Thursday, March 1, 2012

proclus

I am republishing the Vitacost blog postings to the GNU-Darwin spectrum.

Regards,
proclus
http://www.gnu-darwin.org/

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael L Love <proclus@gnu-darwin.org>
Date: Mon, Apr 26, 2010 at 2:59 PM
Subject: proclus
To: proclus@gnu-darwin.org


http://blogs.vitacost.com/Blogs/proclus/Default.aspx

Michael L. Love: proclus molecules blog
Welcome to Michael L. Love on Vitacost!

Probably my most recognizable feature is that I don't own a car, and I bicycle for exercise twice most days.

email:proclus@gnu-darwin.org

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The links section of this blog has been updated with new categories to bring it current.  In addition to this link, the blog links table is accessible in the left sidebar of the blog, and there are tools in the common tasks block for adding links to your blog as well.  As a reminder, be sure and let me know, if you add a blog links table.  I try to monitor things via the Progress blogs home, but I won't know if you add a links table unless you tell me.  I am definitely interested.

Regards,
proclus
http://www.gnu-darwin.org

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As has been noted previously in this blog, cocoa flavonoids share in the healthful benefits of other noted flavonoids, such as citrus bioflavonoids and parsley apigenin.  In fact, 70% dark chocolate has been widely recommended because of the demonstrated health benefit.

I had suspected that most of the phenolics and other beneficial anti-oxidants were bound to the fiber in the cocoa solids, and like many other foods, such as grain and citrus, this turns out to be the case.  It is unfortunate that these beneficial substances have sometimes been set aside in the past, but thankfully, that is changing.  In the case of cocoa, this tends to be less of a problem, because the delicious chocolate flavor resides in the solid fraction, from which cocoa powder is made.  There is, however, some cause for concern, because harsh processing is often used to improve the flavor, and it is likely that much nutrient loss results from these processes.  This is why I favor plain, inexpensive, commonplace cocoa powder.  One of the reasons it is less expensive is that it has received less processing.  It should be noted that it is not too hard to find a whole pound of cocoa powder for the price of a single 70% dark chocolate bar, and the powder is likely just as beneficial.  You can even improve the healthfulness by adding more cocoa than is found in the chocolate bar without sacrificing flavor, as I explain below.

I say, beware of chocolate that is too delicious, because you might be losing some of the benefit.  Similar to the problem of chocolate processing, the glycemic sweeteners that are used to improve the flavor can also detract from the healthful benefit, and the cocoa butter, though beneficial, is likely far less healthful than the cocoa powder.  In order to address these problems in this fudge recipe, no cocoa butter is used. That means using cocoa powder instead of chocolate.  Although it is not sugar free, agave nectar is non-glycemic, and it has been demonstrated to be healthful when used in moderation.  This is due in part to the fact that agave nectar is much sweeter than table sugar so that less is used.  Agave nectar also happens to make a very tasty suspension of the cocoa particles, fudge.  To me the taste is comparable to some more expensive 70% dark chocolates, and it is also likely just as beneficially healthful.  In fact, it is a delicious chocolate treat that can easily be adapted as a spreadable dessert topping.  If you are like me, you may have some difficulty maintaining the crucial portion restriction, because of that great old irresistible chocolate flavor.  Even with the healthful adaptations, it is still a classic.

It is interesting to muse that our lust for chocolate derives directly from the fact that the polyphenolic and anti-oxidant power resides in the solid fraction, which preserves extremely well.  These phenolic and phenyamine molecules surely contribute to the neuroactivity of chocolate. These factors also likely explain the marvelous shelf life of cocoa butter, although it has far less of them.  It is truly an unusual case, and our taste for some other flavonoid-laden foods is apparently far less evolved.  Chocolate is wildly popular in many countries across the globe, and if it is well prepared, it is a very healthful food that kids love.  For those on diets, I have found that a regular helping of cocoa reduces cravings considerably, so that it can aid weight loss if portion restrictions are obeyed.  At any rate, on to the recipe.  It is very simple, easy, and inexpensive to make.  By my measure, it is about 80% cocoa, but you would not know it by the taste, because the agave nectar is very sweet. It is a chocolatey powerhouse!

Makes 1 serving:
2 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp agave nectar

optional:
1 heaping tbsp peanut butter (I like chunky for the texture.)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Carefully mix the ingredients until a dark, uniform mixture is achieved.  As anyone who works with cocoa powder will tell you, it will require a good amount of careful mixing to avoid waste and achieve a uniform mixture, but it is well worth the effort. ;-}  I have to say it is so delicious that I have never allowed it to set up very well, but I have some friends with more experience who assure me that it will, especially with the peanut butter added.  Without the cocoa butter and sugar, it may not have a classic fudge consistency, but for the additional healthful benefit, it is likely well worth this small sacrifice.  Trust me, sucrose molecules are worth avoiding.  Although I am changing over from chocolate to this recipe, I consider it to be still somewhat experimental, and I may post further adaptations here.  Feel free to suggest something, and we can discuss it.  For example, I find that without the peanut butter, it makes a delicious coating for a serving of nuts.

In summary, this fudge delivers that classic taste, very much like good 70% dark chocolate, and it also provides even more of the healthful cocoa, with much less glycemic load, at far less monetary cost.  I think we have a winner here, but please remember to mind your portion restriction.  Too much of this stuff might destroy the benefit.

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Regards,
proclus
http://www.gnu-darwin.org

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    Michael L. Love

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    gnudarwin proclus : Michael L. Love: healthful easy fudge recipe http://ping.fm/x1iki 2 hours ago reply

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    I may have provoked some conversation regarding my activities here, and I thought that Vitacost community members might find this relevant.  If you check the goals in my profile, then you will understand why questions like this are a prime motivator for me, and also part of the reason why I am participating here.

    why does any body want to live forever? , posted 14 Apr 2010 at 21:49 UTC by badvogato » (Master)

    before they read ‘Heaven and Hell misplaced’ and give it some thoughts?

    haven’t read it, posted 15 Apr 2010 at 02:00 UTC by proclus » (Master)

    Perhaps you could give a link. It also depends on what you are asking. From a religious perspective, most teach that the immortality problem has already been solved, so why bother? From a mortal, physical standpoint, immortality is vastly far way, as it were. If we double or triple our life span, or even increase it by a factor of 10 or 20, it would be a huge stride, but it cannot be compared to the vastness of immortality, which is mathematically undefined, which is said not to exist.

    In my scientific opinion, an indefinite lifespan may be possible, but it is so far ahead of where we are today as to be a meaningless pursuit and impractical in the extreme. It is not foreseeable, and there is much room for doubt. Moreover, an indefinite life span is not immortality either. The longer you live, the greater chance that you will die by some accident or be killed. We find those proposing physical immortality also proposing very dangerous other proposals, which will obviously shorten their lives, not lengthen. My goal is increased longevity, not immortality, which appears to me to be a fools pursuit at this stage of the game and for the foreseeable as well. Even religionists may agree with that, saying that we already have immortality, so why not do something useful.

    One the other hand, more longevity is widely regarded as good and pursued with great vigor, unless you believe that it is better to die quicker? Isn’t that one definition of madness? Are you a danger to yourself?

    Regards,
    proclus
    http://www.gnu-darwin.org/

    Read more at Advogato.
    http://advogato.org/article/1039.html

    Regards,
    proclus
    http://www.gnu-darwin.org/

    Posted via web from proclus-gnu-darwin’s posterous
    Google Reader kindly provided a nice link block for proclus realm, etc.

    Michael L. Love/proclus/GNU-Darwin link block

    Regards,
    proclus
    http://www.gnu-darwin.org/

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    There is an interesting phenomenon where pain killers might not work well under conditions I call prostaglandin crash: prostaglandins are already too low for Cox inhibitors such as aspirin and, ibuprofen to have any effect.  This situation could relate to diabetic neuopathy and other types of neuropathy.  It may also relate to the unusual aches and pains that are sometimes experienced by people using calorie restriction (CR) related regimens like resveratrol or the parsley plan described elsewhere in this blog.  In both cases, prostaglandins may be unusually low, but for unrelated reasons, so that some pain treatments might not work. 

    Prostaglandin crash is related, and may be the cause of another type of pain, which I call backlash pain.  You might have experienced this when using cough syrup.  Why does dextromethorphan (dxm) analgesia sometimes seem to make the pain or illness worse the next day?  This can also happen with morphine derivatives, and it is certainly related to their addictive potential.

    Repressed function sometimes has a strong backlash.  For example, if a glutamate channel antagonist represses calcium release, then the calcium stores may continue to fill, so that there is a stronger activation after the antagonist wears off.  It is not difficult to imagine other types of repression/backlash events, and methamphetamine dependence is likely resulting from something similar as well, leading to dopamine depletion.

    There are several possible strategies for reducing pain backlash.  In the case of the calcium stores, IP3 channel inhibition of some sort could prevent the backlash, as well as calcium pump inhibition.  Forskolin is obviously one such agent, which deactivates the IP3 channels.  It should be noted that forskolin also activates the voltage gated calcium channels.  If the calcium blockade results in too much potential, then these channels will open to rectify the situation, as it were, with a calcium transient.  One imagines that forskolin based regimens will not result in the elimination of pain, but rather its attenuation, and a reduction in backlash as well.  This has been consistent with my experience using the forskolin extract from NSI, which is one reason why I am recommending it as an adjunct to CR-related and parsley apigenin regimens.

    Personally, there are a number of possible reasons why I am not experiencing pain backlash, and forskolin is likely one.  Another is the time-release formulation of dxm, and finally P450 inhibition by flavonoids, notably apigeinin, which keeps dxm in the system.

    So we see that time release calcium channel antagonists is another possible strategy.  Anyone who has used valproate knows what I am talking about.  Another strategy is to identify other sources of calcium influx and repress them as well.  ATP receptor channel leaps to mind, and Blue #1 is apparently an effective agent for that.  In this case, it is extra-cellular calcium influx, like certain of the non-metabotropic glutamate receptors, which form channels.

    Calcium influx is not the only issue, and the kinase activation which results from phospholipase activation may also be a source of repression/backlash.

    Without anti-inflammatories, repression/backlash can be expected to result in more inflammatory factors being released, via the phospholipase/Cox pathway.  This may be an additional source of backlash.  It should be noted that flavonoids like parsley apigenin and other polyphenols like resveratrol may be sufficitent to suppress a backlash in prostaglandin production, without resort to anti-inflammatories.

    In conclusion, a combination of CR-related regimen, dxm, and forskolin should address many pain management problems in a way that prevents the morning-after effect of prostaglandin crash and backlash pain.  Such a regimen may also find application for addiction treatment and recovery.

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    Regards,
    proclus
    http://www.gnu-darwin.org/

                               

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