the big noise with cocoa beans seems to be their epicatechin content, as present in the flavanols (green tea also has this, but in much lower quantities). what bothers me is that none of the sites selling their cocoa beans (fermented or cold-pressed) can give me any nutrient figures wrt epicatechin – which should be their major selling point.
green tea sites will list their catechin contents for various “super” green teas, etc. – maybe this will catch up with the cocoa world. the guy i talked with at sunfoods said it will be ten thousand years before we understand foods and how they affect us. maybe i should’ve mentioned to him that we can already get the catechin content figures for green tea? (not meant as a major ding towards sunfoods - i will probably buy their cold-pressed cocoa beans if i can’t find a vendor that lists their nutrient content).
in the meantime, there are studies that definitely show that fermentation significantly removes the epicatechin and flavanol content of the bean vs the untouched bean. unfortunately, i can’t find any studies reflecting where “cold-pressed” beans lie in this debate (cold-pressed as being heated at low temperatures).
i guess the best thing to do, if you’re wanting to pursue the flavanol/antioxidant health benefits of cocoa beans, is to treat it the same as other cold-pressed foods. e.g. if you, as a raw foodie, use cold-pressed olive oil, then this would be a similar type of thing, eh? there are lots of studies that show that cold-pressed foods retain much of their nutrients/antioxidant properties.
if, however, you do not include cold-pressed foods in your diet, then you’ll want to shy away from the cocoa bean thing – apparently without the processing, they tend to be a substrate for all kinds of fungus and such (unless you’re lucky enough to be there and pick the bean yourself when you want to have a healthy brew).
the whole kuna indian study is pretty impressive (when they move to mainland, they stop drinking the cocoa and their health numbers rise to reflect the norm re: the 4 major disease groups). if anybody locates a site that indicates epicatechin content of cold-pressed vs untreated, i would be very much appreciative (i don’t have a great desire to part with a bunch of yen for a product that has been significantly cleared of its health benefits). i’m hoping that cold-pressed works well with all food groups re: retaining their food value.
also, i read (somewhere) that the flavanol activity/benefits is much revved up when you drink the cocoa warm, rather than cold – which is the same for green tea – the flavanol/catechin content of green tea goes down significantly if you let your tea cool before ingesting it.
the funny thing is my ex-pat/conspiracy theory brother is thinking of moving to panama. i just hate that he might get healthier than me, simply by being in the correct proximity to the real thing. lol
