Papaya - a world class meat tenderizer, natural digestive aid, prevents ulcers, and also a soft contact lense cleaner.Cocoa - The Safety Factor
The real safety issues have to do with this herb’s caffeine content. Caffeine is a powerfully stimulating, classically addletive drug. It is associated with insomnia, irritability, and anxiety attacks; increased blood pressure, cholesterol. and blood sugar (glucose) levels; and increased risk of birth defects. (See “Coffee” for a complete discussion of caffeine’s many effects.)
Cocoa and chocolate contain only 10 to 20 percent as much caffeine as coffee, but large amounts can produce classic caffeine effects. Anyone with insomnia, anxiety problems, high cholesterol. high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease should limit caffeine consumption.
Watch for the Burn
Many people find a cup of hot chocolate soothes their stomachs after meals. The only glitch here is that cocoa and chocolate may cause heartburn. The herb relaxes the valve between the stomach and the esophagus, the tube that carries food down to it. When this valve (the lower esophageal sphincter) does not shut tightly, stomach acids splash up into the esophagus, causing heartburn. If cocoa or chocolate gives you heartburn, use less or stop using it.
Cocoa and chocolate are on the Food and Drug Administration’s list of herbs generally regarded as safe. For otherwise healthy nonpregnant. nonnursing adults with no history of insomnia, anxiety problems, high cholesterol. high blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease, cocoa and chocolate are safe in amounts typically consumed.
Cocoa should be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. If heartburn, headache, or caffeine effects develop, use less or stop using it. Let your doctor know if you experience any unpleasant effects or if the symptoms for which the herb is being used do not improve significantly in two weeks.
Where Does Chocolate Come From?
Cocoa (or cacao) should not be confused with coconut, or with coca, the source of cocaine. Trees grow in the tropics, not in the United States.
Once harvested, cocoa beans are roasted and ground into a liquid known as cocoa liquor. Cocoa liquor then undergoes Dutching, the addition of a minute amount of lye to enhance its flavor. (The amount is so small, it poses no health hazard.) The liquor is then further processed to remove its fat, known as cocoa butter. The final product, chocolate, is a combination of the defatted cocoa powder with some cocoa butter added back.
The powder we call cocoa is simply dried cocoa liquor, with perhaps a little sugar added. Baker’s chocolate is processed cocoa liquor with no sugar added Bittersweet chocolate has some sugar added. Semi-sweet chocolate contains more sugar. And milk chocolate has the most sugar, plus milk to make it creamy.