Breaking News! Cocoa is good for health.

[sjmom2329]

<p><a href=“http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070311202024.htm[/url]”>http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070311202024.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

The health benefits of epicatechin, a compound found in cocoa, are so striking that it may rival penicillin and anaesthesia in terms of importance to public health, reports Marina Murphy in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI. Norman Hollenberg, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, told C&I that epicatechin is so important that it should be considered a vitamin. </p>

<p>Hollenberg has spent years studying the benefits of cocoa drinking on the Kuna people in Panama. He found that the risk of 4 of the 5 most common killer diseases: stroke, heart failure, cancer and diabetes, is reduced to less then 10% in the Kuna. They can drink up to 40 cups of cocoa a week. Natural cocoa has high levels of epicatechin.

</p>

<p>So not all of those chocolate cravings must be denied!</p>

[NYMomof2]

<p>I heard about flavonoids in cocoa several years ago. The cocoa that we can buy here does not have them. They are removed during processing because of their bitter flavor. The Mars Company has a process, called Cocoapro, which preserves them. Dove Dark Chocolate Promises were, at the time, the only widely available source of cocoa flavenoids. I’ve been buying them in large quantities for several years and encouraging my family to eat a couple every day. I use them to make hot chocolate. I don’t like chocolate, but I consider them medicine.</p>

[sjmom2329]

<p>

I don’t like chocolate, but I consider them medicine.

Me too! Actually, I love chocoloate, but now stick to dark varieties. I just thought this was the kind of news to brighten up everyone’s day.</p>

[dudedad]

<p>Red wine and dark chocolate play big parts in my food pyramid…</p>

[doubleplay]

<p>Is this just my imagination, but I swear I heard somewhere along the line that DARK chocolate was good for you.
My mom swears that eating a dark chocolate everyday keeps you ‘regular’. LOL</p>

[emeraldkity4]

<p>I don’t like chocolate so much- as a kid my favorite flavors were vanilla and caramel.
However- not only do we have coffee places that make Starbucks taste like crap , microbreweries, and the best seafood- we have myraid chocolatiers.</p>

<p>These are good- way better than Dove.
[My</a> Ds high school is across the street from their factory](<a href=“http://www.dilettante.com/DilettanteHistory/Dilettante_Family_History.aspx]My”>http://www.dilettante.com/DilettanteHistory/Dilettante_Family_History.aspx)</p>

<p>[Her</a> nephew was in my Ds graduating class & she donated boxes of truffles for the graduation-gorgeous](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/0202/living.html]Her”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/0202/living.html)</p>

<p>[is in the greatest old brick building that was actually built by Redhook only the owner wouldn’t sell it to them-](<a href=“http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/285690_theo20.html?source=mypi”>http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/food/285690_theo20.html?source=mypi&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>[dark chocolate has antioxidants](<a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/foodwine/2002953277_superfoods26.html”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/foodwine/2002953277_superfoods26.html&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>Besides Dilettante these are my favorite though
[Dagoba](<a href=“http://www.dagobachocolate.com/”>Hersheyland | Explore Hershey Products, Recipes, Crafts & More)
:)</p>

[coronax2]

<p>Speaking of “good” vs “not so good” chocolate. We took some friends from England camping last summer. The man tasted the Hershey’s chocolate bar we were using to make s’mores. He didn’t like it at all, and said it tasted like soap. My son, who isn’t a big chocolate fan anyway, now says the same thing about Hershey’s chocolate, down to the perfect British accent. </p>

<p>We also buy the Dove dark chocolate for the health benefits. I love that the article said it could be considered a vitamin. Pass me another!</p>

[yourworld]

<p>Would like more “technical” info:</p>

<h1>Is cocoa, cacao and dark chocolate the same thing, or one is the ingredient in the other ?</h1>

<h1>Is powered (turns into a drink by adding water) better than pure products like dark chocolate?</h1>

<h1>Is “dark chocolate” a regulated term eg, must consistent of % of cacao (??? see first question ) ? or anyone can say that on their advertizing ?</h1>

<h1>What commercial brand products are available ?</h1>

<p>Look forward to your replies. Thank You.</p>

[NYMomof2]

<p>If you are looking for the health benefits of chocolate, it is hard to find them in commercial products. Most processing of cocoa removes the healthful substances, because they have a bitter taste. The Mars Co. has developed and patented a process, called CocoaPro, which preserves the flavonoids. This is used for Dove Dark Chocolate Promises. There are also Cocoavia products, that are supposed to contain high levels of flavonoids. </p>

<p>I believe that cacao refers to the bean, cocoa to the powdered form, and dark chocolate is cocoa plus cocoa butter. I’m not absolutely sure, though.</p>

[mommusic]

<p>emeraldkity–OK, that settles it. We are going to Seattle this summer! DS will be interning at Microsoft so we thought about taking a vacation in that part of the world anyway. I love my son, but…chocolate! :D</p>

[mommusic]

<p>We had some “specialty” chocolates once–single-source bars from various exotic places. One of them retained a distinct “burlap bag” note.</p>

[ReneeV]

<p>I’ve never needed an excuse to consume chocolate! I moved from the PNW to Germany five years ago, and I must admit that since then I’ve become a chocolate snob…Belgian, Dutch, Swiss chocolate, little-known local chocolatiers…mm–mm–mm! You won’t catch me putting a Twix bar in my mouth unless it is a true emergency - that kind of stuff tastes like wax.</p>