Prescription-strength Chocolate
Prescription-strength Chocolate
I was in the natural foods store last week, buying a load of oatmeal, when I noticed some chocolate sitting near the register.
Upon asking the owner about them, I noted that his pupils dilated. He got a distinctly mellow look on his face. He pointed out that there were versions with less cocoa content, but he recommended the 70% and 77% cocoa versions. Prescription-strength, so to speak.
I got a few bars. Now I know why his pupils dilated.
It's really, really good stuff--mellow, smoooooth, and not sugary.
Chocolove . . . dark 70% and extra strong dark 77%. Bliss.
If you're dieting and restricting your chocolate intake, this might be just the thing for you. It's very satisfying, so you don't have to eat a whole pound of it to get high. Just a little square does it.
Upon asking the owner about them, I noted that his pupils dilated. He got a distinctly mellow look on his face. He pointed out that there were versions with less cocoa content, but he recommended the 70% and 77% cocoa versions. Prescription-strength, so to speak.
I got a few bars. Now I know why his pupils dilated.
It's really, really good stuff--mellow, smoooooth, and not sugary.
Chocolove . . . dark 70% and extra strong dark 77%. Bliss.
If you're dieting and restricting your chocolate intake, this might be just the thing for you. It's very satisfying, so you don't have to eat a whole pound of it to get high. Just a little square does it.
- Dominic Allan
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Out of curiosity I once bought some chocolate in a french supermarket that was 95%!!!!!!
It was revolting! Seriously bitter, not a trace of sweetnes. It had a dry powdery texture. I have heard talk of 98%.
We used it to make "chocolate wine", sounds strange and it is but worth trying.....
I can't remember the exact quatities but it's something like this:
empty a bottle of Port into a saucepan,
add half a teaspoon of cornflour, mixed with a little Port,
crumble in 4oz? 100g? of chocolate 80%+ is best.
Sugar if required, if you use 98% chocolate sugar isrequied.
Slowly heat the mixture until the chocolate desolves and serve.
The effect is like being wrapped in a Port dipped chocolate flavoured electric backet ( only without electricution, never dip electrical goods in liquids, even Port)
It's said to be an eighteenth century recipe.
It was revolting! Seriously bitter, not a trace of sweetnes. It had a dry powdery texture. I have heard talk of 98%.
We used it to make "chocolate wine", sounds strange and it is but worth trying.....
I can't remember the exact quatities but it's something like this:
empty a bottle of Port into a saucepan,
add half a teaspoon of cornflour, mixed with a little Port,
crumble in 4oz? 100g? of chocolate 80%+ is best.
Sugar if required, if you use 98% chocolate sugar isrequied.
Slowly heat the mixture until the chocolate desolves and serve.
The effect is like being wrapped in a Port dipped chocolate flavoured electric backet ( only without electricution, never dip electrical goods in liquids, even Port)
It's said to be an eighteenth century recipe.
- Joseph E. Smith
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- djm
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The big health thing with chocolate is to get the polyphenols in it. To get the good stuff it has to be a minimum 70% real chocolate from cocao. Its surprising when you start looking to find how little that is sold as chocolate has this much real chocolate in it. You are more likely to see this sold as semi-sweet/dark chocolate or as baker's chocolate, and not as milk chocolate. As you approach higher levels of chocolate, the amount of sweeteners/fillers decreases, and it gets really unpalatable. You wouldn't want to eat it straight, but use it to prepare your own chocolate perversions.
I keep reading stuff saying how unhealthy milk chocolate is for you versus the dark chocolate, but haven't found anything definitive. Any references by the better informed appreciated.
djm
I keep reading stuff saying how unhealthy milk chocolate is for you versus the dark chocolate, but haven't found anything definitive. Any references by the better informed appreciated.
djm
I'd rather be atop the foothills than beneath them.
- emmline
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If you look at a store such as Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, or any gourmet or health food type food store you should be able to find brands such as Green & Blacks, and others which label the choco %.missy wrote:hey Lamby - does that chocolate have any milk, whey, sodium caseinate, etc. in it? I'm always on the lookout for new chocolate for Nate, and since he's allergic to milk, we have to be very picky in what we get.
That's why he gets chocolate chip cookies made with Ghiardelli chips!!!
Most of those types are dairy free.
We also like a brand called Endangered Species choc. bars, and they come in many varieties--some with milk, some not.
I can't remember the brand, but one of the natural food lines makes a "milk" chocolate bar which is actually made with rice milk. No dairy, etc.
I think the only time you really have to watch out for casein appearing in "non-dairy" items is in the soy cheeses, where they use casein to make it melty, so it's really not dairy free.
- emmline
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Tragically Izz, either of those things alone (chocolate, red wine) is the makings for me to wake up with a whopping headache--do you think the two together might cancel each other out?izzarina wrote:Mmmm....I absolutely love that stuff. And you're right, just a little goes a very long way, especially when you eat it while drinking a glass of good red wine
- rebl_rn
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This is interesting. I searched a couple of places for articles about dark chocolate and I learned that not only is dark chocolate better than milk chocolate (which I knew), they advise avoiding drinking milk after eating dark chocolate because the milk interferes with absorption of antioxidants. I didn't know that - it kinda stinks because I love a glass of milk with my chocolate. Oh well.
Dark Chocolate Is Healthy Chocolate
Antioxidants in Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate -- but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk -- is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy's National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues. Their report appears in the Aug. 28 issue of Nature. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.
"Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate."
Translation: Say "Dark, please," when ordering at the chocolate counter. Don't even think of washing it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word "moderate" as you nibble.
Dark chocolate boosts antioxidant levels
Researchers in Scotland and Italy looked at the body's absorption of an antioxidant found in cocoa, called epicatechin, and a type of flavonoid.
Dark chocolate contains about twice the amount of flavonoids as milk chocolate, so 12 healthy volunteers were given either 100 grams of plain chocolate or 200 grams of milk chocolate. Some were also given 200 ml of milk to drink in the double-blind experiment. The levels of antioxidant in their blood plasma were tested after one, two and four hours.
Maximum benefit
"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.
Dark Chocolate Is Healthy Chocolate
Antioxidants in Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate -- but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk -- is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy's National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues. Their report appears in the Aug. 28 issue of Nature. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.
"Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate."
Translation: Say "Dark, please," when ordering at the chocolate counter. Don't even think of washing it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word "moderate" as you nibble.
Dark chocolate boosts antioxidant levels
Researchers in Scotland and Italy looked at the body's absorption of an antioxidant found in cocoa, called epicatechin, and a type of flavonoid.
Dark chocolate contains about twice the amount of flavonoids as milk chocolate, so 12 healthy volunteers were given either 100 grams of plain chocolate or 200 grams of milk chocolate. Some were also given 200 ml of milk to drink in the double-blind experiment. The levels of antioxidant in their blood plasma were tested after one, two and four hours.
Maximum benefit
"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.
Wash your hands. Cough and sneeze in your sleeve. Stay home if you are sick. Stay informed. http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu for more info.
- SteveShaw
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Green and Blacks is the dog's danglies of choc. The plain is superb but the milk is also very good - much more chocolatey and smooth than those cheap Cadburys abominations which are over-sweet, cocoa-flavoured grease in comparison. And Green and Blacks is fair-trade too!
Good choc goes very well with single malt whisky. I don't give a monkey's about antioxidants when I'm devouring chocolate - I'll just have a mug of green tea after the choc and whisky. Let's live a little!
Steve
Good choc goes very well with single malt whisky. I don't give a monkey's about antioxidants when I'm devouring chocolate - I'll just have a mug of green tea after the choc and whisky. Let's live a little!
Steve
"Last night, among his fellow roughs,
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
I am the lord of the dance, said he!
Mmm... dark chocolate... If it's not at least 70% cocoa (and Fair Trade) I don't want it. Between 70% and 90% is good. I once tried 99%, but it was too bitter for casual nibbling. There are lots of good brands out there, but you have to watch out for stores trying to sell outdated, stale stuff.
Giles: "We few, we happy few."
Spike: "We band of buggered."
Spike: "We band of buggered."
- Cynth
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I like dark and milk chocolate and I can get my calcium another time. Chocolate is too good to worry about. RN just get your antioxidants some other way. If you like to drink milk with your chocolate you should do it! Let's live a little, like Steve says. I'm not using health reasons for an excuse to eat it! Chocolate is sacred.
Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium. ~ Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence.----Seneca