Ideal cacao / chocolate wrt saturated fat + heavy metals

[apod]

I was thinking about picking up some cacao powder, maybe as an alternative to my extra dark chocolate habit to decrease saturated fat content while potentially increasing the polyphenol content. (win/win?)
Thinking out loud here...

On WildernessFamilyNaturals, they have unfermented cacao powder at 154,900 μmole TE/100g (ORAC), with fermented cacao powder at 108,600 μmole TE/100g (ORAC) -- these both clock in at 1.5g of SFA per 28g. They also sell cacao nibs, which have 4g of SFA per 28g.
Looking at the heavy metals, I'm seeing:

Code: Select all

Fermented, Raw Cacao Powder
  Arsenic   <0.049 ppm
  Cadmium   0.783 ppm
  Lead   0.069 ppm
  Mercury   <0.02 ppm

Fermented, Raw Cacao Nibs
  Arsenic   <0.049 ppm
  Cadmium   0.689 ppm
  Lead   <0.049 ppm
  Mercury   <0.02 ppm

Non-Fermented Raw Cacao Powder
  Arsenic   <0.048 ppm
  Cadmium   0.924 ppm
  Lead   0.111 ppm
  Mercury   <0.02 ppm

Non-Fermented, Raw Cacao Nibs (sold out)
  Arsenic   <0.049 ppm
  Cadmium   0.258 ppm
  Lead   <0.049 ppm
  Mercury   <0.02 ppm

Comparatively, a Seaforth 100% bar contains ~9.6g SFA/28g. A 100% ghiradelli bakers bar, 100% bakers bar, and a 90% lindt all contain ~9.1g SFA/28g. A stone-ground Taza Wicked Dark 95% contains 8.0g SFA/28g. An 88% Endangered Species bar contains 7.2g SFA/28g. And, an Organic Pacari Raw 100% bar contains just 5.6g SFA/28g.

I'm curious if my best option here would be non-fermented nibs -- optimizing for low-heavy metals + high-polyphenols at the cost of higher SFA content (although, these are sold out...) Or, would I be better off with the un-fermented powder -- optimizing for high-polyphenols + low-SFA at the cost of higher heavy metals? Or, would I be better off with the fermented powder -- optimizing for low-SFA + moderate-polyphenols + moderate heavy metals?

Are there other cacao extracts / low-SFA chocolates worth investigating? Anecdotally, the SFA content from cacao doesn't seem to budge my LDL-C too much and Stearic Acid does seem interesting -- https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 101220.htm

[circular]

In ConsumerLab's rather extensive study all the cocoa powders had unacceptably high levels of cadmium and lead. I now avoid them as a dubious group

[LanceS]

Purchased this:



Chococru Extraordinary Flavanol Cocoa

Answer from CHOCOCRU- An important question, thank you. All our cocoa products receive a Certificate of Conformity which confirms that our cocoa conforms to current legislation as well as all the new stricter legislation to be implemented in 2019, regarding heavy metals. Cadmium is found naturally in the soil and can be particularly high in volcanic regions. Cocoa beans from Indonesia and South America for instance tend to have higher levels of cadmium. Cadmium levels in CHOCOCRU are well below the legislation requirement. This is partly due to the region in which our beans are grown, as well as the methods used in processing the beans. Our cocoa is unusual in that it contains 9-11%% fat (cocoa butter) whereas most cocoas contain 22-24% fat. Our natural cold pressed, fat reduction method also helps remove cadmium residue. This further reduces the cadmium levels well below the average threshold. Should you require further detailed information, please contact Maria at CHOCOCRU. we will be happy to assist you further.

Not sure whether they meet Consumer Union or whatever requirements for cadmium and lead, but have to imagine they could answer the question for you. Please do your own due diligence, I pretty briefly surveyed the field, haven't tried to verify their flavenol / pho9lyphenol claims or tried to look into contaminents etc. Seemed to be an interesting option.

[circular]

I would love for ChocoCru to work. When I tried it some years back it was really good but near impossible - and then impossible - to get in the states. They also had no supply for a long time and I eventually forgot about them. Will have to see if I can get in the US again.

[LanceS]

I would love for ChocoCru to work. When I tried it some years back it was really good but near impossible - and then impossible - to get in the states. They also had no supply for a long time and I eventually forgot about them. Will have to see if I can get in the US again.

Just FYI, I purchased early Feb from them.

I ordered through Amazon UK for US delivery (I live between DC, Baltimore). It shipped from UK to US. Seemed pretty easy, but expensive. Might have taken a few more days, but seemed pretty straightforward. Not Amazon Prime straightforward, but still pretty easy.

My cost then:

Item Subtotal: £16.99
Postage & Packing: £4.00
Order Total: £20.99
USD 31.65*

Have a hard time believing their numbers... on a cost per polyphenol basis might actually be better than alternatives... if their claims are to be believed.

[apod]

Purchased this:



Chococru Extraordinary Flavanol Cocoa

Answer from CHOCOCRU- An important question, thank you. All our cocoa products receive a Certificate of Conformity which confirms that our cocoa conforms to current legislation as well as all the new stricter legislation to be implemented in 2019, regarding heavy metals. Cadmium is found naturally in the soil and can be particularly high in volcanic regions. Cocoa beans from Indonesia and South America for instance tend to have higher levels of cadmium. Cadmium levels in CHOCOCRU are well below the legislation requirement. This is partly due to the region in which our beans are grown, as well as the methods used in processing the beans. Our cocoa is unusual in that it contains 9-11%% fat (cocoa butter) whereas most cocoas contain 22-24% fat. Our natural cold pressed, fat reduction method also helps remove cadmium residue. This further reduces the cadmium levels well below the average threshold. Should you require further detailed information, please contact Maria at CHOCOCRU. we will be happy to assist you further.

Not sure whether they meet Consumer Union or whatever requirements for cadmium and lead, but have to imagine they could answer the question for you. Please do your own due diligence, I pretty briefly surveyed the field, haven't tried to verify their flavanol / pho9lyphenol claims or tried to look into contaminents etc. Seemed to be an interesting option.

Very interesting -- From a bit of Googling, it sounds like the new 2019 EU cadmium limit is set at 0.8ppm and the "reduced fat" Chococru SFA content comes in at 1.9g SFA / 28g -- still 25%+ more saturated fat than the fermented WFN powder @ 1.5g SFA / 28g, which would also pass this 2019 EU heavy metal limit.

I find it a little odd that the WFN cacao powder is listed as "High in Vitamin C -- 35% DV in a 28g serving" while every other cacao powder seems to list 0.0%. With vitamin c boosting metal absorption, I'm not sure if this is a feature.

The net carbs in WFN cocoa powder is close to 40g/100g, while Chococru is down around 14g. Although, the fiber in WFN is up around 25g/100g while the fiber in chococru is around 16g/100g. Looking at Net Carbs : Fiber, Chococru seems ideal.

The ORAC values seem tricky to compare. Chococru lists their powder at 200,000/100g ORAC -- that seems pretty high (and an oddly even number?) WFN claims their 154,900 μmole TE/100g (ORAC) unfermented raw powder is "higher than any other raw cacao powder." I also found this chocolate powder, which doesn't seem to make an effort to reduce their SFA content -- their ORAC value is listed as 405,600 / 100g?

Going by Polyphenol content might be a better metric than ORAC:
http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v64/ ... 221t1.html

It looks like cacao powder usually clocks in at 3,448mg/100g with Chococru listing theirs at 8,300 mg/100g.

There's also Cocoavia extract which tests very low in heavy metals and is listed as "saturated fat free" with 5,514mg/100g of polyphenols. Although, it contains the least amount of fiber and 3x the net carbs as Chococru with added maltodextrin (a sugar with a glycemic index above 100.)

I think I'm sold on the Chococru as an ideal balance of different factors. Thanks for the suggestion Lance!

[apod]

I picked up some "Chococru: Extraordinary Flavanol Cocoa" -- pretty tasty stuff. It's interesting that it has a slightly purplish tint to the brown powder. Taste-wise, I'm reminded of WFN's unfermented powder (which is a bit bland compared with fermented cacao powder), with a little more bitterness to it. WFN's cacao powders are more of a tan brown color. By contrast, the cocoa powder from bulletproofexec is more of a shade of red and much richer in flavor, and cocoavia's is basically black and sort of artificial in flavor.

I wonder if it's a waste to blend this in with ground coffee for a ~2m pourover, or if it's better to mix it in and drink the powder. (Or, better yet to do a cold-brew extraction?)

I read about a new process Mars is working on to reduce SFA:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/06/16/1605416113

[Whatnow]

The CocoaVia capsules seems interesting, but does anyone know if they contain oxalates from the Cocoa? I can find no info about that on their website (which makes me think perhaps they have a lot of oxalates).