Why is Cocoa Illegal? (Repost)

[Guest guest]

Hi Jodi--

Thanks for your good wishes! I think I might have my years mixed up--maybe I'm working on my 2nd anniversary--I don't know! Maybe that's a good thing, I feel so good I can't remember when I felt bad.

Ruth, caffeine and theobromine are smooth muscle stimulants--they can increase peristalsis of the intestine, therefore causing more D if you have it already Coffee is very acidic and can irritate the stomach lining and exacerbate GERD. I never got an upset stomach from coffee until I got UC--then it bothered me. I love strong coffee--Mom being European, we drank strong coffee every day, even as a child. When I started SCD, I diluted it, and grew to like it with time. I have increased the strength, but can still get a stomach ache if too strong.

Everyone's different. Marilyn always says, 'make your own'--I think my mantra's going to be 'everyone's different'. The nice thing is, we can all learn from each other.

I never got to make the cocoa butter cupcakes yet--Mara-I'd love the frosting recipe if you have it. Thanks in advance.

Terry

[Guest guest]

Hi Jodi-- Thanks for your good wishes! I think I might have my years mixed up--maybe I'm working on my 2nd anniversary--I don't know! Maybe that's a good thing, I feel so good I can't remember when I felt bad. That's so great Terry. I was feeling great last year this time, but the last 6 months,it's taken some work. Definitely not as steady as last year. But I think I'm finally getting better again. I never got to make the cocoa butter cupcakes yet--Mara-I'd love the frosting recipe if you have it. Thanks in advance.I make it as a cake, not cupcakes. And I double the recipe. The cake has tocook longer than the cupcakes do - but don't overcook because it comes outa bit dry. You can also bake the cake - refrigerate it and ice the next day - depending on your schedule. 4 egg yolks1/2 cup of cocoa butter (4 ounces) - melted2 teaspoons of vanilla or more if you like ithoney to taste - starting with 1 heaping TB - and possibly going up a lot more pinch of sea or himalayan salt to tasteoptional spritz of lemon - can't decide if I like it or if it is weird. But apparently italso helps the recipe emulsify. Beat yolks, preferably in a standing mixer for ease, until they are light yellow, doubledin volume and thick. Add honey and vanilla and salt (and optional lemon) and keepbeating until everything is well incorporated and the consistency is still thick. Then transfer the bowl to become the top of a double boiler and with the heat on a middlelow (not ridiculously low), keep whisking the eggs (don't leave them alone for too longor the yolks will begin to cook and then turn lumpy - this can happen in seconds at thewrong time so be careful). As the eggs slowly get warmer - begin to addthe cocoa butter to the yolks. Keep whisking. (I've melted the cocoa butter first and also left it solid and added that way, but itseems to be quicker if it is added in melted. But either way works - just use small pieces if youdrop in solid bits.) Keep adding the cocoa and then taste to make sure you have enough honey added. After a while, as you continue to whisk the yolk mixture, the consistency will begin to change noticeably and will no longer have the appearance of raw yolks. Keep on a bit longer, and then take off the heat. Then, take the bowl and set it into a bigger bowl of ice water so that the mixture will begin tochill. You cannot put it on the cake when it is warm, because it is too runny. Just let it chillfor a while, You can then put the mixture in the refrigerator to continue chilling. But keep the warm water from the bottom of the double boiler handy unless you over chill it and cannot easily spread it on the cake. (In which case, you simply need to let the mixture relax abit over the warm water - like a sauna, for icing!) The chilling part takes a while, so go off and do something else and stop eating it straight from thebowl. You'll figure out when it is done - when you can use a rubber spatula to spread it easily.Or, if you are more fancy, you can use an icing bag. Refrigerate it and let chill. The cake actually tastes best on the second day - not that I can resist eating it right away,but for some reason the flavors marry really well by then and are best from that point on. IMO, of course. Enjoy. Mara

[Guest guest]

Courtesy of Ferna, we have the following information, which she

originally posted to the BTVC-SCD list on 9 March 2009:

From Elaine's Website, " Elaine writes with great

finality:

We did a whole week on chocolate a while back and it is somewhere in my

files but someone else can report on it or look it up on a search engine.

I am sick and tired of chocolate - it is not permitted and until I get an

accurate analysis of every ingredient in the chocolate, per se, I am too

busy right now to give this illegal commodity any more

time. "

I can see why Elaine was a tad exasperated, considering there are about

300 chemicals in ONE cocoa bean, that she would have to find the time to

analyze.

According to " Chemicals in Cocoa Beans " at

http://coffee-chocolate.tripod.com/chemicals.htm:

Chemical Breakdown of a Cocoa Bean

Fat: 40 - 50%

Albuminous Matter (Protein): .06 - 18%

Starch: 1.3 - 7.5%

Ash: 2.0 - 4.0%

Theobromine: .88 - 2.34%

Caffeine: .05 - 0.36%

Various Trace Materials: 17.8% - 49.77%

Although chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is currently being touted

as good for the general public, starch is a SCD illegal and

" Theobromine (among other effects) can cause sleeplessness,

tremors, restlessness, anxiety, as well as contribute to increased

production of urine. Additional side effects include loss of

appetite, nausea, and vomiting " (according to the site referenced

above).

There are probably other reasons why chocolate, even in it's most native

form, is not SCD legal . . . but, this is all I had time to check

out.

—

Marilyn

New

Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund