Brews N News

Chocolate Toothpaste?

Chocolate could help prevent tooth decay, according to scientists at Japan's Osaka University. The husks of the cocoa beans from which chocolate is made contain an antibacterial agent that fights plaque. These husks are usually discarded in chocolate production, but in future they could be added back in to chocolate to make it dental-friendly.

They concluded that the cavity-fighting action of cocoa bean husks isn't enough to offset decay caused by chocolate's high sugar content, however, so chocolate isn't going to replace toothpaste any time soon.

Are You a Chocoholic?

According to the Virginia-based Chocolate Manufacturers Association and National Confectioners Association, Americans eat approximately 12 pounds of chocolate a year.

"Chocolate is the number one craved food, so this is sort of an in-house model of addiction," says cognitive neuroscientist Dana Small at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago.

But the label “chocoholic” doesn't theoretically mean that you're addicted to the stuff. Scientists have found that, unlike alcohol or other addictive substances, chocolate does not actually produce the chemical changes in the brain or changes in the body, like tolerance and withdrawal, that are associated with addiction.

Yet to the self-confessed chocoholic, the addiction is very real. Some chocoholics may find themselves pacing the floor, wondering where their next chocolate “fix” is going to come from, or obsessing about chocolate, day in, day out.

It is possible to cure your cravings, without suffering the terrible withdrawals that you may fear. Some people may even be afraid to beat their cravings because they fear a life without chocolate! But it doesn't have to be like this – you can enjoy a small piece of chocolate every now and then without needing to eat the whole block.

Read the full story here...

Don’t Be Tricked By Your Halloween Treats!

Make the Switch to Fair Trade Chocolate and Help End Child Slavery on Cocoa Farms

During Halloween commercial chocolate manufacturers enjoy their BIGGEST sales to children. Unfortunately, chocolate is no treat for the hundreds of thousands of child cocoa laborers that work helping their families on farms or even toil as slaves.

There is a solution -- Fair Trade Certified Chocolate! Fair Trade guarantees farmers a fair price for their cocoa, so they can feed their families and keep their kids in school. Fair Trade does not allow abusive child labor or forced labor. Click here to read the full article...

Download a spooky door sign proclaiming your home a Fair Trade Trick-or-Treat household, along with information and materials to share with your friends and neighbors about how they can get involved.

Need candy to hand out at the door? Order it from us online! 

Fair Trade, An Alternative for Small Farmers and Workers

Fair Trade is an initiative for small farmers and wage workers in the South, who have been restrained in their economical and/or social development by the conditions of trade.

Fair Trade is an innovative, market-based approach to sustainable development. It helps family farmers who live in developing countries, gain direct access to international markets. Fair Trade also helps these farmers develop the business capacity necessary to compete in the global marketplace.

Fair Trade teaches farmers how to market their own harvests and receive a fair price for their products. This leads to a higher standard of living for both the farmer and his family, as well as the community. Fair Trade empowers farming families to take care of themselves - without developing dependency on foreign aid.

The Fair Trade Certified Label(TM) guarantees:

A fair price ~ Farmers receive a fair price for their product, which allows them to properly feed their familes and enables them to send their children to school instead of working in the fields.

Quality products ~ Because farmers receive a fair price for their product, they can avoid cost-cutting practices that sacrifice quality. You are guaranteed to receive the highest-quality products, when a Fair Trade Certified Label(TM) is attached.

Environmental Stewardship ~ Most Fair Trade coffee, tea and chocolate available in the USA is certified organic and fair trade. When you purchase these products you are helping to maintain biodiversity, provide shelter for migratory birds and helping to reduce global warming.

Look for Fair Trade Certifed (TM) label. By choosing Organic Planet's Fair Trade products you are directly supporting a better life for farming families through fair prices, direct trade, community development and environmental stewardship.

To learn more about the numerous benefits of purchasing Fair Trade Certified(TM) products, visit TransfairUSA.

Click here to download a copy of the Fair Trade Standards for Cocoa.

Chocolate and Flavonoids

What are Flavonoids?

Flavonoids belong to a group of compounds that have antioxidant activity. Research shows that antioxidants may help cells reduce damage caused by free radicals. The presence of flavonoids in plants is dependent upon several factors including the degree of ripeness, processing and storage.

Flavonoids in Chocolate

There are two types of procyanidins present in cocoa; monomeric and oligomeric. Cocoa and chocolate are abundant in the higher oligomeric procyanidins.

Flavonoids’ Potential Health Effects

Some studies suggest that high intakes of flavonoids are associated with the maintenance of cardiovascular health.

Other studies have shown that cocoa flavonoids and certain chocolates may increase low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation as well as modulate platelet activation, which may positively affect the balance between certain hormones. 

Company Wins with Organic Chocolate

Former one-man operation has a staff of 30 and finds demand in U.S., overseas

BY GREG STILES
The Associated Press

September 20, 2005

ASHLAND -- In the three years since Frederick Schilling moved his fledgling organic-chocolate company to the Rogue Valley from Colorado, Dagoba Chocolate has snowballed into a thriving international business with distribution on four continents.

Schilling, 34, once hand-poured and hand-wrapped each chocolate bar. Now Dagoba is approaching 750,000 pounds of chocolate in its manufacturing and wholesaling operation annually.

Dagoba, which means a dome-shaped Buddhist monument, moved to a 3,000-foot Central Point facility from Colorado, then moved this summer into a 14,000-square-foot factory that now includes a retail area. Read the full story here...

Purchase Dagoba Chocolate from OrganicPlanetOnline.com

Can Chocolate Fight Diabetes, Too?

A new study in Italy suggests that consuming flavonoid-rich dark chocolate instead of flavonoid-free white chocolate could not only lower blood pressure and cholesterol—benefits suggested by some prior studies—but also improve the body's processing of sugar. That, in theory, could guard against diabetes. Is dark chocolate emerging as a health food?  Get the full story here...

Chocolate and Its Health Benefits

When you think of chocolate, do you associate it as a "junk food"?  For all you chocolate lovers, this article may just make your day!;

Chocolate is a plant-based food that contains several minerals such as magnesium, copper, zinc, and iron.  In addition, it contains a group of phytochemicals called polyphenols.  Phytochemicals have been recently shown to possess antioxidant properties.  "Antioxidant properties" means that it possesses little chemicals that help fight off certain diseases.

Now, this article is not telling you it is okay to make chocolate a major part of your diet.  What it is telling you that it is perfectly fine to include it as part of a well balanced diet. 

The plant phenols found in chocolate include a subclass known as flavonoids.  Flavonoids are found in tea, wine, cocoa, and chocolate. Studies have shown that flavonoids seem to have a positive effect impact on heart health.

Chocolate flavonoids possess a very unique chemical structure compared to other plant-based foods and beverages. These flavonoids are actually rarely found in food sources. But, of biggest interest is the fact that they are particularly powerful antioxidants.

The polyphenols in chocolate have been reported to decrease the oxidation of LDL cholesterol both in vitro and in humans. This finding is especially important in regards to heart health. LDL cholesterol levels have been linked as a potential risk factor for heart disease.

"Isn't chocolate high in fat?", you ask. "And, isn't it saturated fat?" Yes, and yes. However, studies have shown that chocolate is no longer a concern in regards to its saturated fat content. Why?

Early on, it appeared that ALL saturated fats had a negative effect on cholesterol levels. New research shows that not all saturated fats act the same way in the body. The type of fat contained in cocoa butter include oleic acid (a monounsaturated fat - heart healthy) and stearic and palmitic acids (both saturated fats).

Stearic acid has unique properties as a saturated fat. Stearic acid's effect on blood cholesterol is neutral - it neither raises or lowers cholesterol. Other saturated fats increase blood cholesterol levels. In case you are wondering what it is exactly that makes a fat saturated vs. unsaturated, it quite simply is the chemical structure. So, while stearic acid's chemical structure defines it as a saturated fat, it does not effect cholesterol levels the same as other saturated fats.

Conclusion - Chocolate eaten in moderation may actually contribute to a heart healthy diet. Plus, indulging a little will likely boost your spirits.

Enjoy!

Written by Laura S. Garrett who is a registered dietitian,
fitness trainer, and owner of www.NutrActive.com
© Copyright February 2000. All rights reserved.

Saving Chocolate, Saving Monkeys

Brazil’s chocolate-producing cabruca forests provide protection for endangered golden-headed lion tamarins.

In a small region of Brazil’s Atlantic Forest along the coast of Southern Bahia, it’s easy to spot cocoa trees (Theobroma cacao), many of which are nestled under the canopy of relatively intact rainforest. Cacao provides the principle ingredient in chocolate, cocoa beans. The system of planting cacao under the shade of natural forest is known locally as cabruca, and is prevalent in Southern Bahia.

Today, Southern Bahia’s cocoa growing region is a mosaic of cabruca forests, mono-crop agriculture, pasture for cattle ranching, and a few remaining fragments of lowland Atlantic Forest. These remaining forests, along with cabruca and some second growth, are home to the endangered golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas), a small arboreal primate endemic to Southern Bahia’s lowland forests.

These beautiful gold-and-black monkeys are declining because of continued habitat loss and severe habitat fragmentation. Populations living in small isolated forest islands are vulnerable to extinction and are apt to lose their genetic variability. Genetic variability is the key to resisting disease and surviving environmental catastrophes, and populations with low genetic diversity become more susceptible to local extinction.

To promote the conservation of this rapidly dwindling environment, researchers at the Smithsonian have begun to collaborate with a local NGO in Southern Bahia, the Institute for the Social and Environmental Studies of Southern Bahia (IESB). IESB is actively involved in helping to create sustainable communities, providing environmental education, and assisting landowners with the creation and management of private reserves.

Fortunately for the lion tamarins, as well as many other endangered and endemic species to the coastal forests of Southern Bahia, the cocoa crisis may be slowing its pace. Cocoa prices are again beginning to rise, and newer, disease-resistant varieties are now available.

Learn more about these fascinating lion tamarins and the work that is being done to protect them at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park website.

Chocolate's Potential Health Benefits – and its Effect on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients

by Patti Schmidt
ImmuneSupport.com
03-29-2002

Researchers have some news for chocolate lovers: it may be good for you. Scientists reported preliminary evidence recently that cocoa and other chocolates may keep high blood pressure down, your blood flowing and your heart healthy.

The research, the latest which correlates eating flavonoid-rich foods with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease(1), was presented in February at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston. Full story...