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Is Carob Healthier Than Chocolate?

Posting Date: 08/01/2005

Q. I have heard that carob is a healthy substitute for chocolate. I don?t like it as much, but if it really is better I would consider it when I crave chocolate. How healthy is it?

A. Carob is completely different from chocolate, although they both come from tropical trees. Carob may have gotten its ?healthy? reputation back when fat was considered a dietary evil. Unlike chocolate, which is rich in fat, carob is predominately a carbohydrate-rich food.

If chocolate is what you want, you?d be better off savoring a small piece. The flavor of carob won?t satisfy a chocolate craving for most people.

The most recent research (Hypertension, July 2005) shows that dark chocolate can lower blood pressure and bad LDL cholesterol. It also makes blood vessels more flexible, and reduces insulin resistance. Prior studies have shown that chocolate also helps keep blood platelets from clumping together to form clots.

Q. A few weeks ago my granddaughter spent two nights coughing. She didn't get any rest herself, and she kept both her parents awake with her coughing over the weekend.

Sunday night I told them of your suggestion to smear Vicks VapoRub on the bottoms of her feet to stop her coughing. She resisted until her dad and older sister agreed to rub it on their feet too. Lo and behold, the coughing child slept all night, and so did the rest of the family. We can attest to the fact that it works.

A. Thanks for sharing your story. We don?t know why putting Vicks on the soles of the feet is so helpful, but it may have something to do with the anti-cough activity of menthol.

We have collected many unusual approaches in our Guides to Home Remedies and Unique Uses for Vicks. Anyone who would like copies, please send $3 in check or money order with a long (no. 10) stamped (60 cents), self-addressed envelope: Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. RVi-77, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027.