Chocolate – good for health and environment?
November 7th 2007 11:12
Article compiled from Heart-Healthy and The Star Malaysia
This is an interesting finding about the chocolate, although we all know that the news spreading about chocolate reducing cholesterol spreads like wildfire a couple of years back.
From what we know, Cocoa that contains certain goodness such as flavonoids, a type of polyphenol antioxidant, which is better than many other antioxidant food family; there were also studies about chocolate having good cholesterol (HDL) value that is good for our health. A good example is a study from Italy. This study found that dark chocolate might lower blood pressure in people with hypertension. In addition, levels of LDL cholesterol in these individuals dropped by 10%.
Yet we all need to bare in mind it is the cocoa contents that is helping us, not the milk chocolate that consist milk and high sugar contents. The cocoa power ranks highest in the healthier chain, then comes to dark chocolate, and the lower health value is the milk chocolate.
That’s now beside the point. I’ve bumped into a news article today that by-products of making chocolates are now developed to turn into bio-fuel. Northwestern English firm Ecotec has taken waste from the chocolate manufacturing process, turned it into bio-ethanol and mixed it with vegetable oil to produce bio-diesel.
Some bio-fuels have come under fire for either diverting much-needed food crops or leading to massive deforestation as land is cleared to grow crops specially for bio-fuel production.
A truck, fuelled by the bio-fuel, will set out from Poole on the English south coast to Mali in West Africa later this month on a charity mission.
"The chocolate waste used to be used in landfill. But now we can make it travel as biofuel," said organiser Andy Pag who will be one of the two drivers on the trip.
"This is to show that you can have environmentally-friendly biofuels and that you don't have to convert normal diesel engines to use it," Pag told Reuters.
The BioTruck will depart on Nov. 26 and is expected to take about three weeks to drive the 4,500 miles to Timbuktu where it will off-load a small biofuel production unit with the local MFC charity.
But vehicles using the novel product will not exude the sweet smell of success. "No! I'm afraid the exhaust doesn't smell of chocolate," said Pag.
So, now that we know that there is another way that the chocolate can benefit the society, it doesn’t mean that we should start pumping in chocolate for the sake of eco-friendly, rather, we can look chocolate as a better choice as a desert rather than any candy available, which still gives health benefits than pure sugar.
This is an interesting finding about the chocolate, although we all know that the news spreading about chocolate reducing cholesterol spreads like wildfire a couple of years back.
From what we know, Cocoa that contains certain goodness such as flavonoids, a type of polyphenol antioxidant, which is better than many other antioxidant food family; there were also studies about chocolate having good cholesterol (HDL) value that is good for our health. A good example is a study from Italy. This study found that dark chocolate might lower blood pressure in people with hypertension. In addition, levels of LDL cholesterol in these individuals dropped by 10%.
Yet we all need to bare in mind it is the cocoa contents that is helping us, not the milk chocolate that consist milk and high sugar contents. The cocoa power ranks highest in the healthier chain, then comes to dark chocolate, and the lower health value is the milk chocolate.
That’s now beside the point. I’ve bumped into a news article today that by-products of making chocolates are now developed to turn into bio-fuel. Northwestern English firm Ecotec has taken waste from the chocolate manufacturing process, turned it into bio-ethanol and mixed it with vegetable oil to produce bio-diesel.
Some bio-fuels have come under fire for either diverting much-needed food crops or leading to massive deforestation as land is cleared to grow crops specially for bio-fuel production.
A truck, fuelled by the bio-fuel, will set out from Poole on the English south coast to Mali in West Africa later this month on a charity mission.
"The chocolate waste used to be used in landfill. But now we can make it travel as biofuel," said organiser Andy Pag who will be one of the two drivers on the trip.
"This is to show that you can have environmentally-friendly biofuels and that you don't have to convert normal diesel engines to use it," Pag told Reuters.
The BioTruck will depart on Nov. 26 and is expected to take about three weeks to drive the 4,500 miles to Timbuktu where it will off-load a small biofuel production unit with the local MFC charity.
But vehicles using the novel product will not exude the sweet smell of success. "No! I'm afraid the exhaust doesn't smell of chocolate," said Pag.
So, now that we know that there is another way that the chocolate can benefit the society, it doesn’t mean that we should start pumping in chocolate for the sake of eco-friendly, rather, we can look chocolate as a better choice as a desert rather than any candy available, which still gives health benefits than pure sugar.
| 63 |
| Vote |
Subscribe to this blog
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
Health Focus
Poetry Lighthouse
MS Paint Art
katyzzz
Comment by Jessicca
Health 2 Know
Learning Something Everyday
Daily History
Malaysia Found
Many things can be happening and with everyone trying their best to find other energy source you can see all sorts of different things can be made. ^_^
Thank you so much for dropping by and your continuous support.
Have a blessed day
Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
I have a friend who can prove that chocolate is a vegetable and one of the main five food groups *lol*
Milk is natural,
Cocoa is a legume.. so on and so forth...
Just for arguments sake this Christmas, I'm going to agree with him...
Thos chocolates pictured look good enough to eat (especially the one with the little ears), never mind running the car on them. .. walking will burn them off quicker too!
Lilla ...
Comment by Anonymous
But I need to agree with Lilla that walking will burn them off quicker.
But will the world's chocolate market will increase for the sake of producing chocolate waste?
Imagine... a sea of chocolates for the sake of producing bio-fuel...
Good post for a good thought.
Lay-In