2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Theobromine is the "hidden" heart stimulant in chocolate. There are many myths and legends that sweets are harmful and should be limited. We hear everywhere that sweets, and especially chocolate, have a lot of harmful substances and sugar, which is true, but sweet cocoa desserts do not only contain additives that are harmful to us.
It turns out that chocolate has many more benefits than we know. However, if chocolate and cocoa, which it contains, are recommended for children after sleep. They should drink milk with cocoa. The reason for this is that cocoa contains theobromine.
Theobromine is a type of crystalline alkaloid, which, as we have already said, is found in cocoa and in the favorite of young and old chocolate. Theobromine belongs to the so-called purine group (xathi), which includes caffeine and theophylline.
Despite its name, theobromine does not contain bromine. Its name comes from theobroma, which is a type of cocoa tree. The name is Greek and contains two words - "theo" - god and "brosi" - food. Literally translated, its name means "food of the gods."
Theobromine cannot be dissolved in water and is usually white in color. Theobromine has the same effect as caffeine, but less.
Theobromine is an isomer of theophylline - they have the same chemical composition, but have a different location in space. The melting point of theobromine is 337 degrees Celsius.
Photo: pixabay.com/ TinaKirk
Theobromine was first discovered in 1841 by the Russian chemist Alexander Voskresensky. He found it in the composition of cocoa beans. And its very extraction from them took place in 1878. This alkaloid is the first to be found in cocoa and chocolate.
5 grams of cocoa powder contains 108 mg of theobromine.
Theobromine can be found and in car seeds, guarana beans, cocoa and tea. Other plants rich in theobromine are: cocoa theobroma; theobroma bicolor; yerba mate; camellia synesis, cola akuminata; theobroma angustifolium; guarana; Arabica coffee.
After being discovered in the late 19th century, this alkaloid was put into use in 1916 because it was written about in an article and was recommended for the treatment of edema - a disease that manifests itself in this that in some parts of the body a lot of fluid is retained. An American magazine says theobromine has also been used to treat other health problems, such as atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, angina pectoris and hypertension.
Nowadays theobromine is used to dilate blood vessels, it is also used as a diuretic and also as a heart stimulant.
Theobromine has been tested and on animals when they had birth defects. Even without the consumption of food, theobromine is formed in our body because it is a product of caffeine, which is processed in our liver. As already mentioned, caffeine and theobromine are very similar, but the latter has less effect on our nervous system.
It is important to note, however, that to some extent theobromine stimulates the heart. Theobromine is not addictive, but it is still believed that one of the substances in cocoa that causes chocolate addiction is theobromine.
The "culprit" for chocolate to gain popularity as an aphrodisiac is again tebromine. This is because it significantly speeds up the heart rate and dilates blood vessels, thereby lowering blood pressure.
Theobromine helps many in many diseases, especially in bronchial asthma. A study conducted in the 1980s showed that there may be a link between the effects of theobromine and the risk for people suffering from prostate cancer.
Some other effects that can occur when consuming theobromine are: drowsiness, tremors, anxiety, worry, and a significant increase in urine production. Other side effects of theobromine consumption are loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting.
And as a conclusion to all that has been said so far, we can recommend that you eat foods that contain a lot of cocoa, which of course should be within normal limits.
There is nothing better than combining healthy and tasty foods. To do this, check out these helpful recipes for homemade liquid chocolate, homemade chocolates, or treat yourself to a brownie with real chocolate or full-fat cocoa.
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