Chocolate--America's Foremost Addiction
We are going to discuss a subject dear to the hearts of many people -- young and old alike: chocolate. There are chocolate Easter bunnies, chocolate images of Santa Claus, and chocolate is given to millions of sweet-toothed sweet hearts on Valentine's Day. Legions of chocolate bars in their enticing wrappers line the candy counters of stores and beckon to the tastebuds of the general populace.
Chocolate is a solid or semi-solid substance prepared by the fine grinding of roasted, shelled beans of the cacao or cocoa tree. As the beans are ground, a free-flowing liquid is produced. This liquid, called chocolate liquor, is the basis for all chocolate products.
The word "Chocolate" is derived from the Native Mexican term "chocolate," the name for the drink prepared from the seeds of the caucauatl (Theobroma cacao). The Spaniards called the plant "cacao," and in 1720, Linnaeus, the great Swedish botanical taxonomist, named the plant "Theobroma Cacao." Theobroma is Greek for "Food of the gods" (Chatt 1953, p. vii; Minifie, 1970, p. 1).
Fossil Theobroma specimens have been reported from the Pliocene era in Venezuela (Chatt, 1953, p. 1).
According to the large commercial chocolate company, Baker's chocolate is:
(1) The solid or plastic mass produced by grinding to fineness the kernel of the roasted seeds of Theobroma Cacao without removing any of the fat; sometimes called 'Plain Chocolate,' or 'Bitter Chocolate'; (2) the same product to which have been added sugar and various flavoring substances, sometimes known as 'Sweet Chocolate,' or 'Vanilla Chocolate.'
Baker's definition of cocoa is:
the commercial name given to (1) the seeds of the small tropical tree known to botanists as Theobroma Cacao; (2) to the cracked or coarsely ground product of the roasted seeds, sometimes designated more particularly as 'Cocoa-nibs,' or 'Cracked Cocoa'; (3) to the finely pulverized product of the roasted seeds from which a portion of the fat has been removed, sometimes designated as 'Breakfast Cocoa,' or 'powdered Cocoa.'(Baker, 1901, p. 7)
The cocoa bean, the principal ingredient in chocolate, does not grow on the North American continent. It is a "native of the dense tropical Amazon forests where it flourishes in the semi-shade and high humidities, but wild varieties also occur from Mexico to Peru" (Minifie, 1970, p. 1). Each year thousands of tons of cocoa beans are imported into the United States for the manufacture of chocolate. This does not include all the finished chocolate products that are also imported.
The Mayas of Yucatan and the Aztecs of Mexico cultivated cocoa long before its introduction to Europe, and Montezuma, Emperor of the Aztecs, is stated to have consumed regularly a preparation called 'Chocolatl' made by roasting and grinding the cocoa nibs, followed by mashing with water, maize and spice flavours. (Minifie, 1970, p. 1)
The Aztecs believed that the cacao tree was a present from the enlightened beings of Paradise, transported to them by Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent, Deity of the Air (Chatt, 1953, p. 1).
Columbus brought the cacao bean from America to Europe on his fourth voyage (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1973).
In 1502, Columbus saw a cargo of cocoa beans traded off the coast of Honduras, and bought them to send back to Spain as curiosities. A fellow countryman of Columbus's (Don Cortes) saw commercial possibilities in the beans and sent them to Spain with recipes for their preparation (Chatt, 1953, p. 1, and Minifie, 1970, p. 1). When the Spaniards took over the palaces of Montezuma, they found vast hoards of cacao beans, and one of the chroniclers who accompanied Cortez, Bernal Diaz, wrote in 1568 that the Emperor had his servants prepare 50 jars of chocolate, flavored with vanilla and other spices and whipped to the consistency of honey, for his own personal use in one day! The Emperor's household used 2,000 jars of the mixture daily -- a group of advanced chocoholics.
The Spaniards were the ones who added sugar to the cacao concoction, for the original Montezuma recipe was too bitter for them. Their chocolate drink recipe was closely guarded as a secret for over 100 years, and they would send prepared cakes (the sugar being obtained from their sugar mills established in Mexico during the 1520's) for use in beverages to the customers on their trade routes. One time, a Spanish cargo was captured by a Dutch ship, and upon discovering the cacao cakes, they threw them into the ocean, for they found them to be unpleasant to the taste. (These men were probably the ancestors of later Dutch chocolate manufacturers doing themselves a favor.) Although the Spaniards were very secretive about their cocoa process, other explorers learned about the cacao bean and soon the cacao bean became very popular in the royal courts.
By the 17th century, cocoa was being consumed by the courts of Spain, England, Italy, France and Holland. It was too good for the peasants. In London, England, the arose "chocolate houses," places where the elite of the city could gather to drink chocolate. Samuel Pepys, exchecquer to the Earl of Sandwich, wrote in his secret diary of 1664 that was found years later in the wall of an old house, that chocolate was "only for the wealthy." Perhaps herein lies one of the secrets of chocolate's attractions: that, although the taste was somewhat unacceptable, it was a status symbol to ingest chocolate as did Royalty.
Many opinions pertaining to the virtues and vices of chocolate circulated among nobility. We examined one such collection of views in a microfilm of a manuscript printed in 1640 in England, but originally written in Spanish in 1631. It is entitled, A Curious Treatise of the Nature and Quality of Chocolate, by Antonio Colmenero, Doctor of Physicke and Chirurgery. It was sanctioned by Melchor de Lara, "Physician Generall for the Kingdom of Spaine." Lara says that the manuscript "contains nothing contrary to good manners, and it cannot but be very pleasing to those who are affected to chocolate." John de Mena, "Doctor in Physick and Physician to His Majesty, King of Spain," also approved of Colmenero's Treatise. Here are a few excerpts from that work:
Opinions
"The number is so great of those, who, in these times, drink chocolate... not only in the Indies, where the drink originated, but it is also much used in Spain, Italy, and Flanders, particularly at the court...some speak diversely of it... some saying, that it is stopping [constipating]: others, and those the greater part, that it makes one fat, others that the use of it strengthens the stomach, others that it heats, and burns them [heartburn]... A Physician of Marchena says chocolate is stopping because cacao is cold and dry...it is obstructive...it causeth opilations...
Preparation
". . to every 100 cacaos, you must put 2 pods of the long red pepper (cayenne)... a handful of anise seeds... logwood... cinnamon...sugar...achiote...
Obesity and Liver Trouble Relating to Chocolate in 1631
". . so that [he] that drinks much chocolate which hath fat parts, cannot make a distribution of so great a quantity to all the parts, and that that part which remains in the slender veins of the liver, must needs causes opilations and obstructions...To avoid this inconvenience, you must take only 5 or 6 ounces, or if choleric, take with distilled water of endive, if liver is obstructed, take rhubarb. [dote and antidote] ... chocolate makes them fat because they are hot and dry in the third degree... many unctuous parts which I have proved to be in the cacao, are those which pinguify and make fat... "
Page 20 of the manuscript tells the reader not to drink the dregs in the cocoa cup for they are of a "melancholy nature" (Colmenero, 1631).
By the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were chocolate factories all over Europe. The advance of technology introduced many new methods of processing the cacao bean. Usually, the factories produced drinking chocolate, without removing any of the fat of the cacao bean, but diluted it with a starchy material such as maize, as the Aztecs had done. Later, it became customary to use arrowroot as the starch to dilute the fat. (The British Navy drinks this type of cocoa to this day.)
"In 1828, the Dutch firm of Van Houten took out a patent for the manufacture of 'chocolate powder... (Chatt, 1953, p. 10). This was the ground bean with two thirds of the fat removed. In 1847 and 1849, a new use was found for the expressed fat of the cocoa bean: it was combined with sugar and cacao and exhibited by Messrs. Fry and Sons and Cadbury Bros., two popular London firms, as "eating chocolate."
The door to adulteration of chocolate was now open. Everything from potato starch to mineral powders appeared in chocolate bars. A practice of adding bicarbonate of soda to cocoa powder is now almost universal, and was started by C. J. Van Houten in 1828. This alkalization allowed particles of cocoa powder to stay in suspension of solution longer while adding a rich, dark color to the cocoa (Chatt, 1953, p. 10). Today, we can find potassium or sodium carbonate, sodium or potassium bicarbonate, potassium or sodium hydroxide, or ammonium carbonate or hydroxide added to the chocolate liquor for "improvement" in texture and color of the finished product during alkalization. (Alkalization is also known as "Dutched" chocolate.) (Minifie, 1970, p. 38).
M. D. Peter invented milk chocolate in 1876 in Switzerland. The chocolate trade would go beyond the realm of sensibility.
A Word on Chocolate Processing
Chocolate is a highly overprocessed, devitalized, dead food. It is also highly toxic. There are so many steps that a cacao bean must take to become a chocolate bar, that we felt it necessary to present here a diagram of the various steps. There is no doubt that chocolate bars are not wholesome foods. If you do not believe this, take your chocolate bars out into the garden, plant them in a row of earth, water them and wait for them to sprout.
The first step in processing is called: THE DEATH OF THE BEAN. In this step, the bean is fermented and the rise in temperature of alcohol and acetic acid in the pulp are contributing factors to "killing the bean" or "killing the germ" (Minifie, 1970, pp. 1081 09).
Here is the cocoa and chocolate factory flow sheet according to Minifie.
The Usual Sequence of Procedures (Chatt, 1953, p. 133)
Hazards of bacterial infestation can occur during the various steps of the factory processing beginning from moth infestation of the beans during cleaning to mold infection of the equipment during the manufacture of cocoa powder (although the manufacturers say that the mold infection is not usually significant enough to alter the taste of the finished product). Many fumigatory procedures are used during the process; but the worst painful reality about chocolate is the survival of the parasite Salmonella (found in contaminated dairy products) to the very end of the chocolate process into the finished box of Valentine candy! (Not to mention the high incidence of rancid oils from quickly spoiling nuts and fats used in certain chocolate "treats.")
Major Areas of Concern Regarding Chocolate
According to Dr. Joseph H. Fries, M.D., writing in the Annals of Allergy, chocolate is the third most criticized food by researchers in the medical and related professions. The first two are milk and sugar. A chocolate bar contains all three. Fries notes the major areas of concern regarding chocolate:
Allergy
Headaches (Migraine)
Dental Caries
Acne
Obesity--Cholesterol--Lipids
Lower Esophagal Reflux
Xanthines--Breast Milk Transmission
Miscellaneous
(Fries, 1978, p. 196)
As an interesting curiosity, chocolate was issued to troops as an emergency ration in both world wars and the German High Command issued a chocolate containing kola when the stock of cocoa diminished. Why were these soldiers given chocolate for energy? Because of the presence of Theobromine and caffeine in the chocolate.
Caffeine acts directly on the Central Nervous System. According to popular thought, it lessens fatigue and gives one a "lift." It also stimulates the release of stored sugar from the liver. However, the release of stored sugar places a heavy stress on the endocrine glands. This results in the nervousness and jittery feeling often experienced by coffee drinkers. The effect is similar to a drug withdrawal symptom (Mindell, 1979, p. 209). According to studies done by Dr. John Minton, professor of surgery at Ohio State University, and specialist in Cancer Oncology, excessive intake of methylxanthines (the active principles in caffeine) may contribute to breast disease and prostate problems. Caffeine is also responsible for heart disease, cancer of the bladder and urinary tract, and interference with DNA replication. It has been known to cause birth defects in animals. If one quart of coffee is consumed in three hours, a person's thiamine can be depleted.
Here are some comparative figures:
SOURCE mgs. caffeine
cup of instant coffee 66.0 mg.
cup of percolated coffee 10.0 mg.
cups of dripolated coffee 146.0 mg.
anacin pill 32.0 mg.
coke, 12 oz. 64.7 mg.
cocoa (1 cup) 13.0 mg.
bitter chocolate, 10 oz. 25.0 mg.
one ounce of cocoa 50.0 mg.
ONE MILK CHOCOLATE BAR 3.0 mg.
(Mindell, 1979, pp. 210-211; Horsley, 1974, p. 259)
Can you imagine the effects of this ingestion of caffeine upon a child? Horsley calls the above treats "tasty calcium killers," and rightly so. Chocolate and cocoa interfere with calcium assimilation in the body, and the chocoholic not only craves the sugar in the candy but the caffeine, too. Horsley suggests a combination of Pero (a roasted grain beverage) and Carob (also known as St. John's Bread because St. John lived on it in the desert 2,000 years ago) as a substitute for chocolate. The carob (unadulterated) is in the form of a pod, and has a close resemblance to the taste of chocolate. It contains no caffeine, but it does contain B vitamins and other minerals. It is often finely pulverized to be used in the place of cocoa.
Coronary Disease and Chocolate
In 1970, Dr. Lawrence A. Kohn, M.D., from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry conducted a survey correlating the incidence of coronary disease among older male patients with chocolate consumption in their lives. His results showed that 45 percent of 40 men tested who had coronary disease had used chocolate extensively in early life while only 18 percent of the men free of coronary troubles had the chocolate habit early in life. Another survey which he conducted at Strong Memorial Hospital showed that 55 percent of the males questioned who had coronary disease had been chocoholics in their youth (Kohn, 1970, pp. 2-3).
The fact that caffeine depletes the bodies calcium and places additional stress on the arteries, nerves, and endocrine system enables one to see caffeine in chocolate as one of the contributing factors to coronary disorders. We recommend the Herbal Calcium Formula, the Hawthorne Berry Heart Syrup, and cayenne pepper plus the various herbal aids for the heart, nerves, circulation, in addition to a wholesome diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds, plus the elimination of chocolate and other stress-producing foods from the menu.
Many of the people of Dutch extraction, that is, everyone from the Old Dutch Cleanser Girl to the Boy Who Put His Finger in the Dike, were prone to prepare themselves a nighttime cup of hot cocoa for the insomnia which prevailed in the land. Now...how can cocoa possibly cure insomnia when it contains 13.5 mg. of caffeine per cup? This practice was so extensive that it not only included family, but servants and visitors as well. This toxic dose of chocolate was topped with another toxin: cream or marshmallow. Anybody for a little chamomile?
Transmission of Theobromine from Chocolate in Breast Milk from a Nursing Mother to the Infant
An article appeared in the Journal of Pediatrics on the subject of Theobromine in Chocolate and the nursing mother. We quote from this article:
Theobromine shares the pharmacologic effects of the other methylxanthines, theophylline and caffeine. These effects include central nervous system stimulation, production of diuresis, stimulation of cardiac muscle, and relaxation of smooth muscle. Theobromine is present in all cacao products. The amount of theobromine contained in four ounces of Hershey's milk chocolate is similar to the amount (240 mg) used as a single pharmacologic dose.
This study shows that theobromine passes freely into human milk following ingestion of chocolate. The mean milk to plasma was 0.82 and the peak concentration in the milk occurred at 2.1 to 3.3 hours after ingestion of chocolate. Based on our average data, if a woman ate a four-ounce chocolate bar every six hours and her infant ingested a liter of milk daily, nursing when the concentration of theobromine was at a peak, the infant could be exposed to about 10 mg. theobromine or approximately 1 to 2 mg/kg/day. (Resman, et al., 1977, p. 479)
This theobromine ingestion may be responsible for restlessness, nervousness, and irritability in infants. The article also suggested that the infant could accumulate theobromine and so the mother would not have to take all the theobromine at once for there to be a toxic effect on her baby.
There was also one case of eczema in a breast-fed infant whose mother ingested a pound of chocolate. The eczema cleared up when the chocolate was omitted from the mother's diet.
Dental Cavities Related to the Consumption of Sweets
This next quotation appeared in Bernard W. Minifie's book, Chocolate, Cocoa and Confectionery. Minifie is the consultant to the candy industry for Knechtel laboratories in Chicago, and was formerly with Cadbury Schweppes, Ltd., a large candy firm in London as quality control manager.
"Dental Caries"
Much publicity has been given to the Medical and Dental professions that sweets are the cause of dental decay.
Dental evidence points to excessive consumption of soft, sweet foods generally as a main cause. Starch is much less damaging than the sugars, with sucrose as the worst. Sweets or sweet foods which cling to the teeth and stay in crevices are the most damaging and produce the substrate and anaerobic conditions necessary to form what are now termed the cariogenic acids including a high proportion of lactic acid. In a survey by Grenby the causes of decay and methods of prevention are discussed. The main recommendations for the prevention of dental decay are given as:
1. Control and reduce the consumption of sweets, ice cream, soft drinks, cakes and biscuits, and replace them by savoury foods.
2. Practice rigid oral hygiene by eating cleaning foods such as apples, celery and other fruit and vegetables, and by regular tooth brushing and cleaning. (Minifie, 1970, p. 518)
Carbohydrates Related to Ulcers, Diabetes, and Arteriosclerosis
Here is another quotation from Minifie:
Consumption of excessive carbohydrates has been put forward by Yudkin and his team at Queen Elizabeth College as a cause of athero-schlerosis. McDonald and Butterfield of Guys Hospital and Medical School have further substantiated Yudkin's work. T. L. Cleave in The Saccharine Disease piles up further evidence against sweet and starchy foods suggesting they are responsible for ulcers and diabetes as well as arteriosclerosis. The National Press records that over 300 million per annum is spent on confectionery.
Chocolate and Acne in Teenagers
The main reason that young people have acne is because their highly processed "foods" are devoid of the natural hormone and estrogen materials needed for their bodies to make the transition from childhood to puberty. Chocolate bars, cokes, fries and hamburgers will not supply these nutrients found in unadulterated foods in their wholesome state. If your teenager suffers from acne, we suggest a wholesome diet plus the herbal hormone and estrogen formula along with blessed thistle tea. The more acne is suppressed with inorganic creams and potions, the worse the toxic build-up in the body becomes.
Chocolate Craved by Persons Deficient in Copper
This item appeared in the Health View Newsletter: Cravings--Why some people should always follow their food cravings. Dr. Eck [Paul Eck, a biochemist from Northern California who has been working with vitamin and mineral programs around the country] has told us that some people SHOULD eat chocolate--at least for a short period of time. He says that chocolate is extremely high in copper and people intuitively know that they need it. Dr. Eck has found that as soon as he can restore a person's copper metabolism, he will not crave chocolate any more. (Biser and Biser, 1980, pg. 8)
This is quite an exciting discovery by Dr. Eck. We feel, however, that there are much better sources of copper in wholesome foods, including herbs. Once the colon is cleaned out of ancient encrustations and the slimy coating of mucus along its walls, simple and wholesome foods may be more readily absorbed and assimilated. One of the best sources of organic copper we know of is the herb Ephedra spp., or Brigham Tea, and "kinyather" as it was known to the native Americans. This is an organic source of copper as opposed to the inorganic, toxic form of copper found in the highly processed chocolate or copper supplements found on the mineral market.
Some other foods that are particularly high in copper are:
Food or Herb Mg. Copper/Lb.
hydrangea root 16
mandrake root 12.7
Brigham tea 12.0
peach bark 12
yellow dock 12
hops 11
alfalfa 8.3
catnip 7
turnip 6
blue vervain 6
elder 5
oatstraw 4.5
buckwheat 4.3
wheat 3.7
rye 3.4
--(Dr. Christopher's personal research, 1979)
Other herbs such as slippery elm, valerian, uva ursi, raspberry, are below 3 mg. /lb. Many other herbs have a trace of copper.
We recommend the pre-soaking and low heating method of preparing grains as described in Dr. Christopher's Three-Day Cleanse and the Mucusless Diet. The pre-soaking brings on the seed-sprouting process which increases the mineral content of the seed, and the low heating makes the grain very palatable. Don't expect the same results from Wheaties, cracked wheat, or some other tortured cereal.
Conclusions, Additions, Case Histories, Personal Experiences
One day, as I was walking along the main street of St. George, Utah, I noticed a rather odd situation. A mother was pushing a fullsized baby buggy along the sidewalk and in it, instead of a baby, was a girl about eight or ten years of age. The child was unable to walk; hence the baby carriage. The mother stopped the carriage in front of a grocery store, and told the girl that she was going in to get some groceries. The girl began screaming, at the top of her lungs, for a chocolate bar. The commotion was so bad the mother rushed into the store, leaving the girl in the buggy screaming, and quickly bought a large bar of chocolate (large enough for a fullsize family) and threw it into the baby buggy to the girl who immediately ripped off the wrappings and started eating it ravishingly like a starved animal.
A few months later, when I was back in St. George, I learned that this poor girl I had seen before had suddenly died. The mother, in hysterics, called in the family doctors to check the reason for death.
The doctor informed the mother it was not an accidental death, but murder on the mother's part, because he had warned her for months that she would kill the child if she continued to give her chocolate every time she screamed for it.
I have often wondered how many children are being slowly killed by giving them too much chocolate, because "chocoholics" are hard to live with unless they are pacified with that which they crave.
I remember, as a young fellow, I used to order a full box of a dozen chocolate covered opera bars, two or more times a week. This was to satisfy my "craving" and boredom, while working as a bookkeeper. One day the deliveryman did not show up on his rounds! I was in an office isolated far from a store and my craving drove me to almost "going off my rocker."
At that time I realized that the chocolate was controlling me, instead of me being in control.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baker, Walter & Co., Ltd. Description of the Educational Exhibit of Cocoa and Chocolate. Dorchester, Mass., 1901
Biser, Sam and Loren Biser. Health View Newsletter Bi-Monthly Bulletin, No. 1, April-May, 1980.
Chatt, Eileen M. Cocoa: Cultivation, Processing, Analysis. New York: Interscience Publishers, Inc., and London: Interscience Publishers, Ltd., 1953.
Colmenero, Antonio, Doctor in Physicke and Chirurgery. A Curious Treatise of the Nature and Quality of Chocolate. Written in Spanish and translated into English by Don Diego de Vades-forte. Imprinted in London by J. Okes, dwelling in Little St. Bartholmewes, 1640.
Horsley, Gaye Deamer. Commercial Foods Expose& And How to Replace Them. Salt Lake City: Hawkes, 1974.
Fries, Joseph H., M.D., F.A.C.A. "Chocolate: A Review of Published Reports of Allergic and Other Deleterious Effects, Real or Presumed." Annals of allergy, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 195-206. Minneapolis: American College of Allergists.
Kohn, Lawrence A., M.D. "Chocolate and Coronary Disease." (Letters to the Editor) American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 23, No. 1, January, 1970, pp. 2-3.
Mindell, Earl. Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible. New York: Rawson, Wade Publishers, Inc., 1979.
Minifie, Bernard W. Chocolate, Cocoa, and Confectionery: Science and Technology. Westport, Connecticut: The Avi Publishing Company, Inc., 1970.
Resman, Beth H., Pharm D., H. Peter Blumenthal, M.D., and William J. Jusco, Ph.D. "Breast Milk Distribution of Theobromine from Chocolate." Journal of pediatrics, Vol. 91, No. 3, pp. 477-480. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby Co., September, 1977.
Tamminga, et al. "Survival of Salmonella Eastbourne and Salmonella Typhimurina in Milk Chocolate Prepared with Artificially Contaminated Milk Powder." J. Hyg. (Camb.), Vol. 79, No. 3, pp. 33-37, December, 1977.
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