Friday, February 16, 2007

Chocolate-Loving Americans Study Conjugated Linoleic Acid

Milk chocolate is my favorite kind of chocolate and I have never been fond of dark chocolate, which has many benefits as we have learned thus far. However, Science News published a story online about the benefits of both dark and milk chocolate at: http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010331/food.asp
and it is a very interesting read.

Conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) are a part of milk chocolate and it is a type of trans fat. In this case, CLA has positive effects as it is known to fight cancer and atherosclerosis. Unfortunately, to get these positive effects, one must consume 3 grams of CLA or 10 pounds of milk chocolate a day.

While CLAs are a step towards the better another discovery has been made by Nestle, this time with dark chocolate. Scientists replaced table sugar in dark chocolate with equal amounts of calcium carbonate and this produced amazing results. The male volunteers in the experiment excreted twice the amount of fat when compared to their consumption of regular dark chocolate and the modified chocolate contained 9% fewer calories. These men also experienced a 15% drop in their LDL cholesterol when eating the modified chocolate. Calcium and fats are combined to make soaps and the researchers from Nestle suggest that the body created a soap with the modified chocolate and this soap was washed out in the feces. The fat in chocolate, unlike that in burgers, are ideal for this process, however, Nestle has not announced making any calcium-based chocolates in the near future.

2 comments:

Daphne said...

Calcium carbonate is chalk!!

Kajal Patel said...

When I was a kid, I used to eat chalk as disgusting as that sounds. I have tried to eat dark chocolate and it just doesn't taste the same. I love milk chocolate and will still continue eating eat. I guess i'll have to search elsewhere for my antioxidants and LDL cholestrol lowering foods.