People's Pharmacy

For more up-to-date information on drugs, herbs and home remedies visit The People's Pharmacy Home Site at peoplespharmacy.us

Skeptic Trashes Magnetic Bracelets

Posting Date: 04/25/2005

We are sending you our Guides to Solutions for Smelly Feet and Home Remedies with more practical tips for these problems. Anyone who would like copies, please send $2 in check or money order with a long (no. 10) stamped (60 cents), self-addressed envelope: Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. RF-2, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.

Q. I just read an article on chocolate that left me confused. It said that Dutch chocolate is alkali processed. Is that true?

I just checked the label on some organic soy milk in my fridge and noticed that their chocolate is Dutch processed. How does this affect the benefits?

A. Natural cocoa is slightly acidic. In the early 19th century a Dutch scientist, Conrad Van Houten, developed a process in which he mixed cacao with alkali. The resulting cocoa was less acidic and easier to make into a drink. This is the origin of the name ?Dutch-processed? for cocoa or chocolate treated with alkali.

This modification reduces the amount of natural flavonoids in the finished product. These chemicals impart the health benefits of chocolate.

Q. Fish oil is supposed to be good for your heart, but I have heard diabetics

should avoid it. Is this true?

A. In the past doctors worried that fish oil might raise blood sugar. A recent review in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (March 2005) concluded that fish oil provides heart protection without interfering with

glucose control.

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In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.org. Their newest book is The People's Pharmacy Guide to Home and Herbal Remedies (St. Martin's Press).

2005 King Features Syndicate, Inc.