Chocolate Sauce » phytochemical

The Underappreciated Beet

jbchristensen — Tue, 10 May 2011 04:00:27 +0000

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Beets — seems like you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. I was in the hate camp as a kid and young adult.

I remember one banquet that I attended my freshman year of college. On the plate was, I thought, a cinnamon candied apple. I set it aside and saved it for the very last, looking forward to the cinnamon-y goodness being the final flavor on my palate. You can imagine my disappointment when I cut a bite and put it in my mouth, only to discover it was a pickled beet! It ruined the entire dinner for me.

Well, I’m still not much of a pickled beet fan, but I now enjoy them in other ways — roasted with other root vegetables, boiled and chilled in salad, in borsch or just as a side dish, boiled or steamed. I grow them in my garden and enjoy the greens as well.

It turns out that what our moms told us is true. Beets really are good for us. They are full of many nutrients and phytochemicals.

Here’s a link to an article about the much maligned beet. In it there is a link to a short podcast about beets and it also has links to some creative beet recipes. Give them a try!

For Beets, a Little More Respect, Please – Well – Tara Parker-Pope – Health – New York Times Blog

I know I’ve been absent from this blog for a very long time. In the coming days I’ll bring you all up to speed as to what has been going on.

Another Cocoa Study Shows Positive Effects on Hypertension

jbchristensen — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:31:32 +0000

Here’s a study from The Journal of the American Medical Association that shows that cocoa, or more specifically, the polyphenols in cocoa, has a positive effect on blood pressure. It points out several important facts:

It doesn’t need to be a huge quantity of dark chocolate to have an effect
The dark chocolate must be taken regularly
It must be taken on an ongoing basis

The study was performed on a rather small population (44 individuals) with untreated prehypertension (120-139/80-89) or stage 1 hypertension (140-159/90-99) without any other risk factors. According to the study, the prevalence of hypertension decreased from 86% to 68%. The participants were given either 6.3 g of dark chocolate containing 30 mg of polyphenols or the same amount of white chocolate which contained no polyphenols for a period of 18 weeks.

The study also points out that blood nitric oxide levels increased in the test participants. Nitric oxide is what triggers the dilation of the blood vessels and reduces blood pressure.

Here’s the link to the abstract of the study:

JAMA — Abstract: Effects of Low Habitual Cocoa Intake on Blood Pressure and Bioactive Nitric Oxide: A Randomized Controlled Trial, July 4, 2007, Taubert et al. 298 (1): 49

In my opinion, the thing about eating chocolate as a “medicine” is that healthy individuals probably wouldn’t feel any different, even though the polyphenols would be of benefit. Individuals with cardiovascular disease could probably measure an improvement and may feel healthier.

I know that has been the case with me.

Chocolate and Prevention of CVD

jbchristensen — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:00:37 +0000

Nutrition & Metabolism | Full text | Chocolate and Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review

I came across the study above a while ago, but am just getting around to mentioning it in this blog. This study is not primary research, but rather a review of all MEDLINE publications from 1966 through January 2005 looking for “relations between cocoa, cacao, chocolate, stearic acid, flavonoids (including flavonols, catechins, epicatechins, and procynadins) and the risk of cardiovascular disease.”

One of the things they looked at was whether or not the stearic acid content was detrimental to cardiovascular health. Stearic acid is the type of saturated fat found in cacao. The evidence suggests that it is neutral, unlike other saturated fats, which raise total cholesterol levels.

To quote the results of the study:

The body of short-term randomized feeding trials suggests cocoa and chocolate may exert beneficial effects on cardiovascular risk via effects on lowering blood pressure, anti-inflammation, anti-platelet function, higher HDL, decreased LDL oxidation. Additionally, a large body of trials of stearic acid suggests it is indeed cholesterol-neutral. However, epidemiologic studies of serum and dietary stearic acid are inconclusive due to many methodologic limitations. Meanwhile, the large body of prospective studies of flavonoids suggests the flavonoid content of chocolate may reduce risk of cardiovascular mortality. Our updated meta-analysis indicates that intake of flavonoids may lower risk of CHD mortality, RR = 0.81 (95% CI: 0.71–0.92) comparing highest and lowest tertiles.

It’s a good article. Got a lot of big words, but they do a good job of explaining and referencing the research.

I think I’ll go have some healthy dark chocolate.

Top 10 Veggies For Antioxidants

jbchristensen — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 01:20:29 +0000

Recently I found an article on RealAge that lists the 10 top veggies for phytochemical and antioxidant content. You can find the article at the link below.

Top 10 Veggies List – RealAge Tip of the Day

From a list of the most widely consumed vegetables, the order was:

Broccoli
Spinach
Yellow onions
Red peppers
Carrots
Cabbage
Potatoes
Lettuce
Celery
Cucumbers

If you look at that list, you’ll realize that those are the 10 most widely consumed veggies. You’d probably have to eat an awful lot of cucumbers to get a useful dosage of anything other than water. The top six are pretty decent, but nowhere near the antioxidant levels in cacao.

The researchers also rated fruits for phytochemical content. Here’s how that list came out:

Cranberries
Apples
Red grapes
Strawberries
Peaches
Lemons
Pears
Bananas
Oranges
Grapefruit

My personal feeling is that one shouldn’t rely on any one source for phytochemicals or antioxidants. There are so many different kinds and many of them operate in conjunction with other food components and operate on different internal systems in our bodies. We need to make sure our diets are varied and have many sources of healthful and helpful foods.