Chocolate...how bad is it really

[Duke of Earl]

So how much of a no-no would 20-30g of milk chocolate be on a lean bulk or cutter assuming the rest of one's diet is in order ?

[dedic8ed1]

Maybe ok on a cheat day as your only cheat meal but it would all depend on how important being ripped is to you,chocalate is probably the worst saturated fat.Assumong your cardio is on point morning and night hey once a week can't hurt.

[brutesinme]

Ok, first off, chocolate itself is not a saturated fat, and is certaintly not one of the worst. Mass produced milk chocolate is bad for you, but if you get some pure dark chocolate to add to things, it's actually quite healthy, packed with anti-oxidants.

[brutesinme]

Top Antioxidant Bearing Foods (ORAC* Units per 100 grams)

Dark Chocolate 13,120
Milk Chocolate 6,740
Prunes 5,770
Raisins 2,830
Blueberries 2,400
Blackberries 2,036
Kale 1,770
Strawberries 1,540
Spinach 1,260
Raspberries 1,220
Brussel Sprouts 980
Plums 949
Alfalfa Sprouts 930
Broccoli Florets 890
Oranges 750
Red Grapes 739
Red Bell Pepper 710
Cherries 670
Onion 450
Corn 400
Eggplant 390

[brutesinme]

ok, heres some more info for anyone interested

(taken from cellular nutrition webpage)

Taking a closer look, one discovers that once the studies funded by chocolate interest groups were

discarded, the ones left offered conflicting results. As expected however, some isolated compounds

in cocoa did show certain health benefits. Because it is a common practice in nutritional research to do

studies on food fractions, outcomes may sometimes appear negative because they are done without

any co-factors or complexed nutrients, however in the case of cocoa, some of the research was positive
because the "co-factors" (all the other detrimental ingredients in chocolate) were not part of the study.



If people were to consume pure cocoa, then they might indeed be able to enjoy a few health benefits,
including a positive effect on blood pressure and glucose metabolism, however the majority of people

eat processed chocolate with all the other less desirable ingredients (i.e. added sugar, corn syrup,

milk fats / dairy cream, hydrogenated oils, etc...), and where the actual cocoa content may be less than

20%, so all the bets regarding chocolate being a healthy food are off.



With claims made of chocolate and sugar having a "pain-relieving" effect, it is doubtful that we will see

chocolate bars replacing conventional analgesics any time soon, nor are these same "researchers"

making these extraordinary claims likely going to reach for a chocolate bar next time they suffer from a

throbbing toothache, a pounding headache, or kidney stone attack.

While cocoa and sugar do not "cause" acne, the sugar present in chocolate will most certainly make

acne, or any other acne-like skin eruptions worse, as anyone suffering from these skin conditions can
attest to.

Placebo-controlled trials showed that some of the chemicals in chocolate (caffeine, phenylethylamine,

or theobromine) can indeed trigger migraine headaches by altering cerebral blood flow and releasing

norepinephrine in some of those prone to suffer from migraines. Of all the foods isolated that triggered

the most attacks, chocolate was an offender about 30% of the time.

Claiming that "eating moderate amounts of chocolate increases one's life span" is a most interesting
example of how some "researchers" will manipulate statistics to prove anything!



"Chocolate-Is-Good-For-You" campaigns through the media or the prominent placement of leaflets

at confectionery counters keep feeding the consumer "made-to-order" research results whose outcome
is predetermined to satisfy an agenda (i.e. selling chocolate), with little relevance to science or facts.

Considering that nicotine has also shown some health benefits, particularly with ulcerative colitis and
Parkinson's disease --- would this be a reason to urge people to start smoking tobacco?



From a nutritional perspective - chocolate is no less a junk food than ice cream or donuts, and it is

equally unhealthy and fattening when larger amounts are consumed on a regular basis. While no one is

trying to discourage people from enjoying an occasional chocolate treat - urging consumers to increase
their chocolate intake for "Health Reasons" leaves nutritional research less than credible, particularly

when diabetes and obesity have become an out-of-control global problem.



Premium grade dark chocolate contains only cocoa butter, a fat that naturally occurs in cocoa beans
and is made up of stearic acid (34%), oleic acid (34%), palmitic acid (25%), and the rest of other fatty
acids, whereby the combined effect of all the fats found in cocoa butter is fairly neutral in regard to an

individual's lipid profile. However, when milk chocolate or lower grade chocolate is consumed, part of

the total fat content of chocolate comes from milk fat or various other types of fat, which do adversely
affect cholesterol levels.

Despite all the good news on cocoa not raising LDL cholesterol, even dark chocolate is a very calorie-

dense food, so while the fat content may not invite cardiovascular disease from an atherogenic (arterial

clogging) perspective, its regular consumption will add a lot of extra calories to someone's daily total,
and as a result still affect those who have to watch their caloric intake. Nevertheless, being listed as the

No.1 ingredient in many chocolate products, sugar is unquestionably a worse culprit compared to the

fat content when addressing the effects of chocolate on someone's overall health.



Sugar is a well-known cause, contributing, or aggravating factor with a host of medical conditions that

includes heart disease, insulin and blood sugar disorders, mood disorders, immune system disorders,

impaired phagocytosis, leukemia, inflammatory conditions, dental caries, yeast infections, depletion of

essential nutrients, osteoporosis, obesity, and others. (see also Acu-Cell "Sugar & Glycemic Index").



Cocoa products also contain stimulants such as phenylethylamine, which have an anti-depressant and

amphetamine-like effect; they contain pharmacological substances such as n-acetylethanolamines that

are related to cannabis (marijuana), and they have compounds that stimulate the brain to release an
opiate-like substance called anandamide. When drugs are used to block the brain's opiate receptors,
the desire for chocolate (and other sweet and fatty foods) disappears - confirming the addictive nature
of these types of foods.

But despite cocoa being such an opiate and endorphin-releasing pharmacological powerhouse, who
would have guessed that when chocoholics were given cocoa in capsules - without the added fat and
sugar, and without the feel of chocolate melting in their mouths - it had no satisfying effect at all!

However, while eating the actual chocolate bar satisfied the cravings for it, studies showed that there

was no improvement with mood, relaxation, feeling content, depression, or guilt, after eating chocolate.



What about the cancer and heart-protective attributes of catechins,

which chocolate products have become increasingly associated with?



Again - in isolation, polyphenols work well in a test-tube environment, but cocoa also happens to be

very high in Copper, which unfortunately inhibits the action of some flavonoids, particularly hesperidin,

which is an essential flavanone (see also Acu-Cell Nutrition "Bioflavonoids"). This in turn can lead to a
greater incidence of vascular degeneration such as varicose veins, hemorrhoids, aneurysms, bruising,

heart disease, and stroke.

While low copper can be implicated with weak and fragile blood vessel as well, high copper levels

are much more common in many parts of the world, with nearly 90% of patients tested exhibiting a
chemical profile that - in addition to their own unique chemistry - contained an underlying pattern that
reflects the impact of copper overload on various opposing nutrients, which include sulfur, chromium,
moly**enum, nickel, Vitamin C, hesperidin, and others.

[Duke of Earl]

thanks brute - good info

[InsaneInTheMembrane]

I'm an extreme chocoholic and the best thing I ever did was to buy some dutch cocoa powder... put them in my oats, mix them into my cottage cheese, hell.. I even put them in my chocolate flavored whey shakes to make them even MORE chocolatey!!! And it doesnt even have that many cals

[Jakt]

same here man!!!!!! great stuff, i eat reg choc too, i dont care

[Duke of Earl]

Cool - this is the stuff i was after ....people saying it's OK !!!
I also use cocoa powder in anything chocolatey - low cals - High protein too