I don’t know about you …. but I eat dark chocolate once or twice a week. I love the dark chocolate covered Honeycomb Sponge Candy at Sprouts is out of the world great! I do limit the amount I eat, but still! It’s dark chocolate and sugar, sugar, sugar. And the end of last year, Consumer Reports came out with an article that gives us another shocking change about eating Dark Chocolate. It says: “the old one ounce of dark chocolate per day won’t hurt you, isn’t true”. Very different from their usual reviews about cars and toasters, huh?
One piece of chocolate twice a week is what they’re now saying won’t hurt you. But if we dig a little bit deeper, we come to find out that even though the Cocoa solids are packed with flavonoids, which are antioxidants linked to improving blood vessel function, reduce inflammation and lower cholesterol, those flavonoids are actually where the toxins are hiding.
The world renown Cleveland Clinic tells us that if we are eating right, blueberries strawberries, apples with lemon all the things grandma would serve us then we’re getting the flavonoids we need.
I am just a little more than pissed that every time I turn around the rules change. What we knew to be true is no longer a fact. As someone who teaches about food, cooking and nutrition, it makes me look like an idiot! Lucky for you, the way I see it is “I am your hero, digging up the latest research to double check and see if things still stand today as they did last year. All the new studies coming out bring us this value.
I wonder if you feel the same way I do about why it has to be so hard to find out the truth. It’s only after digging up info, reports and studies that we finally find these things out. That report came out the end of last year and I stumbled upon it today September 2024. Why doesn’t news like this get blasted out over social media when a report like that comes out? Why do I have to stumble upon it almost a year later?
OK that’s my rant about it. I am lucky that I do have the experience and background of being a radio broadcaster and a newscaster so I’m always researching and updating information on my blog. But for the average person this just is not fair.
Getting back to Cadmium in our chocolate …. How does this happen you wonder? How does it even get into the plant? According to Consumer Reports, the cacao plants take up cadmium from the soil with metal accumulating as a tree grows.
I’ve linked the report here in case you want the details. But let me finish, and then you can go back to it because I’m basically giving you the summary.
So that’s the Cadmium. Now about the other toxic ingredient in everything chocolate: The lead gets in “they say” after the beans are harvested because the outer shell of the cocoa bean carries lead from the ground. Worse off, as the cocoa beans are removed from their pads to dry in the sun, the lead levels increase because they’re sitting on that same soil as the wind swirls it around, while it dries.
I’ve spent a lifetime weaning myself off milk chocolate to go to dark chocolate, thinking dark is better for me, when just the opposite is true. Neither is 100% healthy. And now, dark chocolate is housing the worst of the worst.
I take a look at Lillys, Tony’s (which has a great flavor), ChocoLove, Trader Joe’s, Organic Hu’s (which many people I know have switched to as a ‘cleaner’ choice) and Endangered Species as having 150 to 250% lead and high amounts of cadmium. I just can’t believe it!
Ghirardelli 86% cacao intense dark chocolate has only 36% lead and 39% cadmium. And while that’s less than 250, and they are calling it a safer choice. A company called Mast (which I have never heard of), comes in very good with their 80% dark chocolate organic dark chocolate. I will look into that and let you know how their flavor profile is…. if it actually tastes like good chocolate!
My new thought is: Anything that comes in as 50% or more lead or cadmium is now off the list, for me.
Do you know my grown daughter and I took a test the other day to see how much inflammation are in our cells… And both of us came back as highly inflamed? The person training told us a lot of it has to do with lead. It doesn’t matter that I got all my silver fillings replaced to be safe. That lead stays in my cells from before. And now I see I am still getting lead! It is coming through the chocolate I eat. Geez!
Can’t AI come up with a machine that makes food that our bodies can actually process? lol
And the lead and cadmium we are talking about are also found
in ‘sweet potatoes, spinach and carrots and small amounts’ Consumer Report says ‘from multiple sources, can add up to dangerous levels’. Please remember, I don’t create the news. I just report it. And if you find out something different? I would love to hear from you!
We have to be ok to changes, in light of new information.
When I was vegan for 5 years, regarding fruits and vegetables we always said: “If you can’t picture it growing, it’s not something you should be eating”. I can still see that being true. I know many of us are still buying food from a box or bag. The only difference for me is, I am reading my labels and buying way less …. Healthier Happier Eating my friend! Join me on Insta and FB. Gotta like me! Thanks.