Thread: carob?

Carbo I imagine? Sugar is a carbohydrate, the problem is with things like bread/candy etc is that they are quickly absorbed carbos, meaning they are not in the system long for long lasting energy and are likely to just turn to fat.

Chocolate would be worse than bread I would say, oatmeal/brown rice/sweet potatos are some of the "better" slow release carbs for quality energy.

Hmm not sure about the exact nutritional breakdown of carob, but I'm pretty sure it's loaded with sugar. The syrup they make out of it is one of the sweetest things I know - which means carobs themselves are very likely high in sugar.

Carob in Food

The fruits of the Carob tree can be eaten either green or after having been processed. The Inside the seed pod there are up to 15 seeds surrounded by a saccharine pulp. The seeds are seperated from the pulp and used to make locust bean gum sometomes known as Ceratonia or Carob bean gum. This product is used in the manufacture of food stuffs, especially confectionary. It be used as a stabiliser, emulsifer, thickener or to to prevent sugar crystallisation. The other major food source derivrd from Carob is from the ground up pod itself, which forms a high protein powder that is an effective substitute for Cocoa powder. Carob
powder has a number of advantages over Cocoa powder and as such is often used to make what has
come to be known as 'healthy chocolate'. Carob powder is free of the allergetic and addictive effects of caffeine and theobromine present in Cocoa. It also contains less fat and more sugar than Cocoa. Cocoa has around 23% fat and 5% sugar while Carob contains apporoximately 7% fat and 42-48% sugar. Carob powder is often used as a substitute for cocoa at rates of up to 50%. Used in this manner Carob has become a popular chocolate substitute used in a huge variety of confectionery products and drinks as well
as a general sweetener. Carob is also used to make flour, molasses, alcohol and a substitute for coffee and eggs.

Carob and Health

Apart from the health benefits obtained by subsituting Carob for Cocoa and synthetic sweeteners in our diet, Carob also has excellent nutritional value. Along with up to 80% protien, it contains Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Phosphorus, Potassium Manganese, Barium, Copper, Nickel and the vitamins A, B, B2,B3, and D. It also has medicinal uses including the treatment of coughs and diarrhoea.

Originally posted by QueenofSquats

Cocoa has around 23% fat and 5% sugar while Carob contains apporoximately 7% fat and 42-48% sugar.

While I'm sure there's benefits to both carob and cocoa, I'd stick to cocoa for the above reason. ...that is, if I were to use either

42-48% sugar

Well waddya know, I was right..