Chocolate Related News
Breath in Chocolate to Curb Appetite!
May 20, 2010
A Harvard University professor unveils his invention that may help people reduce their food cravings simply by inhaling chocolate.
Le Whif is a lipstick-shaped aerosol filled with minute particles of dark chocolate. Inventor David Edwards, a professor of biomedical engineering, claims that a single puff provides all the pleasures of chocolate minus the loaded calories. Its aroma, meanwhile, also discourages users from grabbing a plateful of cake or raiding the fridge. As tiny particles of dark chocolate coat the tongue and throat, signals are being sent to the brain telling it that the stomach is full.
Edwards claim that the particles are small enough to become airborne, but not too big to enter the lungs, which would have caused choking and other lung damage.
Le Whif chocolate inhaler is available in three flavors: plain, raspberry, and mint. There is also a Le Whif coffee version that promises to give users a kick without having to take a cup of Joe. Each tube costs 1.80 euros (about US$2.30), while packs of three costs 4.99 euros (US$6.30).
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Airborne chocolate or coffee, anyone?
I inhale chocolate all the time. Just set a pint of Häagen-Dazs Rocky Road in front of me, take a breath, and it’s gone. But, seriously, what would you think about a breath spray like “food inhaler” that would soothe the sweet tooth or coffee jitters with just 1 calorie per serving?
Good news for those of you that like the idea- it’s already here. David Edwards, a Harvard biomedical engineering professor came up with the original idea for Le Whif in 2007. Le Whif started out as a small canister of organic chocolate particles. Now the product has expanded to include flavors such as: “Raspberry Chocolate” “Coffee” and “Mint Chocolate.”
Le Whif is no bigger than a tube of lipstick. It contains about eight to nine servings, depending on how hard you inhale. Each canister contains between 1 and 2 calories. The coffee canister contains about 100 mg of caffeine, about the equivalent of a shot of espresso. The product claims to be biodegradable and organic.
You take a breath from the aerosol dispenser, just as you would an asthma inhaler, and the users mouth, tongue, and throat is coated with the flavor particles. Edwards claims that the particles are small enough to be absorbed in the mouth, but are too large to reach the lungs.
So what do you think; chocolate without the chocolate bar and coffee without the cup… cool or not?
Choosing Chocolate is Personal
May 13, 2010
It’s personal … choosing chocolate, that is. According to a new survey by Lindt Chocolate based in Stratham, N.H., three out of five (61%) Americans choose a chocolate based on conditions such as their mood, the occasion, time of day and even the weather. A national survey of about 1,000 men and women revealed the following about chocolate eating habits and preferences:
- Seventy percent of Americans agree that choosing their own chocolate is just as personal of a decision as selecting an item from a menu.
- Two out of three women say chocolate is just as personal of a decision as choosing their own lipstick or makeup.
- Nearly half of Americans (46%) choose a different type of chocolate based on their mood.
- More than half of Americans (55%) eat creamy milk chocolate when they need an escape, followed by any type of chocolate with nuts (44%), intense dark chocolate (36%) and smooth white chocolate (23%).
"Personal taste preferences differ, and people aren't always drawn to the same type of chocolate," says Ann Czaja, Lindt’s Master Chocolatier. "Eating premium chocolate is truly an experience to be slowly savored. As an expert in all things chocolate, I encourage chocolate lovers to think outside their traditional chocolate choice and fully appreciate the different flavors found in each type of chocolate, to create a truly memorable chocolate experience."
The 2010 Lindt Chocolate survey was conducted via the CARAVAN omnibus survey by Opinion Research Corp. Results are based on telephone interviews conducted April 15-18, 2010, among a nationally projectable sample of 1,010 adults, 18 years of age and older. Interviews were weighted by age, geographic region and race to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total population. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level was +/- 3.2% for the entire sample.
How Dark Chocolate May Guard Against Brain Injury from Stroke
ScienceDaily (May 5, 2010)
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that a compound in dark chocolate may protect the brain after a stroke by increasing cellular signals already known to shield nerve cells from damage.
Ninety minutes after feeding mice a single modest dose of epicatechin, a compound found naturally in dark chocolate, the scientists induced an ischemic stroke by essentially cutting off blood supply to the animals' brains. They found that the animals that had preventively ingested the epicatechin suffered significantly less brain damage than the ones that had not been given the compound.
While most treatments against stroke in humans have to be given within a two- to three-hour time window to be effective, epicatechin appeared to limit further neuronal damage when given to mice 3.5 hours after a stroke. Given six hours after a stroke, however, the compound offered no protection to brain cells.
Sylvain Doré, Ph.D., associate professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine and pharmacology and molecular sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says his study suggests that epicatechin stimulates two previously well-established pathways known to shield nerve cells in the brain from damage. When the stroke hits, the brain is ready to protect itself because these pathways -- Nrf2 and heme oxygenase 1 -- are activated. In mice that selectively lacked activity in those pathways, the study found, epicatechin had no significant protective effect and their brain cells died after a stroke.
The study now appears online in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism.
Eventually, Doré says, he hopes his research into these pathways could lead to insights into limiting acute stroke damage and possibly protecting against chronic neurological degenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease and other age-related cognitive disorders.
The amount of dark chocolate people would need to consume to benefit from its protective effects remains unclear, since Doré has not studied it in clinical trials. People shouldn't take this research as a free pass to go out and consume large amounts of chocolate, which is high in calories and fat. In fact, people should be reminded to eat a healthy diet with a variety of fruits and vegetables.
Scientists have been intrigued by the potential health benefits of epicatechin by studying the Kuna Indians, a remote population living on islands off the coast of Panama. The islands' residents had a low incidence of cardiovascular disease. Scientists who studied them found nothing striking in the genes and realized that when they moved away from Kuna, they were no longer protected from heart problems. Researchers soon discovered the reason was likely environmental: The residents of Kuna regularly drank a very bitter cocoa drink, with a consistency like molasses, instead of coffee or soda. The drink was high in the compound epicatechin, which is a flavanol, a flavanoid-related compound.
But Doré says his research suggests the amount needed could end up being quite small because the suspected beneficial mechanism is indirect. "Epicatechin itself may not be shielding brain cells from free radical damage directly, but instead, epicatechin, and its metabolites, may be prompting the cells to defend themselves," he suggests.
The epicatechin is needed to jump-start the protective pathway that is already present within the cells. "Even a small amount may be sufficient," Doré says.
Not all dark chocolates are created equally, he cautions. Some have more bioactive epicatechin than others.
"The epicatechin found in dark chocolate is extremely sensitive to changes in heat and light" he says. "In the process of making chocolate, you have to make sure you don't destroy it. Only few chocolates have the active ingredient. The fact that it says 'dark chocolate' is not sufficient.
"The new study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart and Stroke Association.
Other Johns Hopkins researchers on the study include Zahoor A. Shah, Ph.D.; Rung-chi Li, Ph.D.; Abdullah S. Ahmad, Ph.D.; Thomas W. Kensler, Ph.D.; and Shyam Biswal, Ph.D.
A little bit of Chocolate may help keep BP Low
By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: March 30, 2010
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, RN, BC-ADM, CDE, Nurse Planner
Chocolate appears to protect against hypertension and stroke, researchers found.
Patients who consumed the greatest amount of chocolate -- about 7.5 grams per day or a little over one and a half Hershey kisses -- had significantly lower blood pressure and risk of stroke than those who ate the least -- about 1.7 grams per day, according to Brian Buijsse, PhD, of the German Institute of Human Nutrition in Nuthetal, Germany, and colleagues.
They reported their findings online in the European Heart Journal.
"It's a little early to make recommendations [about chocolate consumption]," Buijsse told MedPage Today, cautioning that more studies are needed. "But a future recommendation could be that if people eat a small amount of chocolate, they can replace it for something else, maybe leaving out a snack or another sweet."
For the present study, the researchers followed 19,357 patients in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) Study 1994-2006, who were between the ages of 35 and 65.
Dietary habits and health outcomes were assessed via questionnaire, and the cohort was followed for a mean of eight years.
The researchers also asked a subset of 1,568 patients to recall their chocolate intake over a 24-hour period to determine which type of chocolate they ate -- white, milk, or dark (57% ate milk chocolate, 24% ate dark, and 2% ate white chocolate).
Overall, they found that patients who ate the most chocolate -- about 7.5 grams per day -- had significantly lower blood pressure and heart attack or stroke risk compared with those who ate the least chocolate (about 1.7 grams per day).
Swiss Chocolatier Builds Taj Mahai from White Chocolate
April 6, 2010
Swiss chef Adelbert Bucher would have to add another feather on his cap after finishing his latest work of art: A replica of the Taj Mahal made entirely of white chocolate. Bucher, the master chocolatier of the Swiss chocolate brand Lindt for 10 years, has already created models of the Emirates Towers in Dubai and the Blue Mosque in Istanbul out of dark chocolate. The latest exhibit of his fine replica making was part of the promotions for Lindt in India.
Measuring three feet by three feet, the replica of India’s famous landmark will be on display at The Maurya lobby in New Delhi until April 11, Sunday.
“Fifteen years ago, I had designed the Taj Mahal in white sugar crystals,” the chocolatier said during an interview. Despite his fascination with the monument, Bucher has never visited the Taj. “I have only seen pictures in magazines and on the Internet,” he added.
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