Chocolate: Consuming Massive Quantities Daily For A Year With No Issues

[Captain_Coconut]

Everyone is different, but for me cocoa has way too much manganese and copper to be okay in large amounts long term. A few days on high copper foods without enough zinc give me a distinct low-gaba and anemic feeling. Manganese in excess is anti-dopamine, anti-thyroid, pro estrogen.

Cocoa is great for a short term buzz, but I consider its mineral profile troubling as a staple supplement for myself or anyone else who has issues with high copper / low dopamine.

 

[Vinero]

For an anecdotal story... My libido/mood was at a lifetime high when I was consuming 90% chocolate just about every day (alongside a high fat diet in general). I think it's time to eat chocolate again... not sure why I stopped, guess because I was trying to bring fat content down.

What about kidney stones? My brother ended up with these because he ate a lot of chocolate candies. Maybe it was because he also had a lot of PUFA's? I forget what his candy bar of choice was and if it had PUFA's or not (very possible though). That's my only concern with lots of chocolate intake.

That is a good reason not to overdo the chocolate, since it is high in oxalates which can cause kidney stones.
Do not eat more than 50 gram of cocoa daily.
Get enough calcium and vitamin D also.

 

[Vinero]

Everyone is different, but for me cocoa has way too much manganese and copper to be okay in large amounts long term. A few days on high copper foods without enough zinc give me a distinct low-gaba and anemic feeling. Manganese in excess is anti-dopamine, anti-thyroid, pro estrogen.

Cocoa is great for a short term buzz, but I consider its mineral profile troubling as a staple supplement for myself or anyone else who has issues with high copper / low dopamine.

A small amount daily is probably optimal, since the magnesium, copper and stearic acid are valuable nutrients.
But not too much as that causes problems such as you mentioned.

 

[Cirion]

Makes sense. Moderation in most things is usually key. My brother had an enormous % of his calories from chocolates (maybe as high as 50%, maybe even more) when he got the stones. Needless to say, he's not the most health minded individual in my family lol.

 

[Obi-wan]

I want as much stearic acid as I can get into my cells. So no niacinamide while I do my various chocolate consumption and transdermal application

 

[Nicole W.]

the higher the fat or cacao content of chocolate is the higher the affinity for toxins to bind to the fat thats the reason why i completely stopped eating dark chocolate 85 % +, because its full of cadmium, aluminium, arsenic and not forget to mention MOSH and MOAH . bye bye lovely chocolate

Do you think these contamination issues apply to cocoa butter as well? As of late, there are a number of forum members consuming straight cocoa butter in order to increase the amount of stearic acid in their diets. This worries me if your comment about the fat content of cacao is true. Are they potentially exposing themselves to high levels of these dangerous contaminants as a result? Do you think topical application of cocoa butter also has similar risks?

 

[SOMO]

Fellow chocolate lover here. One issue you did not mention is the potentially high levels of cadmium and arsenic found specifically in cocoa powders. It really sounds like you consume a lot of this stuff, so even if the levels were considered low to moderate, your consumption is high which would lead me to believe that you might be unwittingly poisoning yourself. I love chocolate too and could eat it all day long, but that one issue really gives me pause. I’m wondering what your thoughts are on this.

I'm always wary of heavy metals or pollutants in all food products.

I trust my chocolate source to have checks and balances (in the form of laboratory testing) at several points along the manufacturing process.

Also a healthy microbiome may protect you against heavy metals:
Gut microbiota limits heavy metals burden caused by chronic oral exposure. - PubMed - NCBI

That study used germ-free mice, which Peatarians often claim affords some extra protection against stresses. But apparently that's not the case for heavy metal exposure.

Also Bioremediation and Tolerance of Humans to Heavy Metals through Microbial Processes: a Potential Role for Probiotics?

Detoxication usually occurs in the human intestinal tract, the liver, and the kidneys before compounds can spread and reach target sites where damage ensues (7). It is by this process that the gut microbiota, lactobacilli, and potentially probiotic bacteria may have the largest role in binding metals, preventing their entry to the body and, thus, protecting the host… certain strains of lactobacilli appear to sequester mercury and may also have mechanisms for its degradation.”

 

[MrThyroid]

Do you think these contamination issues apply to cocoa butter as well? As of late, there are a number of forum members consuming straight cocoa butter in order to increase the amount of stearic acid in their diets. This worries me if your comment about the fat content of cacao is true. Are they potentially exposing themselves to high levels of these dangerous contaminants as a result? Do you think topical application of cocoa butter also has similar risks?

its logically that the higher the fat content of a food is also the higher the amount of toxins will be because they are lipophilic. Espiacially the persistent organic pollutants are extremely hard almost impossible to detox once they re in your system.

So it depends on the source i would only consume high fat foods if i have tests which proof that the source is almost free of toxins

 

[Nicole W.]

its logically that the higher the fat content of a food is also the higher the amount of toxins will be because they are lipophilic. Espiacially the persistent organic pollutants are extremely hard almost impossible to detox once they re in your system.

So it depends on the source i would only consume high fat foods if i have tests which proof that the source is almost free of toxins

Thank you for offering your thoughts.

 

[Mito]

I want as much stearic acid as I can get into my cells. So no niacinamide while I do my various chocolate consumption and transdermal application

Are you referring to getting stearic acid into the cell membrane phospholipids? How does niacinamide prevent stearic acid from doing that?

 

[Obi-wan]

Are you referring to getting stearic acid into the cell membrane phospholipids? How does niacinamide prevent stearic acid from doing that?

Niacinamide prevents FAS. I don't think it cares what type

 

[managing]

Blocking adenosine is what coffee/caffeine does and I always felt that if consumed in larger amounts, the chocolate "high" feels a bit like mild/weak coffee.

?

Caffeine blocks adenosine? Do you mean ATP, or extracellular adenosine?

 

[Mito]

Niacinamide prevents FAS. I don't think it cares what type

But so does stearic acid itself.

“Another interesting observation made by one of the studies is that stearic acid is apparently an inhibitor of the enzyme fatty acid synthase (FAS), which is required for cancer development/progression and is one of the most promising drug candidates in oncology.”

PUFA Required/essential For Cancer; Stearic Acid Is A PUFA Antagonist & Anti-cancer

 

[DavidGardner]

Cocoa keeps me from going over my limit on caffeine sometimes. When I have had enough coffee, but still crave a stimulant, I will switch to cocoa powder mixed in hot water. I have had no negative issues with it.

The fatty portion, cocoa butter, seems to calm me when I feel jittery and help me focus when my mind is foggy. I really find chocolate superior even to coconut oil or MCT oil as a nootropic. I notice this effect also with Ghirardelli white chocolate (which is largely cocoa butter), so I think it is the stearic acid and not the caffeine or theobromine.

Also, not worried about arsenic in cocoa powder. I eat a lot of rice, smoke cigars sometimes, and work at a plant nursery where my chemical exposure is probably astronomical. If arsenic is gonna get me anyways, I may as well have my chocolate and eat it too.

 

[General Orange]

Try to drink hot choco with some white pepper and olive oil on a empty stomach, see what happens...

 

[Obi-wan]

But so does stearic acid itself.

“Another interesting observation made by one of the studies is that stearic acid is apparently an inhibitor of the enzyme fatty acid synthase (FAS), which is required for cancer development/progression and is one of the most promising drug candidates in oncology.”

PUFA Required/essential For Cancer; Stearic Acid Is A PUFA Antagonist & Anti-cancer

That entire post was great!! I read it over and over again. Sitting here drinking coffee with Cocoa powder and cinnamon. Transdermal Cocoa butter after my shower then off to the gym...

 

[Frankdee20]

Get tested for Lead and Cadmium as chocolate unfortunately seems to be contaminated with these metals. Especially if you’re eating “massive quantities”.

 

[Obi-wan]

Get tested for Lead and Cadmium as chocolate unfortunately seems to be contaminated with these metals. Especially if you’re eating “massive quantities”.

I would say I am no where near massive quantities. 1 Teaspoon powder a day plus enough butter to use on my body as a moisturizer. There has to be ways for your body to chelate these heavy metals

 

[managing]

Try to drink hot choco with some white pepper and olive oil on a empty stomach, see what happens...

Care to give us a hint?

 

[General Orange]

Care to give us a hint?

Chocolate contains anandamide a cannabinoid.
white pepper contains an anandamide breakdown inhibitor, so the anandamide's effect is prolonged.
And the oleic acid in olive oil also metabolizes into a cannabinoid.