is dark chocolate better than blueberries? read this.

can I skip my morning blueberries and just eat a small portion of dark chocolate?? :))

this website claims that dark chocolate has more antioxidants than what blueberries have.

http://www.antioxidants-4-life.com/darkchocol ate.html

here is a quote from the website " The USDA uses the ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) scale to measure the antioxidant capacities of different foods. "

while this website has different numbers or antioxdants in blueberries. 

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/200406 17/antioxidants-found-unexpected-foods

another question: since wild blueberries has more antioxdants than cultivated ones, how can I get these? 

Chocolate is made in a factory, with added sugars and unless it's organic, often a whole slew of other ingredients, some of which you might know what they are, and others you might not.  Blueberries grow on a bush and naturally are packed with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, on top of any anti-oxidant content they may have.   I don't think you need to make a choice of one or the other, just eat some of both and a wide variety of natural foods and stop worrying about stuff like this.

In Canada here, we can buy frozen wild Canadian blueberries all year round, but the fresh ones are only available for a month or two in the summer.

Would chocolate covered blueberries be good?   Sorry, I'm incorrigible.

Whether sugar is added or not has nothing to do with if it's organic or not. It has more to do wity type and quality of the chocolate.

UD

Original Post by clairelaine:

Would chocolate covered blueberries be good?   Sorry, I'm incorrigible.

Claire, this is the best idea ever LOL. 

tell me where can I find wild blueberries in the states? 

Original Post by umneydurak:

Whether sugar is added or not has nothing to do with if it's organic or not. It has more to do wity type and quality of the chocolate.

UD

I agree with this. Adding sugar has nothing to do with its antioxidants content. esp if you buy a good brand like callibeaut. spelling? 

Who said anything about added sugar having anything to do with it being organic?  I said, "with added sugars and unless it's organic, often a whole slew of other ingredients".   Sugar is added to organic and non-organic chocolate, but the organic stuff doesn't come with the mile long list of unpronouncable chemicals, food additives and derivatives.

If I remember correctly, in order to gain any health benefits from chocolate, you need to have at least a 70% cocoa solids content, and preferably higher, which rules out most commonly available chocolate products.   One thing no one ever talks about is, the benefits from chocolate don't come from the sugar or other added ingredients, they come from the cocoa powderbut, but no one advocates using cocoa to get the benefits.  That's because there aren't billions of dollars being made from selling cocoa but there are billions being made selling chocolate, and billions more made from chocolate from people buying it because they misheard something and think it's healthy now. 

johnnypenso, I am not saying that people should go and buy Hershey. I am talking about real dark chocolate with 70% cocoa content. Some good brands like Callebaut. it is a very good belgian brand. 

I heard that dark chocolate can affect the serotonin level in the brain which can have a positive effect on people who suffer from depression. not sure if that is true. 

so my question is why not eating a small piece of dark chocolate every day?

A small piece of high % dark chocolate every day is totally absolutely wonderfully fine. As long as it doesn't go over your calorie limit, go for it.

I think I will go for it. I tried it today and liked it a lot. 

do you have any info on how it affects mood and depression? or this is just marketing campagins so people will buy more chocolate?

It probably releases seratonin (eating in general does that), which will give you pleasure. But it probably won't affect chemicals in your brain on a long-term timeline at all.

But eating chocolate every day can improve your mood just by virtue of the fact that it's yummy and you're eating it! That right there would cheer me up. :)

Actually Safina, your question was not, "so my question is why not eating a small piece of dark chocolate every day?"

It was, "can I skip my morning blueberries and just eat a small portion of dark chocolate?? :))"

Two different questions as you can see.  There's no harm in eating a small piece of anything every morning.  Personally I don't believe that 100 calories of chocolate will benefit you more than 100 calories of blueberries.   100 calories of chocolate is not much chocolate, but 100 calories of blueberries is almost a cup and a half of blueberries, so on satiety alone the blueberries win. 

Callebaut has the "reputation" of being fine chocolate, but it's made in a giant factory same as everyone else and I have an aversion to eating anything that comes out of a processing factory that isn't a natural food.  Callebaut also has a huge production facility in China and I won't eat anything that comes out of China because of the massive number of tainted foods that have come out of there in recent years.  I'll stick to making things with pure cocoa powder to get my chocolate fix and avoid the packaged processed foods any day...but that's just my opinion...lol.  

Johnny Penso is actually giving some pretty good advice for those of us who generally avoid fat and processed sugar.

While a trip to your local health food store (or most good local chocolateries) will provide you with sugar-free (usually grain-sweetened) options, there is still the fat and saturated fat content of chocolate to contend with.

The process of making even the healthiest chocolate involves separating the cocoa from the fatty "butter" in the cacao nibs (since you need much more cocoa than butter for the final product), and recombining them in varying ratios.

Leftover cocoa butter gets made into cosmetic products or sweetened to create white chocolate.

By using (relatively fat free) cocoa powder to make your own foods/deserts, you can enjoy chocolatey goodness, control the sugar and fat content, and get the full antioxidant benefits.

Personally, I like to use agave nectar (which is sweeter than sugar and has a far lower glycemic index).

You can also enjoy cocoa in non-desert foods like savory molé sauce. (yummeh!)

Leftover cocoa butter gets made into cosmetic products or sweetened to create white chocolate.

I had no idea about that! Well, I never liked white chocolate anyway! :) 

I personally don't really like chocolate all that much. The only one I can stand is http://www.hersheys.com/products/details/extr adark/index.asp?name=Cranberries%2C+Blueberri es%2C+Almonds&id=3978-2129

I know, it's hershey but oh well.

Anybody who has tried cocoa beans/nibs? I think I just might try to get my hand on the powder. But I like chew on crunchy nibblets, so I want to try the beans also. Anybody?

Original Post by safina1:

this website claims that dark chocolate has more antioxidants than what blueberries have.

http://www.antioxidants-4-life.com/darkchocol ate.html

here is a quote from the website " The USDA uses the ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) scale to measure the antioxidant capacities of different foods. "

while this website has different numbers or antioxdants in blueberries. 

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/200406 17/antioxidants-found-unexpected-foods

another question: since wild blueberries has more antioxdants than cultivated ones, how can I get these? 

The first web site is like an ad for "Xocal Healthy Chocolate" so I don't think I'd trust their stats. They also said that unprocessed cocoa powder is high in antioxidants, not dark chocolate bars in general. Even Callebaut chocolate has added sugar, fat, etc.

There's nothing wrong with eating a small amount of dark chocolate (minimum 70%... the higher the percentage, the higher the antioxidant content) but blueberries are the better choice because they're lower calorie & very nutritious.

As for wild blueberries, you gotta venture out and pick them! Try googling local U-Pick farms in your area. You might be able to buy wild blueberries in health food stores. I live in Calgary (Canada) and I haven't seen them.

Try and find a chocolate from a single plantation, or one that at least tells you which type of tree the beans are from. This is usually a good indicator of the small batch processing and high quality that would mean you have something really worth the treat and it's more likely to have some goodness left.

I was in Venezuela once, and since that's where the best cocoa in the world is grown I figured it would be easy to find.  Noooo - it all gets exported to processors, mostly in Europe.  What was available in the stores was mostly Hersheys.  Even that wasn't very popular because it melts.  A good deal of the indigenous chocolate use in Venezuela and Colombia is in hot cocoa.

Health benefits....I'd take the blueberries.  A slight antioxidant advantage isn't enough to offset the fat and sugar.  Chocolate is candy to eat in moderation.  Blueberries should be eaten as often as possible, by the handful.

Wild blueberries I've seen for sale mostly in Ontario, Quebec and Maine, both canned and fresh.  Closely related huckleberries grow wild all over the western US and Canada, but it's hard to find anyone selling them except in jams and preserves.

Original Post by fruit_tart:
Anybody who has tried cocoa beans/nibs? I think I just might try to get my hand on the powder. But I like chew on crunchy nibblets, so I want to try the beans also. Anybody?

I've never tried a cacao nib, but something tells me they'd be mighty bitter. 

I think we're kidding ourselves when we say we eat chocolate for its health benefits!

Original Post by vodou_chile:

Original Post by fruit_tart:
Anybody who has tried cocoa beans/nibs? I think I just might try to get my hand on the powder. But I like chew on crunchy nibblets, so I want to try the beans also. Anybody?

 

I've never tried a cacao nib, but something tells me they'd be mighty bitter. 

Hehe, I heard cacaos are naturally bitter - so that means unprocessed powder would be as bitter, right?