Everything you need to know about chocolate.
delicious·@syedchand786·
0.000 HBDEverything you need to know about chocolate.
<html> <p><em>Good Morning! Here we are again, and today to talk about one of my favorite foods: Chocolate.</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em>When we talk about chocolate in general, we all come to the head OWN NAMES (MARKS), of which, many of them, rather than selling us chocolate, sell us "chocoazúcares".</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em><strong> What do I mean by "chocoazúcares"?</strong></em></p> <p><em>Well, more than paying for what characterizes a good chocolate (CACAO) we end up paying for what we can find today in practically all foods: SUGAR.</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em>Therefore, the purpose of today's entry will be:</em></p> <ul> <li><em><strong>Know the main types of chocolate.</strong></em></li> <li><em><strong>Review briefly, what are some of the benefits of consuming chocolate.</strong></em></li> <li><em><strong>Analyze the chocolates that we find today in our supermarkets.</strong></em></li> <li><em><strong>Give some clues, so that we can make the best possible choice.</strong></em></li> </ul> <blockquote><em><strong>For the last part (point 4), I leave an infographic made by me, in which, I tried to synthesize those points that I consider most important, when choosing our perfect chocolate. I hope you like it, and above all, that it is useful for you.</strong></em></blockquote> <blockquote><em><strong>So, let's start.</strong></em></blockquote> <p><em><strong> TYPES OF CHOCOLATE</strong></em></p> <p> </p> <p>When we talk about chocolate we can be referring to several types:</p> <ul> <li><em>black hocolate: It's real chocolate. This is obtained by mixing: cocoa paste + cocoa butter + cocoa powder + sugar + some flavoring (like vanilla) + some emulsifier / stabilizer (like soy lecithin) *. This chocolate usually presents a% of cocoa higher than 50%, sometimes even reaching 99%.</em></li> <li><em>Chocolate with milk: It is milk stained with chocolate. This is obtained by adding to the dark chocolate: milk + more sugar. It usually contains a% of cocoa below 40%.</em></li> <li><em>Chocolate with cookies / creampie / etc: It is sugar with chocolate flavor. This is obtained when the milk chocolate we add: pieces of cookies or some cream of the style, tiramisu or chocolate mouse, bone, more sugar. The% of cocoa in this case, is usually below 30%.</em></li> <li><em>White chocolate: It's not chocolate. This is obtained when the black chocolate we remove the cocoa paste and cocoa powder, leaving only butter, to which we add: milk + more sugar. This nochocolate, logically, does not have any cocoa.</em></li> </ul> <p><em><strong>* This part does not always appear.</strong></em></p> <p> <img src="https://palmerasdefruta.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/background-20534_1280.jpg?w=300&h=200" width="300" height="200"/></p> <blockquote>[NOTE]: From now on, when I talk about chocolate, it will be referring to black.</blockquote> <p><em><strong>Chocolate and cardiovascular health.</strong></em></p> <p><em>Curious but true. Although chocolate is the source of the feared saturated fats (mainly AGS stearic 18: 0 and palmitic-16: 0), the scientific literature on its potential cardioprotective effect seems to be the most extensive and consistent. Which, confirms once again, that we must forget about nutrients and start thinking about food.</em></p> <p><em>Among the most direct possible benefits that we could derive from chocolate consumption, we find: reduction of blood pressure, improvement of lipid profile, improvement of blood flow and improvement of insulin sensitivity (Some reviews and meta-analysis about it: 1 , 2,3,4,5,6).</em></p> <p><em><strong> </strong></em></p> <p><em><strong> Chocolate and mental health.</strong></em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em>When I think of chocolate and cognitive function, it is impossible for me not to remember the famous Nobel Prize study.</em></p> <p><em>In this study, published in the prestigious journal </em><a href="The New England Journal of Medicine"><em>The New England Journal of Medicine</em></a><em>, its authors found a strong correlation between those countries with the highest consumption of chocolate and a greater number of Nobel Prizes.</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><img src="https://palmerasdefruta.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/dibujo201308127-chocolate-consumption-per-capita-and-nobel-laureates-per-10-million-population.png?w=527&h=427" width="527" height="426"/></p> <p><em>Although it is an observational study and we all know that correlation does not imply causality, we could continue asking ...</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em><strong> Is it possible that consuming chocolate, improve our cognitive function?</strong></em></p> <p><em>It is possible and this has been observed in some studies (7,8), where I would highlight its effect, in those of a more advanced age (9,10,11). In addition, these, could obtain a double benefit, since apparently, the consumption of chocolate, would be related to the prevention of certain neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's (12,13,14).</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em><strong> Other benefits.</strong></em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em>Although most of the literature, regarding the consumption of chocolate, focuses on the previous points, its relationship with other aspects of health has also been studied. For example, in this review, its possible relationship with total mortality and cancer was reviewed (15). In these other studies (16,17,18 and revision: 19) it was observed that it could play an important role as a protector of the skin against UV radiation. It has also been observed, in observational studies, that those people who consume more chocolate seem to have a lower incidence of overweight and some diseases, such as Diabetes. (I do not put references, for the amount of possible confounding factors that could be involved, which are not few).</em></p> <p><br></p> <blockquote><em>[NOTE]: It is true that most of the scientific literature seems to agree that the consumption of chocolate (souvenir, black) has multiple benefits, as we have seen. But being objective, I can not stop nuancing certain things that I perceive:</em></blockquote> <p><br></p> <p><em>- As some reviews show (like for example 20) part of the existing literature about chocolate is stained financed. Funded by companies like Mars. This is just a note. That a study is financed by a Food Industry does not have to be a problem, nor does it mean that the results are adulterated. It only means that we must be cautious when reading and interpreting the study. Very cautious 🙂</em></p> <p><em>- Another point to consider is the content of certain substances in the chocolates used during the intervention studies. These often contain quantities of active ingredients (such as polyphenols or methylxanthines) much higher than those found in ordinary black or supermarket chocolate. Even sometimes, we can read, as it has been used directly the cocoa itself or a supplement containing the active ingredient isolated, and in quantities much higher than those present naturally in chocolate. So we must also take it into account.</em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em>-Finally, the biggest problem of all. The usual stick and everything, and that in chocolate was not going to be different. More intervention studies are needed, longer lasting and independent (not financed by AI that sells choco).</em></p> <p><em><strong>A hug to everyone!</strong></em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em><strong>Until next time!</strong></em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em><strong>PS: AND YOU? WHAT CHOCOLATE DO YOU CONSUME? 😀</strong></em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em><strong>PD2: THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ALL OF YOU WHO ANSWERED ME TO THE BRAND SURVEY.</strong></em></p> <p><br></p> <p><em><strong>A wonderful round of applause for my friends are: @elguille @hr1 @Booster @steem-bot @Rudro21 @busy </strong></em></p> </html>