Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Can someone help me assess how bad this is one way or another. I had understood that cocoa powder was compliant as long as it is only cocoa powder with no added ingredients. Then I learned that all cocoa powders contain caffeine which we try to avoid. I make ice cream for my family using frozen bananas or sometimes make pudding from low fat tofu and add some cocoa powder to it. Also, we add a tablespoon of cocoa powder to a large bowl of hot cereal for a change. Now I find out it contains 110mg of caffeine in a tablespoon. We are not using cocoa powder every day or even every week.

My DH and I no longer drink coffee or green tea except an occasional cup every several months or so. I don't notice a problem when I drink an occasional cup and experienced no problems just giving it up cold turkey. However, my husband experienced bad headaches when stopping cold turkey so weaned himself off gradually over a couple of weeks. When he drinks an occasional cup of coffee, he experiences bad shakes for hours from it. But he has not noticed a problem with the cocoa in the hot cereal. He cooks a cup of steel cut oats with 2 cups of water and adds a tablespoon of cocoa powder sometimes.

Just never gave a thought about there being caffeine in cocoa powder. The only ingredient listed is cocoa. No mention of caffeine anywhere on the box. I thought it was required that caffeine be list as an ingredient.

Anyway, should there be a problem using cocoa powder occasionally?

On cocoa powder

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6010

In Health
Jeff

According to Google, Hershey’s cocoa powder has 12 mg of caffeine per tbsp.

I use it similarly to you, in either banana ice cream or smoothie. I had read Jeff’s thread on chocolate and decided that for me, if I can make a smoothie at home that satisfies my desire for chocolate and keeps me out if a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, then it’s a win. That being said, I recognize the concerns about lead and cadmium, but I’d rather have my heavy metals with a side of bananas instead of cream and sugar. (There are some other ethical issues with child labor, too.)

Caffeine isn’t listed as an ingredient for the same reason it wouldn’t be listed on tea or coffee - it’s naturally occurring and not added.

Mary McDougall has mentioned a few times over the years that the only cocoa powder Dr. McDougall allows is WonderSlim brand WonderCocoa. It's not only fat free but caffeine free. Here's a link to one of the offerings Amazon has, but it can be found in a number of stores on-line:

https://www.amazon.com/Wondercocoa-Pure-Cocoa-Powder-Ounce/dp/B0079OUZX2

VeggieSue wrote:Mary McDougall has mentioned a few times over the years that the only cocoa powder Dr. McDougall allows is WonderSlim brand WonderCocoa. It's not only fat free but caffeine free. Here's a link to one of the offerings Amazon has, but it can be found in a number of stores on-line:

https://www.amazon.com/Wondercocoa-Pure-Cocoa-Powder-Ounce/dp/B0079OUZX2

FYI...

That was based on their old marketing and old labels. The newer ones don't make the same claims.

The new package (which has been around for some time) says its “low in caffeine” (which all cocoa’s are) and lists the caffeine content at 5 mg tbsp, which is typical for cocoa's (5-10 mg). It’s also not fat-free and no longer states that, but only looks that way on the label because the fat is rounded down to "0". I describe how this is done in my link. Instead of stating fat-free, it now states cholesterol free and gluten free(which all cocoas are).

In the bigger picture, a small amount of any cocoa on occasion is not likely harmful. However it is not a health food, and the fat, sat fat, heavy metals etc could add up quickly.

In health
Jeff

Pretty sure Wonderslim is Dutch process aka alkaline processed.

JeffN wrote:That was based on their old marketing and old labels. The newer ones don't make the same claims.

Thanks for the update on the product, Jeff. I haven't used any cocoa in ages so had no idea the product changed.

VeggieSue wrote:

JeffN wrote:That was based on their old marketing and old labels. The newer ones don't make the same claims.

Thanks for the update on the product, Jeff. I haven't used any cocoa in ages so had no idea the product changed.

It was the "preferred" choice back then, but, as with many other products, turned out some of their labeling was not 100% accurate. The label changed a few times, each time making less claims.

I am not even sure you can get it anymore.

In Health
Jeff

Wow, had no idea there was so much material and discussion on this. Thank you to all of you for your input.

I noticed a toll free number on the package of Nestle Toll House Cocoa, the type we have been using, so called this morning. According to what I was told, this cocoa power is not dutch processed, not processed with alkali, none in it whatsoever. Also there is 12mg of caffeine per 1 Tablespoon.

On the side of the box it states for 1 tablespoon there is 20 calories, Total Fat is 0.5 g, Sat. Fat 0 g, Trans Fat 0 g, Sodium 0 mg, Total Carb. 3 g, Fiber 2 g, Protein 1 g, Iron 8%.

One other thing perhaps worth being aware of is that heavy metal contamination, particularly cadmium and lead, are very common in all cocoa and chocolate products. There are some that are pretty clean, many that are not. I love a bit of chocolate, cocoa, chewing raw nibs or beans, now and then. In reality I probably don't eat enough to make the contamination a real issue, but just for peace of mind, I contact companies and request 3rd party batch testing of current product(s). Many are surprisingly evasive about providing that or just flat out say they don't test. Some do test and if the results are good, are usually happy to email a copy.

GeoffreyLevens wrote:One other thing perhaps worth being aware of is that heavy metal contamination, particularly cadmium and lead, are very common in all cocoa and chocolate products. There are some that are pretty clean, many that are not. I love a bit of chocolate, cocoa, chewing raw nibs or beans, now and then. In reality I probably don't eat enough to make the contamination a real issue, but just for peace of mind, I contact companies and request 3rd party batch testing of current product(s). Many are surprisingly evasive about providing that or just flat out say they don't test. Some do test and if the results are good, are usually happy to email a copy.

I don’t know of any cocoa (or nibs) that has passed Independant testing

There are s few chocolate bars that did but those are high in calories , fat & saturated fat

My link above covers all of this and is updated regularly with the latest analysts. New one is coming soon.

In Health
Jeff

GeoffreyLevens wrote:One other thing perhaps worth being aware of is that heavy metal contamination, particularly cadmium and lead, are very common in all cocoa and chocolate products. There are some that are pretty clean, many that are not. I love a bit of chocolate, cocoa, chewing raw nibs or beans, now and then. In reality I probably don't eat enough to make the contamination a real issue, but just for peace of mind, I contact companies and request 3rd party batch testing of current product(s). Many are surprisingly evasive about providing that or just flat out say they don't test. Some do test and if the results are good, are usually happy to email a copy.

GeoffreyLevens which ones are you currently using.

GeoffreyLevens wrote:Some do test and if the results are good, are usually happy to email a copy.

Unfortunately, the test results often provided by companies are more marketing the truth, sometimes providing doctored, outdated, misleading, etc reports. The only analysis we can actually trust, (which are the ones I provided in my link above) and those by an independent lab.

In Health
Jeff