Zone Living Articles
Chocolate: What You Need to Know
The health benefits of chocolate have been known for more than a thousand years. Studies link its consumption to improved cardiovascular health, increased cognition, enhanced blood flow, and even anti-aging benefits. All good reasons to eat more, right? Before you use this info to justify your intake, learn what gives chocolate its health promoting properties and how the benefits change depending on the type you consume. It’s All About the Cocoa Polyphenols Chocolate is made up of two components: cocoa solids (or powder) and cocoa butter. It is the cocoa powder in chocolate that contains polyphenols known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. While a variety of polyphenols exist in cocoa, the primary polyphenols are called flavanols. It is the polyphenols in chocolate that are responsible for its health promoting properties. Forest to Table: Going From Cacao to Cocoa to Chocolate It’s easy to get confused with all the different descriptors for chocolate from white, milk, dark, to cocoa, cacao, and cacao nibs. Here is a little history on the background of chocolate and how it gets from the forest to consumption. Cacao, pronounced 'ca-cow,' is believed to be a misspelling of 'cocoa' by early English traders.1 Cacao comes from the cacao tree, also known as Theobroma Cacao. Cacao trees grow only in tropical climates and take about five years to become strong enough to produce pods which contain cocoa beans that can be turned into cocoa. The tree flowers the entire year and of the thousands of flowers it may only have 40 or so that turn into cacao pods. After 5-6 months the pods are ready to be harvested. Depending on the region, harvests may take place twice a year. Once the seeds (i.e., cacao beans) have been extracted from the pods, they go through a process called fermentation which takes about 5-7 days and allows the aromatic properties of cacao to develop. Unfortunately, many of the polyphenols are destroyed in this process. From here the beans are laid out and left to dry in the sun for about 6 days before going off to be processed.2 During processing, cacao beans are sorted, cleaned and dried. The shells are then removed (winnowed) to produce cacao nibs which are roasted to further enhance flavor and aroma 3. These are then ground into a liquid mass called chocolate liquor (no alcohol here). Chocolate liquor can be made directly into chocolate or further refined through a pressing process to extract the cocoa butter from the cocoa solids 2,3. The cocoa solids can be pulverized into cocoa powder, which retain the polyphenol content in dry form.3 The cocoa butter can then be added back to the chocolate liquor to make chocolate. The amounts of chocolate liquor, cocoa butter and cocoa solids differentiates the type of chocolate to be made 2. Factors Impacting Total Polyphenol Content Fermentation of the cacao bean comes with a significant loss of the polyphenol content, and a corresponding reduction of its considerable health benefits. The type of bean, where it is grown, and other factors like temperature, and potentially further alkali treatment of the cocoa powder, all play a role in determining the levels polyphenols in the final product4. Alkalization is the process of adding potassium carbonate to the cocoa powder to reduce the levels of polyphenols to improve the taste, also known as “Dutch refining.” The more treated the cocoa powder, the greater the loss of polyphenols. In addition to processing, the levels of polyphenols in cacao beans are highly dependent upon country of origin. It has been shown that a three-fold difference can exist in the range of total polyphenol content pending where the cacao trees are grown.4 Despite 30% of the worlds’ cacao being produced in the Ivory Coast, the raw cacao plants with the highest levels of polyphenols are actually grown in the highlands of Ecuador.5 Have You Seen Our New Cocoa Polyphenols? Learn More What to Know Before Eating Chocolate Not all chocolate is created equal. Some have a taste for sweet chocolate (either white or milk chocolate) that's high in fat and sugar. Others prefer a more bitter chocolate (such as dark chocolate) with a stronger and more sharp taste. Dark chocolate is high in cocoa solids (powder) and contains the highest levels of polyphenols of any chocolate. The inclusion of milk as an ingredient differentiates milk chocolate from dark chocolate. Pure white chocolate is 100% cocoa butter, essentially pure fat. While it may melt and your mouth, it’s devoid of any cocoa polyphenols. Manufacturers add more ingredients like milk and sugar to make chocolate more appealing. As those extra ingredients pile up, the percentage of “cocoa” in the final product goes down. The typical chocolate candy bar has about 10% “cocoa” and is high in sugar and saturated fat. While higher in cocoa polyphenols, consuming dark chocolate on a regular basis isn’t the most ideal. Some varieties contain 7 grams of saturated fat, supplying more than 35% of your daily intake, as well as a lot of sugar to increase the hedonic response (i.e., make it taste better). Furthermore there is virtually no protein to help stabilize blood sugar levels, which negates many of the health benefits of the remaining cocoa polyphenols. Top 4 Chocolates with the Most Polyphenols: #1: Cacao Nibs Nibs are considered chocolate in its purest form as they are simply crushed cacao beans. They are rich in polyphenols, fat, minerals (including the heavy metal, cadmium) and fiber and have a crunch like chocolate chips without the added sugar. #2: Cocoa Powder Once the fat is removed from the cacao nibs and minimally processed into ground cocoa powder, it is higher in polyphenols on a per gram basis. This also makes it richer in naturally occurring heavy metals requiring you to limit the amount you consume. #3: Dark Chocolate Primarily made up of cocoa powder, cocoa butter and added sugar this not-so-naughty treat provides adequate amounts of polyphenols. Moderation is still key here with the fat and mineral content. #4: Milk Chocolate The addition of milk and greater amounts of sugar significantly dilute the levels of polyphenols making this a not-so-great choice. The bright side is that compared the other choices its lower in naturally occurring metals. Worst Chocolate for Polyphenols: White Chocolate Zero, zilch, nada. Not a single cocoa polyphenol in this full fat, sugar rich, cocoa butter treat. Why Zone Cocoa Polyphenols To reap the health benefits that come with cocoa polyphenols requires higher levels of consumption. One of the major considerations when consuming cacao nibs and cocoa powders is that they naturally contain cadmium, a heavy metal. The problem is that higher intakes of cocoa polyphenols may come with high intakes of heavy metals. What makes Zone cocoa polyphenols different is the processing innovation we’ve developed to increase the amount of polyphenols we can supply in a serving without the heavy metal contamination regularly found in cocoa products. We developed a proprietary cocoa extract using a unique purification process that allowed us to retain the maximum polyphenol content while minimizing the level of heavy metals. This process takes place once the cocoa powder is produced from the chocolate liquor. Our extraction technique led to the creation of our food products (ZoneRx bars and shakes) as well as our supplements (CacaoRx and CacaoRx Plus) allowing individuals to gain the greatest benefits of cocoa in a high purity, high potency format. A New Health Benefit of Cocoa – Improved Gut Health One of the newer areas of emerging research is the role of cocoa polyphenols in gut health. The gut has one of the highest population of microbes (anything too small to be seen by the human eye like bacteria and viruses). Some of these microbes can be a significant source of inflammation, which can impact both the blood and the brain. Due to their anti-inflammatory properties, it is likely that many of the health benefits of cocoa polyphenols come from their ability to improve gut health. The more cocoa polyphenols you consume, the healthier your gut becomes. This is why knowing what’s in your chocolate not only impacts gut health, but the rest of your body too. Have You Seen Our New Cocoa Polyphenols? {{cta('2f194057-2ce0-471a-be48-51acef2499e7','justifycenter')}} References: Lebovitz, David. The Great Book of Chocolate: The Chocolate Lover's Guide, with Recipes. Berkeley: Ten Speed, 2004. Print. From cocoa to chocolate. Available at:https://www.barry-callebaut.com/en-US/group/cocoa-chocolate-expertise/cocoa-chocolate. Accessed: February 6, 2020. Processing Cocoa. Available at: https://www.icco.org/about-cocoa/processing-cocoa.html. Accessed: February 6, 2020. Coffee and Cocoa. Available at: http://phenol-explorer.eu/reports/43. February 6, 2020. Top 10 Cocoa Producing Countries. World Atlas. http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-10-cocoa-producing-countries.html.
The Zone and Heart Health
Approximately 18.2 million adults age 20 and older have coronary heart disease, the most common type of heart disease. Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death for men and women. While these statistics are startling, the good news is that diet and lifestyle changes can minimize your risk. Here's how the Zone works to protect your heart at any age. Zone Diet The Zone Diet is calorie-restricted eating plan that is adequate in protein, moderate in carbohydrate, low in fat and rich in fiber. It's been clinically validated to help with fat loss, appetite control, and hormonal control. How It Protects Your Heart: Loaded with colorful vegetables and limited amounts of fruits which are rich in dietary fiber and contain polyphenols which have numerous heart health benefits. Low in total fat, with the majority of fat coming from heart healthy monounsaturated fat. Macronutrient balanced to help control blood sugar and reduce hunger. Anti-inflammatory diet. Naturally low in sodium. Omega-3 Fish Oil Omega-3s are the building blocks for hormones that help combat or resolve inflammation. When we have too much inflammation it is one of the main reasons we gain weight, develop chronic disease, and age at a faster pace. A diet rich in omega-3s (e.g. fish and fish oil) can help minimize inflammation. How It Protects Your Heart: Promotes a healthy heart by reducing triglyceride levels, supporting healthy blood pressure levels and increasing the formation of hormones that resolve inflammation. Polyphenols Polyphenols are nutrients found in plants that are responsible for their health-promoting properties. The more colorful the plant, generally the higher the polyphenol content. This is why fruits, especially berries, and vegetables are good sources of polyphenols. How It Protects Your Heart: Maqui Rich in polyphenols that activate genes to help reduce the levels of oxidized LDL Helps reduce oxidative stress through its antioxidants properties Supports healthy blood pressure levels Supports healthy blood sugar Cocoa Supports healthy blood pressure by improving nitric oxide levels Helps relax and dilate blood vessels to help improve blood flow
Polyphenols: Key Features to Look at When Supplementing
This week we are introducing the newest members of our polyphenol line CacaoRx and CacaoRx Plus. In this blog Dr. Sears takes us through the background on these products and the key features they had to have before being introduced to the marketplace. The Science We hear a lot about the health benefits of polyphenols, but in order to maximize these benefits they need to be absorbed into the blood. This is why the clinical data on polyphenols is still rather sparse because most of the 8,000 known polyphenols are virtually insoluble in water. What we do know from the published data is that the health benefits of polyphenols are dependent upon the concentration of polyphenols being consumed, their ability to be absorbed, and most importantly their safety. The polyphenols that have the greatest amount of clinical research to support their benefits are purified polyphenol extracts from cocoa and maqui berry. Extracts of cocoa polyphenols have been shown to help reduce insulin resistance and decrease blood pressure by improving blood flow (1,2). Extracts of maqui polyphenols have been shown to improve blood sugar levels as well as reduce oxidative stress (3,4). Both polyphenols reduce the oxidation of low density lipoprotein (LDL) particles as well as reduce oxidative stress which is major cause of unresolved inflammation (5,6). Concentration of Polyphenols Maqui: The primary polyphenols in the maqui berry are a special class known as delphinidins. Based on the unique structure of these delphinidins they are also one of the few polyphenols that can be absorbed intact into the blood (7). Although delphinidins are found in red wine and berries, the maqui berry has the highest concentration of these unique polyphenols. When we created MaquiRx, the purification technique used to produce it increased the concentration of the delphinidins to be 17 times greater than the starting material. This means one capsule of MaquiRx has more than 50 times the delphinidins than a glass of red wine. Cocoa: Only a small percentage of the polyphenols in cocoa can be directly absorbed into the blood based upon their structure (8). The lack of absorption of most cocoa polyphenols has numerous benefits for gut health based on their ability to nurture good bacteria and minimize bad bacteria. Cocoa polyphenols can reduce biofilm formation which is used by pathogenic bacteria to try to evade the immune system. As those biofilms are dissolved by cocoa polyphenols, the immune system can more easily eliminate the pathogenic bacteria. You would have to consume a greater amount of cocoa polyphenols than maqui polyphenols to get the same level of absorption into the blood. Even though absorption of cocoa polyphenols is low, the ones that are absorbed have been shown to help with improved blood flow, cognition, and reduction in insulin resistance. Purity and Safety The only way to get adequate levels of polyphenols to maximize their health benefits is to use purified extracts in addition to consuming a diet rich in non-starchy vegetables and fruits. This is why MaquiRx is the only polyphenol extract that has been purified by column chromatography. Purity concerns are even more important when it comes to cocoa polyphenols. Cocoa polyphenols have significant health benefits, but they often are contaminated with heavy metals such as cadmium. When we created our CacaoRx line, we developed a new technique to minimize the levels of cadmium in cocoa. Both our maqui and cocoa extracts have what is known as Generally Regarded As Safe (GRAS) status. GRAS status only comes after passing an external review of experts on the manufacturing and safety of a product allowing our purified polyphenols to be used as food ingredients in addition to a supplement form. Since both polyphenol extracts (MaquiRx and CacaoRx) have GRAS status we were able to incorporate them into our ZoneRx shakes and bars making these products the only bars and shakes containing polyphenols and still be considered a food, not a supplement. Convenience I recommend taking 1,000 to 1,500 mg of polyphenols per day through a combination of diet and supplementation. It is difficult to meet these amounts even when following the healthiest of diets. This is what led to the creation of our new line of cocoa products CacaoRx and CacaoRx Plus. These supplements use the same purified cocoa and maqui polyphenols found in our ZoneRx bars and shakes in capsule form. Now whether you use ZoneRx bars, ZoneRx shakes, or capsules containing CacaoRx or CacaoRx Plus you will be getting superior Zone nutrition with the greatest concentration, purity, safety and convenience you’ve come to expect from Zone Labs. References Grassi et al. Journal of Nutr 138: 1671 (2008) Ludovici V et al. Front Nutr 4:36 (2017) Alvarado et al. Panminerva Med. 58(3 Suppl 1):1-6 (2016) Alvarado et al. Biomed Res Int. 2016:9070537 (2016) Davinelli et al. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 34:No. S1, 28–33 (2015) Davinelli et al. Journal of Nutrition Biochemistry 61: 33-39 (2018) Schon et al. Nutrients 10: E1720 (2018) Rodriguez-Mateos et al. Amer J Clin Nutr 108: 1229 (2018)
Is Your Kitchen Making You Gain Weight? Tips for Equipping Your Space for Weight Loss
The environment in which we work and live is a key piece to our weight loss success. When we hit bouts of stress in our lives often our health is the priority that falls to the bottom of the list. This chaos can translate into where we live and be visible in piles of mail and papers, dishes in the sink, take out boxes and overall poorer food choices. What you may not realize is that the external cues we get from our environment can influence our behavior leading us to consume more. Feeling out of control or overly stressed coupled with a cluttered environment can make us prone to overeat. One study showed women who were stressed and put in a cluttered kitchen ate twice as many calories from sweets compared to those who were stressed and put in a tidy kitchen (1). Studies have shown that individuals eat less when they are in an environment that is less cluttered, less chaotic and with minimal distractions. Stressed or not, each of us has a different organization style whether it’s neat and orderly to organized chaos. Knowing this may prove beneficial when trying to equip our kitchen for weight loss. For some of us if it’s not easily seen it’s not a temptation, but for others even when hidden we’re better off not having it there to begin with. Here are some tips on how to optimize your kitchen for weight loss while making it Zone® friendly too.Take a look around your kitchen and see where you might be able to free up some space. Remember the more cluttered things appear, the more likely you’ll be to reach for the higher calorie treats. Consolidate papers or mail to one section rather than having it spread all over. Move appliances you rarely use to free up space for healthy meal prep. Designate a cabinet or shelf to tempting foods rather than keeping them on the counter in plain sight.Keep a bowl of fruit on the counter or replace whatever you have in the cookie jar with healthier snacks like ZoneRx bars instead. Make healthy foods like cut-up vegetables, yogurt, or hummus the first things you see when you open the fridge. Then when the urge to snack strikes you’ll have plenty of healthy options on hand to grab.Consider tossing or designating a cabinet for unfavorable carbohydrates like pasta, rice, dry cereal, crackers, cookies and pastries. Replace these with barley, slow-cooked oats, and Zone PastaRx.Replace vegetable oils, shortening, butter and whole fat dairy with those low in both saturated and omega-6 fats. Substitute olive oil or nut butters rich in monounsaturated fats in place of vegetable oils. To keep portions in check, consider an oil mister which allows you to spray oil on to veggies for easy roasting. Keep nuts like almonds, macadamia nuts, cashews and pistachios on hand for snack choices. Use low-fat or part-skim dairy products and keep items like cottage cheese and yogurt on the top shelf of the fridge for an easy to grab breakfast or snack option.Frozen fruits and vegetables make for great smoothies, stir-fries, or additions to yogurt and oatmeal. Since these are picked at their ripest and then quickly frozen they’ll have a higher vitamin and mineral content than fresh fruits and vegetables that sit in the refrigerator for days. The freezer is also great for storing lean protein like chicken and fish that can easily be taken out ahead of time for weeknight meals.Spices are a great way to add flavor (and polyphenols!) to your meals. Since they are calorie free, go to town! Add cinnamon to your oatmeal, fresh spices like mint or basil to salads, or rosemary and oregano to your protein choices.Although canned foods get a bad rap for being high in sodium, don’t completely rule them out. Beans are a great way to add protein and soluble fiber to your salads and meals. Canned sardines and salmon make for a portable protein option and vegetable soups make for an easy meal that couples well with Zone PastaRx™. Do be mindful of the sodium content of canned goods and be sure to rinse the excess sodium off when possible before using.An easy way to cut empty calories is to eliminate sodas, fruit juices, and sugary beverages from the house. Add berries, lemons, limes and cucumber to water to add some flavor or choose calorie-free beverages like caffeine free coffee, tea, or seltzer to add in some variety.Having TVs in our kitchen and having tablets and phones by our side makes it hard to disconnect during meal time. Being distracted when eating can lead us to consume larger portions, eat faster, and feel less satisfied with the meal we have. Take a break from your device and bring some mindfulness to meal time. When it comes to weight loss most of us know what to do. It’s a matter of actually doing it. Make staying in the Zone easy by optimizing your kitchen for success. References 1. Vartanian, Lenny R., Kristin M. Kernan, and Brian Wansink. “Clutter, Chaos, and Overconsumption: The Role of Mind-Set in Stressful and Chaotic Food Environments,” Environment and Behavior.