NEW ORLEANS – Could chocolate exacerbate acne after all?
Dermatologists have long dismissed the idea that diet is related to acne, despite some patients’ insistence that eating chocolate, for example, seems to worsen their skin disease. But a new study has demonstrated that the consumption of pure chocolate does, in fact, exacerbate acne in a dose-dependent fashion.
Previous studies have failed to show a link between acne and the ingestion of chocolate. But these negative studies were conducted with chocolate candy, which contains sugar, milk, and other adulterants, according to Samantha Block. What’s different about the new study is that it was performed with unadulterated chocolate made of 100% cacao, Ms. Block explained at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology.
She reported on 10 male subjects (aged 18-35 years) with one to four acne comedones and/or papules on the face, but no nodules, pustules, or cysts. The investigators sought subjects with this minimal degree of facial acne so that any changes during the study period would be easily detected. The participants were invited to eat up to 12 oz. of Ghirardelli unsweetened, 100%-cacao chocolate at a single sitting, or as close to it as they could come. They were instructed to consume their customary diet for the next week. They returned for facial acne lesion counts and photographs on days 4 and 7. None of the participants was on any prescription or OTC medication.
The mean total acneiform lesion count climbed from 2.7 at baseline to 13.4 on day 4 and to 18.2 on day 7.
“We saw a dose-dependent relationship. If you ate more chocolate, you developed more lesions, supporting the idea of a causal relationship,”
Raw Chocolate by Sacred Chocolate: Cancer Prevention Properties of Chocolate and Cocoa
Summary: Cocoa was originally cultivated by ancient societies in Central and South America, where it was consumed as a fermented beverage for medicinal and ceremonial purposes. Cocoa and chocolate, its fermented byproduct, are rich in flavanols—potent antioxidants associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Two types of flavanols, called catechins and procyanidins, have been shown in experimental studies to reduce markers of inflammation and angiogenesis, two processes closely linked to cancer development. While more study is required, cocoa and chocolate have significant potential for chemoprevention as a dietary supplement.
Cocoa, the seed of the cocoa tree, is believed to have been cultivated over 3,000 years ago by native inhabitants of Central and Northern South America. These inhabitants prepared cocoa as a fermented beverage, similar to tea, which was used for medicinal and ceremonial purposes, and the beans themselves were used as a form of currency. Spanish explorers brought cocoa back to Spain in the early 1500s, and from there it spread to France, Italy, and eventually to Great Britain. In the middle of the 18th Century, chocolate manufacturing was introduced to Massachusetts using cocoa imported from the West Indies and Central America. Commercial chocolate become available in the mid-19th Century when a London company added sugar to chocolate liquor and cocoa butter.
Chocolate, the fermented byproduct from processed cocoa, contains high levels of bioactive flavanoids (polyphenols) that are formed during the fermentation process. Two flavanoids in particular, catechins and procyanidins, are highly concentrated in dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Observational studies indicate that catechins and procyanidins derived from green tea, red wine and soy may protect against a number of chronic diseases, notably cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Cacao celebration
Derek Lanter clearly remembers his first date with the “dark side.” In 2001 he was living in Berkeley, Calif., when Scharffen Berger, the company that reputedly makes America’s finest dark chocolate, was setting up its operation there. He and a friend decided to visit Scharffen Berger’s factory for a tour and tasting.
“Having worked with coffee as a buyer and roaster for Uncommon Grounds Coffee Co., I had experience processing coffee beans and evaluating the brew made from them, but that was the first time I saw cacao beans being roasted, ground and manufactured into chocolate,” Lanter recalled.
“Scharffen Berger was using beans from Colombia, Madagascar, Ecuador, Ghana and Indonesia. We learned about the equipment and process, and tasted chocolate at different stages and in different forms, from the roasted nib to pure cacao liquor; sweet milk chocolate; and semisweet, 62 percent; bittersweet, 70 percent; and extra-dark, 85 percent chocolate. It was such a mind-opening experience!”
Today, Lanter tastes chocolate nearly every day as the sales and marketing manager for Waialua Estate, a subsidiary of Dole Food Co. that grows 20 acres of cacao and 155 acres of coffee on Oahu’s North Shore. According to Lanter, chocolate made from locally grown cacao is being favorably compared with world-renowned brands such as Amano, Amedei, Guittard and Michel Cluizel.
TESTIMONY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL RELATING TO THE CACAO INDUSTRY
TESTIMONY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2011 ON THE FOLLOWING MEASURE:
H.B. NO. 1598, RELATING TO THE CACAO INDUSTRY.
BEFORE THE: HOUSE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Friday, February 11, 2011
State Capitol, Room 312
TIME: 9 : 00 a. m.
TESTIFIER(S): David M. Louie, Attorney General, or Damien A. Elefante, Deputy Attorney
General Chair Tsuji and Members of the Committee:
The Department of the Attorney General has the following comments on this bill. If enacted this bill may be challenged as violating the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.
This bill creates a general excise tax exemption to favor products that are raised or produced exclusively in the State, specifically, domestically produced or processed cacao. “No State, consistent with the Commerce Clause, may ‘impose a tax which discriminates against interstate commerce . . . by providing a direct commercial advantage to local business.'” Bacchus Imports, Ltd. v. Dias, 468 U.S. 263, 268 (1984), citing Boston Stock Exchange v. State Tax Comm’n, 429 U.S. 318, 329 (1977) .
In Bacchus, the United States Supreme Court found that an exemption similar to the exemption proposed in this bill violated the Commerce Clause. At issue in Bacchus was the Hawaii liquor tax, which was originally enacted in 1939 to defray the costs of police and other governmental services. Because the Legislature sought to encourage development of the Hawaiian liquor industry, it enacted an exemption from the liquor tax for okolehao (a brandy distilled from the root of the ti plant, an indigenous shrub of Hawaii) and for certain fruit wine manufactured in Hawaii. The united States Supreme Court concluded that the exemption violated the Commerce Clause because the exemption had both the purpose and effect of discriminating in favor of local products. The general excise tax exemption for local agricultural products, as created by this bill, appears to have similar purpose and effect as the exemption that violated the Commerce Clause in Bacchus.
We recommend that this bill be held.
Support for the building of a cacao processing facility
AGRtestimony
nsato@maliekai.com
Testimony for HB1598 on 2/11/2011 9:00:00 AM
Testimony for AGR 2/11/2011 9:00:00 AM HB1598
Conference room: 312
Testifier position: support
Testifier will be present: No
Submitted by: Nathan Sato
Organization: Malie Kai Chocolates
Address: 60 N. Beretania St. #1908 Honolulu, HI 96817
Phone: (808) 599-8600
E-mail: nsato@maliekai.com
Comments:
I would like to voice my support for the building of a cacao processing facility on the island of Oahu. I believe cacao has the potential to be a "game-changer" for both Hawaiian agriculture and Hawaiian tourism. We know from participation in domestic and international food shows that Hawaii is capable of producing WORLD-CLASS chocolate. This was the opinion of executives from very prestigious chocolate companies (including Godiva, Vosges and Valrhona) who tried our Oahu-grown chocolate. Very few agricultural products have the cache of chocolate. There are legions of chocolate aficionados who follow chocolate as closely as wine connoisseurs study vintages and appellations. I can easily see in a few years new tourists coming to Hawaii for the first time who have no interest Hawaii’s traditional leisure activities – visitors whose only interest is in seeing how chocolate is grown and made.