No only is is difficult to find chocolate without lecithin, now in the USA a lot of bigger name companies are using PGPR as a replacement for cocoa butter. Disgusting. Just another example of corporate greed adulterating our food supply in the USA. Always read your labels!
Thank you so much for your response, Kaya! I am in Massachusetts, USA. I actually did some online searching and did find one brand that doesn't seem to have soy lecithin in it - Organics brand which is sold at the Shaw's supermarkets in our area. I haven't made it there yet to confirm it's there but the website said it should be. Other than that, every other kind I've looked at, even the so-called healthy ones, have soy lecithin :(.
Looove this, I am such a chocolate lover and so is my bf! Regarding the heavy metals, some people argue that it shouldnt be a concern because the reason why its high its because of the natural soil but because of that they also tend to be higher in the opposing minerals that create cadmium and lead. And from what ive read the high in heavy metals come from south america because of the volanic ahses in the soil or something like that and a lot fo brands shifted to african cacao since its lower but they did also find that its less high in flavonoids. So my conclusion is unless its high in heavy metals because of industry than the chocolate thats high in it also has the minerals to oppose it. But you were sort of saying that! Also all these healthy 100 year old people probably just bought normal chocolate from the store and still got all that benefit!
I cut out chocolate for a bit for fatloss but It looks like it can aid it! And if there is a strong craving as you said there is probably a reason for it so listen to that need/want!
I so appreciate the time you put into your research, Kaya! I switched over to Taza chocolate per your recommendation. It's perfect for making hot chocolate! One thing, though, that I'm wondering about since being open to this pro-metabolic way of eating (to address hypothyroidism) is the topic of inflammation. Doesn't sugar (found in our coveted chocolate) create inflammation in the body and is therefore worsening autoimmune disease? I would love to hear your take on that.
Hi Dawn, thanks for this question. Sugar per se does not cause inflammation.
If a person has impaired cellular respiration, sugar might get turned into lactate instead of being fully oxidized. This is the hallmark of cancer metabolism - cancer cells waste sugar by turning it into lactate, they don’t actually use it well at all. Lactate itself can potentiate the inflammatory response, but sugar is not the reason for excessive lactate production. If we aren’t able to oxidize sugar this can signal a deficiency, such as that of the B vitamins, minerals (magnesium, copper, manganese, calcium, etc), or excessive levels of nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, etc. Basically, the inability to oxidize sugar is not caused by sugar but by a bigger problem.
The breakdown products from certain fats (such as the Omega-6 fats), including prostaglandins and leukotrienes, can signal to the body to keep the inflammatory response running longer and more intensely than needed, which is why these fats are inflammatory. Adequate sugar in the diet prevents the excessive release of tissue-stored PUFAs into the bloodstream and is in that sense anti-inflammatory. I talk about prostaglandins and their role in disease in more detail in my Omega-3 article: https://fundamentalnourishment.substack.com/p/the-dark-side-of-omega-3-fats
At the same time, CO2, which is created when sugar is oxidized properly, is highly anti-inflammatory.
So in short, sugar is not inflammatory, but the inability to use it can be. This is also a much bigger topic which probably needs its own article. :) Also estrogen is highly implicated in "autoimmunity" and sugar (carbohydrate) restriction can decrease progesterone production and impair estrogen clearance in a number of ways, downstream of lowering T3 levels.
Thank you for such a detailed response, Kaya! Yes, indeed -- I think this would be an excellent topic for one of your articles/podcasts; I have always been told that sugar is inflammatory, and I know many others believe the same.
Your content is the best I've ever read after YEARS of reading about and learning about nutrition. Thank you! Question about magnesium - how do you feel about magnesium creams?
Thank you so much, what an amazing compliment! It's interesting because anecdotally I have heard of people having success with topical magnesium chloride spray and I myself feel more relaxed after using it, yet recently I found a meta-analysis arguing that topical magnesium does not seem to have much of an effect in the studies analyzed. I need to take a proper look at it, perhaps the study design just used far too little of a dose.
You're very welcome! I am learning so much from you. It's a great feeling to think about all the bad things I've cut out and good things I've added in or am emphasizing more. That is very interesting about the magnesium spray. I had tried a cream, as did my mom, and she thought maybe it was making her heartbeat feel a bit funny but she wasn't sure. I know it is difficult to get enough magnesium through diet alone.
No only is is difficult to find chocolate without lecithin, now in the USA a lot of bigger name companies are using PGPR as a replacement for cocoa butter. Disgusting. Just another example of corporate greed adulterating our food supply in the USA. Always read your labels!
Are there any brands of chocolate chips that are good?
Hey Meg, where are you located? Generally I've found it difficult to find ones without added soy lecithin.
Thank you so much for your response, Kaya! I am in Massachusetts, USA. I actually did some online searching and did find one brand that doesn't seem to have soy lecithin in it - Organics brand which is sold at the Shaw's supermarkets in our area. I haven't made it there yet to confirm it's there but the website said it should be. Other than that, every other kind I've looked at, even the so-called healthy ones, have soy lecithin :(.
I'm in Germany and like the ones by Koro - https://www.korodrogerie.de/schokodrops-mit-xylit-1-kg?queryId=2fffe94a92ceb5ee1d0aab1f6fc28b4b
They have sunflower lecithin, but besides that are clean, really tasty and sweetend with xylitol (but I don't know Kaya's opinion on xylitol).
I'd avoid xylitol and any other fake sugars.
Hi Kaya, thank you for this!
What are your thoughts on chocolate being an xenoestrogen? Mentioned here https://youtu.be/CnJ6Dv88ZYI?si=DJXvNyPe8xnu0p3t
Hey, since the video is over an hour long, could you give me a timestamp where this is discussed? Thanks
Looove this, I am such a chocolate lover and so is my bf! Regarding the heavy metals, some people argue that it shouldnt be a concern because the reason why its high its because of the natural soil but because of that they also tend to be higher in the opposing minerals that create cadmium and lead. And from what ive read the high in heavy metals come from south america because of the volanic ahses in the soil or something like that and a lot fo brands shifted to african cacao since its lower but they did also find that its less high in flavonoids. So my conclusion is unless its high in heavy metals because of industry than the chocolate thats high in it also has the minerals to oppose it. But you were sort of saying that! Also all these healthy 100 year old people probably just bought normal chocolate from the store and still got all that benefit!
I cut out chocolate for a bit for fatloss but It looks like it can aid it! And if there is a strong craving as you said there is probably a reason for it so listen to that need/want!
I'd like to eat chocolate and (even got organic cocoa butter) but I can't fit it into the diet since I'm trying to eat hogh carb.
How do you incorporate this super food without going over 35% daily Fat calories?
I so appreciate the time you put into your research, Kaya! I switched over to Taza chocolate per your recommendation. It's perfect for making hot chocolate! One thing, though, that I'm wondering about since being open to this pro-metabolic way of eating (to address hypothyroidism) is the topic of inflammation. Doesn't sugar (found in our coveted chocolate) create inflammation in the body and is therefore worsening autoimmune disease? I would love to hear your take on that.
Hi Dawn, thanks for this question. Sugar per se does not cause inflammation.
If a person has impaired cellular respiration, sugar might get turned into lactate instead of being fully oxidized. This is the hallmark of cancer metabolism - cancer cells waste sugar by turning it into lactate, they don’t actually use it well at all. Lactate itself can potentiate the inflammatory response, but sugar is not the reason for excessive lactate production. If we aren’t able to oxidize sugar this can signal a deficiency, such as that of the B vitamins, minerals (magnesium, copper, manganese, calcium, etc), or excessive levels of nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, etc. Basically, the inability to oxidize sugar is not caused by sugar but by a bigger problem.
The breakdown products from certain fats (such as the Omega-6 fats), including prostaglandins and leukotrienes, can signal to the body to keep the inflammatory response running longer and more intensely than needed, which is why these fats are inflammatory. Adequate sugar in the diet prevents the excessive release of tissue-stored PUFAs into the bloodstream and is in that sense anti-inflammatory. I talk about prostaglandins and their role in disease in more detail in my Omega-3 article: https://fundamentalnourishment.substack.com/p/the-dark-side-of-omega-3-fats
At the same time, CO2, which is created when sugar is oxidized properly, is highly anti-inflammatory.
So in short, sugar is not inflammatory, but the inability to use it can be. This is also a much bigger topic which probably needs its own article. :) Also estrogen is highly implicated in "autoimmunity" and sugar (carbohydrate) restriction can decrease progesterone production and impair estrogen clearance in a number of ways, downstream of lowering T3 levels.
Thank you for such a detailed response, Kaya! Yes, indeed -- I think this would be an excellent topic for one of your articles/podcasts; I have always been told that sugar is inflammatory, and I know many others believe the same.
Your content is the best I've ever read after YEARS of reading about and learning about nutrition. Thank you! Question about magnesium - how do you feel about magnesium creams?
Thank you so much, what an amazing compliment! It's interesting because anecdotally I have heard of people having success with topical magnesium chloride spray and I myself feel more relaxed after using it, yet recently I found a meta-analysis arguing that topical magnesium does not seem to have much of an effect in the studies analyzed. I need to take a proper look at it, perhaps the study design just used far too little of a dose.
You're very welcome! I am learning so much from you. It's a great feeling to think about all the bad things I've cut out and good things I've added in or am emphasizing more. That is very interesting about the magnesium spray. I had tried a cream, as did my mom, and she thought maybe it was making her heartbeat feel a bit funny but she wasn't sure. I know it is difficult to get enough magnesium through diet alone.
What brand do you prefer?