.

Cheers from the gang at Mark's Daily Apple! Stay healthy!

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

mmc88121 — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:59:32 GMT

The major problem I have with this study is that it is funded my Mars. These are the people who make M & M's, Mars' bars and other chocolates with high Fructose Corn syrup added to them. To me it sounds like another marketing ploy.

mmc88121

re: Can Chocolate Benefit Your Brain?

Russ Bianchi — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 19:37:34 GMT

Naturally occurring fats and oils (olive oil, nut oils, un-messed-with plant oils) are GOOD FOR YOU.

Representations that domestic pesticide laden, genetically modified, partially or wholly hydrogenated, crookedly lobbied change of legal names (rapeseed to Canola) are OK to consumer is NOT TRUE.

Dr. Mercola is correct in his proven assertion the body KNOWS how to properly utilize and metabolize coconut fat, which was heavily lobbied against, through a ma$$ive PR campaign that went on for decades to bad mouth it in America by domestic corn, sunflower, rapeseed (canola), lard, and other chemically modified producers.

Cocoabutter, the naturally occurring fat in chocolate and cocoa, is very high in LDL, or bad cholesterol, REDUCING stearic acid.

Yes, chocolate products are caloric, but particularly lower sweetened versions are indeed beneficial to a balance and wholesome nutritional intake.

Remember, there is NO SUCH THING as "sugar free real chocolate", even the US Chocolate Manufacturer's Association ran away from and demanded FDA ban in the legal definition of 'chocolate' all polyol and sugar alcohol sweeteners (sorbitol, mannitol, maltitol, HSH, polydextrose, lactitol, xylitol, erythritol, d-tagatose, etc.) because they are diarrhea inducing, at very low ingestion levels, and maltitol in particular was DENIED Generally Recognize As Safe (GRAS) status from FDA, because it was proven to be CANER CAUSING).

Cocoabutter is also an excellent skin and dermal rejuvenating, and anti oxidative, and regularly used in burn victim wards for therapeutic restoration.

Like the T-Shirt suggests: "Chocolate - It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore."