living foods,alternative health
Chocolate - Superfood or Poison?
Everybody is talking about chocolate: dark chocolate, milk chocolate, raw chocolate. Chocolate has long been seen as delicious, exciting, erotic and sensual. In fact, the excitement over raw chocolate makes one believe that people cannot live without it and must indulge to become super healthy and happy.
Chocolate has been labelled as nature’s Viagra, an aphrodisiac, a superfood, the number-one weight loss and high-energy food, a craving alleviator, non-addictive, a mood elevator, nature’s Prozac, and, in the case of raw chocolate (cacao), free from hydrogenated fats, dairy, wheat and gluten – and, of course, vegan. It is touted as packed with antioxidants, containing over 300 chemically identifiable compounds, and the list goes on. Statements such as eat less, lose weight and live more, heal and open your heart, alleviate depression, increase your sensuality and beauty, double your joy, nourish your brain and accelerate your nutrition lead many to partake of this elixir with a false sense of security.
No doubt every human on earth would love to reap these benefits from one recreational food. But is this possible? If you were to ask researchers, Dr. Paul Crawford and Dr. Michael Simmons, they would point to their findings (reported in the Journal of Family Practice 2006; 55:62) exposing a direct link between migraines and chocolate consumption.
To be fair to the bean, it is packed with antioxidants, sulphur (beauty mineral), magnesium (brain mineral), monomine oxidase enzyme inhibitors (mao – neuro- transmitters), phenylethylamine (PEA – mood elevator), anandamide (the bliss chemical), arginine (nature’s Viagra), tryptophan (anti-depressant amino acid), polyphenols and epicatechins (antioxidants), dopamine and serotonin (anti-depressant neurotransmitters), flavonol antioxidants, B vitamins and histamine. Yet there are many foods or substances that offer benefits and at the same time enhance health. One of the multiple concerns with chocolate consumption is that chocolate is always combined with sweetening agents, and even raw agave syrup will affect one’s blood sugar levels just as other sugars do. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, soda pop and chocolate are the two most commonly named pleasures in which diabetics indulge.
It has come to my attention that a very poisonous deadly chemical that should never be ingested is also present in this innocent looking cacao bean – caffeine. Caffeine is a noxious chemical that destroys nutrients and raises the impurity level of the blood. (See “A Boost with a Big Price” for the devastating effects of caffeine). It also harbours theophylline, which has similar destructive effects. This alone should immediately ring alarm bells and put people off from eating chocolate, whether raw or cooked, but their addiction to this narcotic called chocolate prevents them from doing so. Many will announce that if caffeine is raw, it is OK to eat. But let me warn you, it is not. I know this from professional and personal experience.
As a former sugar addict, I decided that I was missing out on the raw chocolate phenomenon that has been sweeping the health community. Trying to conquer my addiction, I decided to make my own sugarless concoction. I omitted the agave syrup that is so often used and set about making an unadulterated raw chocolate. I proudly made my first batch and put the thick, sensual substance into moulds. It tasted great before I chilled it, and more so once chilled. So far, so good. It had no effect on my blood sugar levels, or so I thought. My energy spiked and I decided that one piece of raw chocolate every day was just what I needed. However, after day three I noticed that I wanted to increase the small portion of chocolate that I allowed myself. Then I realized I was thinking about eating it throughout the day. I became very agitated and was unable to sleep at night. My sugar levels began to rise and fall and I realised that if I did not get this seductive treat out of my life, the caffeine would recapture my addictive tendency. Even though I knew that this food was bad for my health, I still craved it. I took drastic measures, threw away the chocolate and fasted. It took three to four days of consuming exclusively green juice before I felt my normal sunny self. I perceived that I had become aggressive yet withdrawn and very hyperactive whilst ingesting raw caffeine. Please take heed and learn from my experience – it is not worth risking your health for the sake of a quick high. If you believe that you are not affected in the same way, perhaps you are fooling yourself, since every analytical person who partakes of this enticing nectar inevitably begins to “fall in love” with it.
Well-known raw foodist Frederic Patenaude describes cacao as another stimulant disguised as a healthy food. This is very true. He suggests carob as an alternative to cacao. Carob powder is made from a fruit and is a mineral-rich food, as opposed to the cacao bean, which has a stimulating effect. Cacao beans are not really a food. If you came upon this plant in nature, you would consume the fruit and most likely discard the seeds. When consumed, they do not even vaguely taste like raw cacao, let alone the sugary candy we grew up loving. In the process of making them more palatable, the cacao beans are fermented and then, of course, a multitude of other ingredients, (topping the list is some form of sugar) are added to this substance. Those living food advocates promoting cacao are misleading the public by suggesting that such sweeteners as agave syrup are lower glycemic and not as harmful as commonly known culprits such as sugar, corn syrup, honey and maple syrup. All sugars have the inherent propensity to affect blood-sugar levels and promote disease.
Diet by Design: Fruits, Nuts and Natural Foods offers insight into chocolate and cocoa by exposing some of its ingredients. There are chemicals within chocolate known as methylxanthines which can be further classified as theobromine, caffeine and theophylline, all of which have deleterious effects on the body. These substances cause a host of symptoms including abnormal glandular growth, nervousness, depression, anxiety, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, itching, heart and circulatory issues, nervous disorders, osteoporosis, birthing abnormalities, stomach maladies nausea and vomiting. Further, all three are classed as notorious carcinogens (cancer- causing agents). A carcinogenic mould called aflatoxin has been found in large quantities on cacao beans. Cocoa butter and other active ingredients in processed and raw chocolate provoke acne outbreaks and dermal infection in a great number of consumers.
As soon as the cacao beans are processed into powder and chocolate, sanitation is at risk. Chocolate and cocoa powder are particularly likely to be laced with animal feces, hair and insects. Other creatures, including rodents and insects, are attracted to chocolate to feed their addictions and it has been long understood that there would be an astronomical cost involved in removing their excretions and remains from the unprocessed chocolate beans. Governments around the world have unconscionably permitted up to ten percent by weight of this vile matter to be part of any finished product such as chocolate candy, cocoa, chocolate syrup, brownie and cake mixes and the like. Following is a quote from Poison with a Capitol C: “…every time you eat a chocolate bar, it may contain a rodent hair and 16 insect parts and still be approved” as an edible food and “for chocolate powder or cakes there must not be more than 75 insect fragments in three tablespoons of powder.” Additionally, “4% of cacao beans may be infested by insects. Animal excreta must not exceed 10 milligrams per pound.” What more can one say? All this comes with the blessing of governments worldwide.
It is assumed that those of you reading this manifesto against chocolate are also serious health-seekers who probably desire a little fun in your life. Providing that you are not currently in the conquest of disease, there is a wide cross-section of tropical fruits, scrumptious berries, creamy delights like avocado, cherimoya, sapote (black sapote has been dubbed “the chocolate pudding fruit”), mamey, and nuts and seeds that can be ground and homogenized into delicious delicacies with pure stevia added as a health-building sweetener. This gathering, along with other real foods, contains all the beneficial elements that chocolate is said to provide. As a matter of fact, some of the tropical fruits and berries possess far more antioxidants, phytochemicals, disease preventers and anti-aging agents than cocoa beans. Most important is that you can realize superior health without compromise. In life, it is important that we live with integrity and do not squander our precious time on earth.
The simple fact is that raw chocolate, or any other food that contains any form of caffeine or stimulant, is very detrimental to your health. It is a false food – PERIOD. It is as simple as that. Keep away from these poisons and do not try to justify to yourself or others why you feel that you need to consume foods with stimulants, putrid debris and carcinogens. Just realize and understand that good health comes from consuming a clean, wholesome, living raw food vegan diet and by expressing love and compassion on a daily basis. This is your body and your life: Look after it, since it is the only one you have. Be assured that a positive outlook, eating a healthy living- food diet and enjoying life with passion will make you sparkle with vitality. No chocolate needed.
Wishing you health and happiness,
Alicia Hall
Hippocrates Health Educator
Volume 26 Issue 4
Chocolate has been labelled as nature’s Viagra, an aphrodisiac, a superfood, the number-one weight loss and high-energy food, a craving alleviator, non-addictive, a mood elevator, nature’s Prozac, and, in the case of raw chocolate (cacao), free from hydrogenated fats, dairy, wheat and gluten – and, of course, vegan. It is touted as packed with antioxidants, containing over 300 chemically identifiable compounds, and the list goes on. Statements such as eat less, lose weight and live more, heal and open your heart, alleviate depression, increase your sensuality and beauty, double your joy, nourish your brain and accelerate your nutrition lead many to partake of this elixir with a false sense of security.
No doubt every human on earth would love to reap these benefits from one recreational food. But is this possible? If you were to ask researchers, Dr. Paul Crawford and Dr. Michael Simmons, they would point to their findings (reported in the Journal of Family Practice 2006; 55:62) exposing a direct link between migraines and chocolate consumption.
To be fair to the bean, it is packed with antioxidants, sulphur (beauty mineral), magnesium (brain mineral), monomine oxidase enzyme inhibitors (mao – neuro- transmitters), phenylethylamine (PEA – mood elevator), anandamide (the bliss chemical), arginine (nature’s Viagra), tryptophan (anti-depressant amino acid), polyphenols and epicatechins (antioxidants), dopamine and serotonin (anti-depressant neurotransmitters), flavonol antioxidants, B vitamins and histamine. Yet there are many foods or substances that offer benefits and at the same time enhance health. One of the multiple concerns with chocolate consumption is that chocolate is always combined with sweetening agents, and even raw agave syrup will affect one’s blood sugar levels just as other sugars do. According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, soda pop and chocolate are the two most commonly named pleasures in which diabetics indulge.
It has come to my attention that a very poisonous deadly chemical that should never be ingested is also present in this innocent looking cacao bean – caffeine. Caffeine is a noxious chemical that destroys nutrients and raises the impurity level of the blood. (See “A Boost with a Big Price” for the devastating effects of caffeine). It also harbours theophylline, which has similar destructive effects. This alone should immediately ring alarm bells and put people off from eating chocolate, whether raw or cooked, but their addiction to this narcotic called chocolate prevents them from doing so. Many will announce that if caffeine is raw, it is OK to eat. But let me warn you, it is not. I know this from professional and personal experience.
As a former sugar addict, I decided that I was missing out on the raw chocolate phenomenon that has been sweeping the health community. Trying to conquer my addiction, I decided to make my own sugarless concoction. I omitted the agave syrup that is so often used and set about making an unadulterated raw chocolate. I proudly made my first batch and put the thick, sensual substance into moulds. It tasted great before I chilled it, and more so once chilled. So far, so good. It had no effect on my blood sugar levels, or so I thought. My energy spiked and I decided that one piece of raw chocolate every day was just what I needed. However, after day three I noticed that I wanted to increase the small portion of chocolate that I allowed myself. Then I realized I was thinking about eating it throughout the day. I became very agitated and was unable to sleep at night. My sugar levels began to rise and fall and I realised that if I did not get this seductive treat out of my life, the caffeine would recapture my addictive tendency. Even though I knew that this food was bad for my health, I still craved it. I took drastic measures, threw away the chocolate and fasted. It took three to four days of consuming exclusively green juice before I felt my normal sunny self. I perceived that I had become aggressive yet withdrawn and very hyperactive whilst ingesting raw caffeine. Please take heed and learn from my experience – it is not worth risking your health for the sake of a quick high. If you believe that you are not affected in the same way, perhaps you are fooling yourself, since every analytical person who partakes of this enticing nectar inevitably begins to “fall in love” with it.
Well-known raw foodist Frederic Patenaude describes cacao as another stimulant disguised as a healthy food. This is very true. He suggests carob as an alternative to cacao. Carob powder is made from a fruit and is a mineral-rich food, as opposed to the cacao bean, which has a stimulating effect. Cacao beans are not really a food. If you came upon this plant in nature, you would consume the fruit and most likely discard the seeds. When consumed, they do not even vaguely taste like raw cacao, let alone the sugary candy we grew up loving. In the process of making them more palatable, the cacao beans are fermented and then, of course, a multitude of other ingredients, (topping the list is some form of sugar) are added to this substance. Those living food advocates promoting cacao are misleading the public by suggesting that such sweeteners as agave syrup are lower glycemic and not as harmful as commonly known culprits such as sugar, corn syrup, honey and maple syrup. All sugars have the inherent propensity to affect blood-sugar levels and promote disease.
Diet by Design: Fruits, Nuts and Natural Foods offers insight into chocolate and cocoa by exposing some of its ingredients. There are chemicals within chocolate known as methylxanthines which can be further classified as theobromine, caffeine and theophylline, all of which have deleterious effects on the body. These substances cause a host of symptoms including abnormal glandular growth, nervousness, depression, anxiety, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, itching, heart and circulatory issues, nervous disorders, osteoporosis, birthing abnormalities, stomach maladies nausea and vomiting. Further, all three are classed as notorious carcinogens (cancer- causing agents). A carcinogenic mould called aflatoxin has been found in large quantities on cacao beans. Cocoa butter and other active ingredients in processed and raw chocolate provoke acne outbreaks and dermal infection in a great number of consumers.
As soon as the cacao beans are processed into powder and chocolate, sanitation is at risk. Chocolate and cocoa powder are particularly likely to be laced with animal feces, hair and insects. Other creatures, including rodents and insects, are attracted to chocolate to feed their addictions and it has been long understood that there would be an astronomical cost involved in removing their excretions and remains from the unprocessed chocolate beans. Governments around the world have unconscionably permitted up to ten percent by weight of this vile matter to be part of any finished product such as chocolate candy, cocoa, chocolate syrup, brownie and cake mixes and the like. Following is a quote from Poison with a Capitol C: “…every time you eat a chocolate bar, it may contain a rodent hair and 16 insect parts and still be approved” as an edible food and “for chocolate powder or cakes there must not be more than 75 insect fragments in three tablespoons of powder.” Additionally, “4% of cacao beans may be infested by insects. Animal excreta must not exceed 10 milligrams per pound.” What more can one say? All this comes with the blessing of governments worldwide.
It is assumed that those of you reading this manifesto against chocolate are also serious health-seekers who probably desire a little fun in your life. Providing that you are not currently in the conquest of disease, there is a wide cross-section of tropical fruits, scrumptious berries, creamy delights like avocado, cherimoya, sapote (black sapote has been dubbed “the chocolate pudding fruit”), mamey, and nuts and seeds that can be ground and homogenized into delicious delicacies with pure stevia added as a health-building sweetener. This gathering, along with other real foods, contains all the beneficial elements that chocolate is said to provide. As a matter of fact, some of the tropical fruits and berries possess far more antioxidants, phytochemicals, disease preventers and anti-aging agents than cocoa beans. Most important is that you can realize superior health without compromise. In life, it is important that we live with integrity and do not squander our precious time on earth.
The simple fact is that raw chocolate, or any other food that contains any form of caffeine or stimulant, is very detrimental to your health. It is a false food – PERIOD. It is as simple as that. Keep away from these poisons and do not try to justify to yourself or others why you feel that you need to consume foods with stimulants, putrid debris and carcinogens. Just realize and understand that good health comes from consuming a clean, wholesome, living raw food vegan diet and by expressing love and compassion on a daily basis. This is your body and your life: Look after it, since it is the only one you have. Be assured that a positive outlook, eating a healthy living- food diet and enjoying life with passion will make you sparkle with vitality. No chocolate needed.
Wishing you health and happiness,
Alicia Hall
Hippocrates Health Educator
Volume 26 Issue 4
Tags: about, aliveraw, and, as, become, been, believe, cannot, chocolate., chocolate:
Comment
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Comment by Glen Colello on May 3, 2009 at 11:15pm
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I enjoy Raw Chocolate -I get this stance but I feel better when I have a cacao smoothies or a peice of chocolate
Is the bad worse than a food high in magnesium, iron, chromium, manganese, zinc?
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Comment by Kiani on March 16, 2009 at 7:12pm
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Thank you so much for the informative post. I have been trying to inform others of the dangers of raw chocolate with little results. You are right about eating fresh cacao beans. It is the horrible thing I have ever tasted. I may never be able to eat chocolate again. Carob is much better. I like the Chocolate Sapotes. YUM! There is another fruit growing here that tastes like chocolate, but I haven't been able to find the scientific name so I can look for more information on it.
I don't believe the hype about chocolate opening my heart. Only I can do that. There are other foods that work as aphrodisiacs or such that don't contain harmful caffeine/theobromine.
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Comment by Perry on October 26, 2008 at 4:44pm
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Hey,
What I don't understand about the raw chocolate hype is; Why are people soaking all nuts, exept raw chocolate? No wonder that the beans, nips , powder and butter contains loads of toxics. And are all tests on raw chocolate done on soaked nutes or dormant nuts? And is caffeine in it`s raw state so toxic? And what about a whole food? If you isolate chemicals, they probbably will be toxic for your body, but caffeine is not the only chemical in chocolate. So maybe there ar other chemicals in chocolate that desolve the problem. An d maybe when you soaked the raw chocolate beans, they loose those dangerous chemicals. I want to know if there are any test results on this questions.
Yours
Perry Roosen
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Comment by Olive on August 24, 2008 at 2:34pm -
Maria,
I agree with you completely.
There must be balance involved when it comes to our eating habits.
But I do believe that its important to present both sides of the issue of any given food.
I bought a bag of (supposedly raw) cacao nibs. They were hard and crunchy and slightly bitter.
I munched out of the bag a little every day or so until the bag was gone. I had no cravings whatsoever after it was gone...*shrug* Maybe it depends on how sensitive your body is to caffeine ? I didnt get sick from it at all...so couldnt have been any aflatoxins on it. Should they tell us not to eat spinach too because it might have e-coli on it ? Some times these scare tactics just drive me nuts, however, i do think its better to be informed that to not be.
Just wait till I start posting about spirulina and the fact that it has the ability to hinder b12 absorbtion (hehe). I want answers ! How can anyone recommend to not eat meat and then tell them to take spirulina with every meal ? Thats just lovely ! You better have a darn good answer ! With science backing it up !
Can you tell Im just a little perturbed about this ? hahaha...Oh well...this too shall pass.
~Olive~
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Comment by Maria Komitska on June 27, 2008 at 2:21pm -
I have a question. What about balance?
Let's say a person could be called "silly" to reject looking into raw, living foods as a wonderful way to change his life and being (believe me - there are a lot of those around me) - not even opening to the possibility. But isn't it the same with a raw person saying: "This particular creation of nature is false food". Can we ever achieve perfection and what kind of perfection are we looking for? Can you live in a sterile world with no poisons and no pollution? After all there are people that live with no food, just breathing and gazing at the sun - isn't any kind of food some poison stimulating us?
All that is around us is our live and perfection for me is being able to know yourself, love yourself and be in peace with the human nature you have. I believe that when my mind is at peace and balanced - there's nothing around me that could steal my well being. And going back to the chocolate theme - if I'm happy with the way I am I would probably not indulge in increasing the amount of the stimulant and would be satisfied with what's before me. I've experienced that - I try to listen to my body and I've noticed the high I got from even a small amount of chocolate. I recognized that it's a different feeling and just accepted it. The next day I didn't crave the chocolate. I felt I didn't need that feeling. I didn't have any unpleasant effect form it. Some days I remember about chocolate - and most of the time because I receive so much newsletters and almost every day there is an article about chocolate. But I don't crave it. I know what I receive from it. I still remember clearly the feeling from the last time I ate a small amount. Maybe with time - when I forget what it felt like eating chocolate - I would eat a peace again.
But if I have any psychological problem - it might reappear in my physical being by stuffing myself with whatever is stimulating for me. If I decided that a small piece of chocolate is just the right thing I need every day and knowing that chocolate is a stimulant - did I decided that based only on "the missing food in my diet" or is there something else missing from my life?
My point is - we live in a quantum universe - and being quantum for me is not rejecting and turning back to anything around us. At a given moment it might not be "good" for me, but in the next one - it might be. But if I decide to reject it forever I might stay forever blind to the benefits it has when used consciously and balanced.
I believe that it's very important to educate myself constantly. And it's so good that these days we have access to so much information. But the main point would be - use the information and create the balance in your life that only you can create. Nobody else knows better than you in your body.
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