BACKGROUND Studies suggest cardioprotective benefits of dark chocolate containing cocoa. OBJECTIVE This study examines the acute effects of solid dark chocolate and liquid cocoa intake on endothelial function and blood pressure in overweight adults. DESIGN Randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blind crossover trial of 45 healthy adults [mean age: 53 y; mean body mass index (in kg/m(2)): 30...

The methodology of Kansei Engineering can grasp consumer’s subjective affective impressions about a product and turn it into concrete solutions. Food model is specialized doing this for food products. aim paper to interlink with the more general on Affective as well validate findings by applying them in case study. were analyzed, key parts both models merged hybrid model. This then applied stud...

Diet failures are often attributed to an increase in cravings for attractive foods. However, accumulating evidence shows that food cravings actually decrease during energy-restricting weight-loss interventions. The current study aimed at elucidating possible mechanisms that may explain how and under which circumstances food cravings in- or decrease during dieting. Specifically, decreases in foo...

Theobroma cacao-The Food of the Gods, provides the raw material for the multibillion dollar chocolate industry and is also the main source of income for about 6 million smallholders around the world. Additionally, cocoa beans have a number of other nonfood uses in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Specifically, the potential health benefits of cocoa have received increasing attention ...

The research completed aimed to show that the idea of fair trade, using the example of goals for the chocolate industry of the Ivory Coast, can be described as an example of the economic ideal which and its failures, and the ideals purported by fair trade organizations and partners, parallels can be made. This analysis showed that Karl Marx’s philosophy coordinates with fair trade ideals in top...

In order to determine the levels of ochratoxin A (OTA) in cocoa and cocoa products available in Canada, a previously published analytical method, with minor modifications to the extraction and immunoaffinity clean-up and inclusion of an evaporation step, was initially used (Method I). To improve the low method recoveries (46-61%), 40% methanol was then included in the aqueous sodium bicarbonate...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have been limited in reporting the association between chocolate consumption, measured by interviewer-administered questionnaire or serum theobromine, a biomarker for cocoa, and risk of preeclampsia, and have showed somewhat conflicting results. METHODS/DESIGN A systematic review of observational and experimental studies will be carried out. We will examine PubMed,...

The goal of the study was to compare the dissolution of chocolate to other lipid-based matrices suitable for the microencapsulation of bioactive ingredients in simulated gastrointestinal solutions. Particles having approximately 750 μm or 2.5 mm were prepared from the following lipid-based matrices: cocoa butter, fractionated palm kernel oil (FPKO), chocolate, beeswax, carnauba wax, and paraffi...

BACKGROUND & AIMS While a diet rich in anti-oxidant has been favorably associated with coronary disease and hypertension, limited data have evaluated the influence of such diet on subclinical disease. Thus, we sought to examine whether chocolate consumption is associated with calcified atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries (CAC). METHODS In a cross-sectional design, we studied 2217 ...

BACKGROUND Dark chocolate derived from the plant (Theobroma cacao) is a rich source of flavonoids. Cardioprotective effects including antioxidant properties, inhibition of platelet activity, and activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase have been ascribed to the cocoa flavonoids. OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of flavonoid-rich dark chocolate on endothelial function, measures of o...