Herbs & Herbal Remedies @ Green Papaya

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.

Cocoa contains two chemicals that account for its uses in herbal healing-caffeine and theobromine.

Pick-Me-Up - Cocoa has only 10 to 20 percent of coffee’s caffeine content-about 13 milligrams per cup compared with instant coffee’s 65 milligrams and drip coffee’s 100 to 150 milligrams. As a result, cocoa and chocolate may relieve drowsiness and provide mild stimulation without causing as much [itteriness. insomnia, and irritability as coffee. Try some when you feel lethargic-purely as herbal medicine, of course.

Digestive Aid - The theobromine in cocoa relaxes the smooth muscle lining of the digestive tract, which may be why many people have room for chocolate after a heavy meal. Try some to soothe your stomach after meals.

Asthma - Theobromine and caffeine are close chemical relatives of a standard treatment for asthma (theophylline), which opens the bronchial passages of the lungs. Theobromine and caffeine have similar effects. Even if you don’t have asthma, try cocoa or chocolate for the chest congestion of colds and flu.

Rx for Cocoa

Kiss guilt good-bye. Now there are some genuine, good-foryou reasons to brew yourself a heavenly cup of cocoa. Try it as a pick-me-up or digestive aid. Anyone with asthma should be under a doctor’s care, but there’s no harm in a cup of cocoa for possible relief.

To make cocoa, use 1 to 2 heaping teaspoons per cup of hot water or low-fat or skim milk.

Some children and adults are extrasensitive to the stimulants in cocoa and chocolate. If insomnia, irritability, or hyperactivity become a problem, reduce consumption.

Yes! It’s Good for You!

Family: Sterculiaceae; (includes Kola)

Genus and Species: Theobroma Cacao

Also known as: Chocolate, cacao

Parts used: Seed (often called bean)

Just a few years ago a burst of publicity surrounded a report suggesting that eating chocolate causes the release of brain chemicals responsible for the feeling of being in love.

Researchers theorized this is why the broken-hearted sometimes seek solace in a box of chocolates.

Though this research is yet to be confirmed, there is still reason for chocoholics to rejoice! Your favorite vice may be just what the doctor ordered. Cocoa and its derivative, chocolate, may aid digestion, boost blood flow to the heart. and help anyone with chest congestion breathe easier. Unwrap a chocolate kiss and read on.

Aztec Treat

Imagine a world without chocolate. That would be a desolate world indeed. But that’s how it was until 1519, when Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortez saw Mexico’s Aztec ruler, Montezuma, sip a drink called chocolatl from a golden goblet. Cortez was more interested in the goblet than its contents until the Aztecs informed him the drink was made from beans so valuable that 100 could buy a healthy human slave.

Cortez introduced the Aztec treat to the Spanish court, where it became an instant sensation. The Spanish tried to keep chocolate a secret and succeeded for more than 100 years, but by the 1660s it had spread throughout Europe. Chocolate became especially popular in England and Holland, where the bitter drink was enriched and sweetened with milk and sugar.

Oddly, until the 19th century, chocolate was solely a beverage, sometimes bitter, sometimes sweet, but always a liquid. It was only about 150 years ago that it was fashioned into the blocks and candies we so love today.

“Very Useful for Invalids”

Central Americans have used cocoa for centuries to treat fever, coughs, and complaints of pregnancy and childbirth. They have also rubbed cocoa butter on burns, chapped lips, balding heads, and the sore nipples of nursing mothers.

America’s 19th-century Eclectics recommended cocoa butter externally as a wound dressing and salve. For internal use, they prescribed hot cocoa forasthma. as a substitute for coffee, and as “a very useful nutritive for invalids and persons convalescing from acute illness.”

Few contemporary herbalists recommended cocoa or chocolate as a healing herb. It’s their loss.

Devil’s Food?

Chocolate cake is called “devil’s food.” And no wonder. The product of this herb has long been villified as a cause of obesity, acne, heart disease, kidney stones, tooth decay, headaches, heartburn, and infant colic. Much of this reputation is undeserved.

Chocolates fat content may contribute to obesity and heart disease, but the chocolate used in confections is rarely as much of a problem as their high-fat. high-cholesterol butter and cream. Cocoa and chocolate contain no cholesterol (excerpt milk chocolate, whose dairy ingredients contain a small amount). However, they are high in saturated fat, the kind of fat that can raise cholesterol levels and contributes to heart disease. But a good deal of cocoa’s saturated fat is in the form of stearic acid, which does not raise cholesterol. For the record, here’s how the various kinds of chocolate stack up.

Bad Rumors

Chocolate’s contribution to tooth decay has been blown out of proportion. Some research even suggests that cocoa contains substances that inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause tooth decay. Again the problem with chocolate candy is not its cocoa content but rather the other sugary, gooey ingredients.

There is no evidence that chocolate causes acne, kidney stones, or infant colic. However, chocolate does contain chemicals (tyramines) that trigger headaches in some pee ple, particularly those prone to migraines.