Chocolate

White chocolate



Chocolate is made up of cocoa. The pure chocolate that make and process from the seed of cocoa tree is in fluid form which is known as chocolate liquor. The chocolate liquor is then processed into two components which are cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is the fatty component of chocolate. Cocoa solid is a non fat component of chocolate. Cocoa solid give the flavor and color (brown) to the chocolate and cocoa butter give the smoothness and low melting point to chocolate. Although cocoa butter is the fatty component but then it composed of both saturated and unsaturated fats. In cocoa butter, 75% is in the form of oleic and stearic acids while 25% is those bad kind of fat.



Milk chocolate


There are 3 main types of chocolate: Milk chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate which contain chocolate with sugar and combine with milk powder or condensed milk. Milk chocolate is also sweet chocolate and contain cocoa butter and milk, this type of chocolate does not contain cocoa solids. Dark chocolate contain cocoa butter, cocoa solid and sugar.
Dark chocolate



Many research found that cocoa contain flavonoids epicatechin which is an antioxidant. Antioxidant is a molecule that slow down or prevent the oxidation (transfer of electrons) of other molecules by bonding them. This reduce the formation of free radicals that will damage our body cell. Epicatechin improve blood flow and this good for cardiac health. Flavonoids also reduce the clotting of blood and this reduce risk of stroke and heart attack. Besides, cocoa contains alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine. Alkaloids are natural chemical compound which contain basic nitrogen atoms. Phenethylamine is a mild antidepressant and stimulant which similar to out dopamine and adrenaline hormone. Theobromine is a mild stimulant in concert with caffeine which make people addicted. Tryptophan is another chemical that found in cocoa and it trigger the brain to make serotonin (neurotransmitter that produce ecstasy feeling).


Disadvantage such as cocoa contains higher concentration of lead which cause mild lead poisoning. Lead poisoning can effect children's brain function and cause permanent neurodevelopmental deficits including impaired IQ. Cocoa is toxic to animals because of theobromine that found in cocoa. Animals such as horses, dogs, parrots, small rodents and cats can't metabolise chemical effectively and theobromine will remain in their blood. This will cause them heart attack, internal bleeding and death.


If you are a chocolate lover, you should buy dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate because dark chocolate has a higher cocoa content, lesser sugar and fat. Remember that the higher the cocoa content, the lesser the space for cocoa butter, sugar, milk and other substances that makes the chocolate. While, milk chocolate will increase the risk of obesity because cocoa butter is removed during manufacturing process and milk fat, sugars and other fats are added into it. This increase the caloric content of chocolate.


Although cocoa is good for us but what we have in chocolates is processed cocoa with other ingredients such as sugar, milk fats. Therefore, chocolate is not a healthy food and we should consume it in moderation. So if you want to eat chocolate as a snack, you must remember to choose dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate or white chocolate. And look at the nutrition value, you should choose the chocolate which has higher cocoa content, less sugar and fat.


I have found a formula which can calculate the percentage of cocoa butter and cocoa solid in a chocolate but i dont know whether it can be trusted or not. Just try it when you want to buy chocolate.

Step 1 : Note the serving size.

Step 2 : Note the total fat.

Step 3 : Divide the total fat by the serving size ( total fat / serving size ) then multiply 100%.
(this is the percentage of cocoa butter in the chocolate)

Step 4 : Subtract the cocoa percentage that given in the nutrition value and the percentage that you get from step 3. ( this is the percentage of cocoa solid in the chocolate ).

Are margarine still the healthy option???????

VS

Normally, we know that margarine is healthier than butter because butter is made up of animal oil which consist of saturated fatty acid and margarine is made up of plant oil which consist of unsaturated fatty acid. But research show that margarine contain trans-fatty acid which will cause heart disease. Then how the trans-fatty acid come from???And how the trans-fatty acid cause heart disease.

Saturated fatty acid

Saturated fatty acids are came from animal fats (meat) and tropical oils such as coconut oils and palm oils. Saturated fatty acid is a carboxylic acid that have no double bonds between the carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain and fully saturated with hydrogen atoms. It cannot react with others atom because all the carbon atoms having all the hydrogen atoms attached to it. Examples of saturated fatty acids are lauric acid (12 carbon atoms), myristic acid (14 carbon atoms), palmitic acid (16 carbon atoms) and stearic acid (18 carbon atoms). Most of the saturated fats are solid at room temperature. Saturated fatty acid will increase LDL cholesterol which is bad cholesterol and decrease the HDL cholesterol which is good cholesterol. This will block arteries and led to heart disease and stroke.

Unsaturated fatty acid

Unsaturated fatty acids are came from vegetable oils. Unsaturated fatty acid is a carboxylic acid that has double bond between the carbon chain. When there is only one double bond, it is known as mono-unsaturated fatty acid. If there is more than one double bond then it is known as poly-unsaturated fatty acid. For example, oleic acid (one double bond), linoleic acid (two double bonds) and arachidonic acid (four double bonds). This double bond make the carbon chains have kinks which cause the molecules cannot get close together. Therefore, unsaturated fatty acids are in liquid form at room temperature. Unsaturated is said to be healthier because our body can break down unsaturated fatty acid easily and used them more quickly for our body's metabolism.

There are two types of double bonds arrangement: cis unsaturated fatty acids and trans unsaturated fatty acids. In cis unsaturated fatty acid, the hydrogen atoms are on the same side . In trans unsaturated fatty acid, the hydrogen atoms are on the different side. In cis unsaturated fatty acid, the cis double bond form a sharp angle while trans double bond form a straight line which similar to a saturated fat but there are small kink at the double bond site. Most of the vegetable oil are in the cis double bond.

During hydrogenation, hydrogen is absorbed into the fatty acid molecules to remove the double bond and make the unsaturated molecule become saturated. Full hydrogenation result in converting unsaturated fatty acid into saturated fatty acid. Partial hydrogenation result in addition of hydrogen atom to reduce number of double bonds. Commercial hydrogenation is partial to obtain a malleable mixture of fats that is solid at room temperature. During partial hydrogenation, some of the cis unsaturated fatty acids form trans unsaturated fatty acid. Some of the hydrogen atoms flip flop and the hydrogen atoms are moved into different side. During hydrogenation, natural essential fatty acids are destroyed and the new artificial isomers are structurally similar to saturated fats, this lack of the essential metabolic activity of the parent compounds and inhibit the enzymatic desaturation of linoleic and linolenic acid.

For example, when oil only use for once like frying eggs, then only a few cis bonds are converted into trans bonds. But, if oil is constantly reused like the oil reusing in fast food to fry French fries, more and more of cis bonds are converted to trans bond. Trans fats are same as saturated fats which increase LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and decrease HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol). Trans double bond is chemically less active than a cis double bond. But the connection between trans fats are strong and reliable. Trans double bond cause inflammation inside the body which signals the deposition of cholesterol in artery.

Natural-occuring trans fat

There are some natural-occuring trans fat conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) found in animal products which is good kind of trans fat. Research shown that conjugated linoleic acid can be a fat burner which help to burn fat by decreasing abdominal fat but not decrease body weigh. Conjugated linoleic acid also can be used as a bone booster which help to increase bone mineral density in whole body.

LDL(Low-density lipoprotein)

LDL is known as bad cholesterol. When too much of LDL circulates in the blood, it can form plaque, thick, hard deposit that in the arteries and this will narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This condition known as atherosclerosis.

HDL (High-density lipoprotein)

HDL cholesterol is known as "good" cholesterol because it protects against heart attack. HDL cholesterol carry cholesterol away from the arteries back to liver. HDL also remove excess cholesterol from arterial plaque which will slow down cholesterol build up in the arteries.

Therefore,

The more solid the margarine, the more the trans fatty acids and the semi-liquid margarine contain the least trans fat. So we need to avoid solid margarine and choose a semi-liquid margarine.

As long as , they are not being hydrogenated then it is a good fat which is monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fatty acid. These oils also contain the essential fatty acids which included omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These acid cannot be produced by our body and they are necessary for us.

So, we need to check the food label first before we buy it to reduce consuming trans fat and saturated fat. Please care of your health.