# Question about chocolate (cacao, cocoa) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 25, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837 "2017-10-25T20:26:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/21 "2017-10-26T21:34:54Z")
I’ve tested it in tightly controlled, double-blind studies. Look for my upcoming paper in _The Journal of Extremely Kinky Research_. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/22 "2017-10-26T21:44:01Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > I’ve tested it in tightly controlled, double-blind studies. > > Look for my upcoming paper in _The Journal of Extremely Kinky Research_. That’s where I published my very first paper! “Diversity and intensity of antibody response to QtM antigen in BALB-C coeds”! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/23 "2017-10-26T21:52:52Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > You haven’t? 😕 \*Candy Is dandy But liquor Is quicker. \* -Ogden Nash ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/24 "2017-10-26T22:08:16Z")
Dark chocolate is the food of the gods. That’s all we really need to know. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/25 "2017-10-26T22:29:57Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > \*Candy > Is dandy > But liquor > Is quicker. > \* > -Ogden Nash Nash’s research was _hardly_ rigorous. :rolleyes: And my research showed me that liquor, while somewhat more effective than placebo in the early evening hours, was quite effectively an anti-aphrodisiac for morning-after activity. In all, I must say I find the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/26 "2017-10-26T23:06:44Z")
I’m sure that you cited the prior art by W. Shakespeare on the auto-antagonistic effects of ethanol on the human libido, though it’s often overshadowed by his works on non-vaginal childbirth and on the firming effects of baboon’s blood on medicinal preparations, published in the same journal. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/27 "2017-10-27T00:32:46Z")
Do they market chocolate that has a very low sugar content? It’s not edible without some sugar. I make my own hot chocolate from coca. I use less sugar than the recipe. Candy is an entirely different item. It’s loaded with sugar and is intended to be a sweet treat. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/28 "2017-10-27T00:50:58Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I make my own hot chocolate from coca. I use less sugar than the recipe. Interesting, but highly illegal in this country. Using the coca leaf, I mean. Using less sugar is not illegal, though some would consider it a crime. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/29 "2017-10-27T02:14:55Z")
Hmm, I guess I need to add an O to that drink. Cocoa ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/30 "2017-10-27T02:44:17Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > You haven’t? 😕 Should I have? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/31 "2017-10-27T02:53:35Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Do they market chocolate that has a very low sugar content? It’s not edible without some sugar. Yes, although the varieties normally labeled “sugar free” or “no sugar added” tend to have maltitol, which can produce the runs, and to only mention it in the tiny-print list of ingredients. Those that contain stevia are usually labelled more clearly (that’s one advantage of fads). And baking cocoa powder or chocolate to make a la taza usually come in zero sugar varieties: for chocolate a la taza, it used to be the “no need to add sugar” kind that was the novelty, now the “add sugar to taste” type has come back in fashion. ---
**Author:** ![bardos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bardos/32/1069_2.png) [@bardos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bardos)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/32 "2017-10-27T03:09:45Z")
[https://draxe.com/cocoa-butter/](https://draxe.com/cocoa-butter/) Cocoa butter (the fat) has some great properties. (if you don’t buy into the saturated fat will kill you myth) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/33 "2017-10-27T11:02:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **aceplace57** : > > Hmm, I guess I need to add an O to that drink. But didn’t you read **Qadgop** ’s post that chocolate isn’t effective at adding an O? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/34 "2017-10-27T15:31:34Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Its aphrodisiacal properties are completely exaggerated, IMHO. You weren’t supposed to use chocolate Ex-Lax. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/35 "2017-10-27T16:46:29Z")
> [@bardos](#): > > Why prefer meds to a food? All meds interfere artificially with some bodily function in order to treat a symptom. You say that like it’s a bad thing. If the “bodily function” is something like my immune system trying to kill me in an over-the-top reaction to an otherwise innocuous substance _ **please do interfere with it!** _ If you can’t fix the underlying cause of a problem then there is still merit to treating the symptoms if those symptoms significantly interfere with health and life. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/36 "2017-10-28T22:09:16Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Yes, although the varieties normally labeled “sugar free” or “no sugar added” tend to have maltitol, which can produce the runs, and to only mention it in the tiny-print list of ingredients. Those that contain stevia are usually labelled more clearly (that’s one advantage of fads). And baking cocoa powder or chocolate to make a la taza usually come in zero sugar varieties: for chocolate a la taza, it used to be the “no need to add sugar” kind that was the novelty, now the “add sugar to taste” type has come back in fashion. The maltitol types come (or maybe used to come) in very small bars. The idea was that so long as you stuck to one you wouldn’t get the runs. For me though it took just half a bar. Not a good thing 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/37 "2017-11-02T12:03:13Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > If I have a patient with acute bronchospasm who’s struggling to take their next breath, I’ll give the bronchodilator like albuterol in aerosol form, which I know will work within 60 seconds to start dilating, vs. a theobromine laden foodstuff, which needs to be eaten, and which may or may not work over the next day and a half. > > Ditto for a patient in congestive heart failure, with pulmonary edema, who needs quick diuresis; furosemide in IV or pill form will reliably work predictably in short order. A chocolate bar? Its effect will be far less certain. “Do you know what they call alternative medicine that’s been proved to work? [[URL=“https://youtu.be/HhGuXCuDb1U?t=158”]Medicine](https://youtu.be/HhGuXCuDb1U?t=158).” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/38 "2017-11-02T12:39:05Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > “Do you know what they call alternative medicine that’s been proved to work? [[URL=“https://youtu.be/HhGuXCuDb1U?t=158”]Medicine](https://youtu.be/HhGuXCuDb1U?t=158).” I’m well aware. And chocolate bars have not yet risen to the level of medicine, for the overwhelming majority of patients. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837/39 "2017-11-02T12:59:24Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > I’m well aware. And chocolate bars have not yet risen to the level of medicine, for the overwhelming majority of patients. _volunteers for further studies_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-chocolate-cacao-cocoa/799837.md?page=1)