Guest essay by Charles Rotter aka “Charles the Moderator”
(Note from Anthony: Working behind the scenes all these years, Charles has earned the right for a little self promotion here, in my opinion. I hope readers will agree.)
One of the slightly lesser talked about issues in Climate Change discussions is the effect of methane emissions on the Global heat budget. This was recently discussed in several posts concerning recent California laws created to control methane emissions from the dairy industry, this being the latest.
California passes a new climate law to regulate cow farts
There are approximately 1.4 billion cattle on our planet. That’s a lot of cows and a lot of potential methane. Buuut…there are over 7 BILLION people on our planet. That’s a much bigger pool of farting mammals to control if we are going to do our part to save the planet.
I’m Charles the Moderator also known as ctm. Long time denizens of this site remember me from my more active days around here helping to spread truth.
A while back I decided I had to do my part materially as well as intellectually to improve the world for my fellow mammals. I decided to take on the scourge of sugar alcohols and their devastating effects on well-being and methane production.
What turned sugar free candies into super laxatives
“The unhappy commenters mentioned stomach rumbles, ear-splittingly loud flatulence, and diarrhea.”
I have created a way for the sweet-toothed to have their figurative cake, and literally eat it too.
Introducing Crotters’ Best Radically Dark Chocolate.
I have created the only, (as far as I know), no added sugar bittersweet chocolate in the world, sweetened with Splenda Brand® sweetener and nothing else. It contains no Maltitol, or any other Sugar Alcohols. It also does not contain Stevia, also known to cause gastric distress for some.
Anthony has graciously given me the opportunity to humorously introduce my chocolate to this audience. If you’d like to try them out, see the links above.
On a more serious note, this product was created for diabetics and low carb dieters, it has an estimated glycemic load of zero, essentially the same as baking chocolate, and zero net carbs.
This rich, dark chocolate bar offers a complex chocolate flavor with just the perfect amount of acidity and a bright sweet finish.
If you are a diabetic or on a low-carb diet, or careful about your sugar consumption, but actually like to eat a good amount, then this is the chocolate for you.
Buy some today.
4 gm. carbs; 11 gm. fiber – that’s minus 7 grams carbs. I can live with that. Will order some of the pistachio bars to see if I can eat it (I’m not really big on dark chocolate, but willing to experiment in the name of science). Thanks, Charles, and best of luck with your new venture.
Anthony, considering Charles’ contributions to this blog, I think it’s exactly the right thing to do – thanks.
I prefer aspartame. I no longer like Pepsi products because they switched to sucralose. Both are artificial sweeteners, so I couldn’t see any advantage at all to the sucralose unless one has PKU. Anyway, guess it’s a great choice for those who do like the sweetener.
Be careful to avoid MSG while consuming aspartame, I understand the two combine to form a poison.
Didn’t see your comment until now. No worries—MSG gives me migraines, so I am already avoiding it.
Most chocolate used as finger food has a small amount of paraffin in it. The paraffin usually comes from oil wells. You get the trifecta if your Cacao has paraffin in it.
Charles the SuperMod,
As Anthony said, you deserve this personal “spotlight”. (Does it “melt in your mouth and not in your hand”?8-))
I couldn’t resist this quote from “The Warning Label Book”,
(Absolutely no reflection on your product!!)
Just for the sake of accuracy it is the burps from cow (ruminants) that mainly cause the methane. Half our local GHGs come from this source.
Never disparage cow burps.
“There are approximately 1.4 billion cattle on our planet. That’s a lot of cows and a lot of potential methane. Buuut…there are over 7 BILLION people…”
Total mass runs about the same, and total stomachs isn’t too far different, either. And thanks, ctm, for the moderation.
In terms of methane production pale in to insignificance compared to forests and termites.
Termites weigh a Whole bunch more.
Well, we are urged by the experts too eat more beans and grains. We try our best to follow that sage advice. My wife likes foods made from beans (chocolate and coffee). I tend to.add a lot of grain products, made from corn, barley, wheat, rye, etc. (beer, vodka, whiskey). Can I clam ‘greeness’ since these are renewable, carbon-neutral products? Moreover, shouldn’t I get a subsidy or tax break for my green-lifestyle? Seems only fair.
Depends on how old you are.
Youngsters who sneak their first cigar have been known to “turn green”.
But, since you mention having a wife then I suspect that you, like me, are past the “youngster” stage in life.
If you really want to be acceptable in the “I’ve gone Green” cliche, may I suggest a massive dose of gamma radiation?
It worked for Bruce Banner!
Took me a while to catch the significance of the name, Crotters.
CTM do you ship to Oz? If so, any idea of shipping cost?
Reply: For readers of this blog I’ll make exceptions. I’ll send you an email, but for normal business, no we don’t.
Dr Curry up next on Fox with Trcker Carlson
Yes, just saw her. Thanks.
According to some sources, although methane is 24 times stronger than carbon dioxide per unit mole as a greenhouse gas, it only has an estimated lifetime of 8.9±0.6 years in the atmosphere, whereas carbon dioxide has a small effect for a longer period (over 100 years).
If you want to save the planet, eat white chocolate. Much higher albedo.
(Albedo . . which, theoretically, checkmates the white privilege claims . . )
Dr. Curry was interviewed by Tucker Carlson tonight. A pretty good interview, although it was rather general in tone.
Carlson did ask Dr. Curry to come back on his show in the future so they could explore climate change in detail, so send Tucker the questions you want him to explore with Dr. Curry.
Tucker should also do a little advertising of the interviews. I just happened to be watching tonight and had no idea Dr. Curry was going to be on until right before she came on. I saw no advance notice of this at all.
Btw, I think WUWT needs more reading material on this website! I’m just kidding! I can’t hardly keep up with everything that’s being posted, there is so much of it!
You may have seen Tucker’s interview of a Cal State Prof. a couple of nights ago on the subject. It’s pretty funny:
https://www.reddit.com/r/tucker_carlson/comments/5m33qw/tucker_carlson_destroys_cal_state_professor_1417/
Best of luck with the chocolate Charles!
I really like high percentage cocoa and normally eat only 90% as it’s easily available.
A 93% cocoa sounds interesting.
I have had 99% cocoa (from Lindt), very expensive and hard to find, but an extremely complex flavor.
Looking forward to sampling some of yours.
Reply: The chocolate base is over 99% cacao. The version with nuts is 93% because it contains 6% pistachios by weight~ctm
Lindt chocolate bars are readily available in Florida and less expensive than Godiva with the same cacao levels. Once you get used to the heavy cacao levels, milk chocolate becomes way too sweet to tolerate.
Amazing, for the first time in I don’t know how long I’ve found an “ad” for something on the internet that actually interests me and that I want and need. Chocolate with no sugar but sweetened with something I can well tolerate. Will definitely order some, and don’t begrudge allowing this on the site at all! Chocolate is one of the few true luxuries and joys in life, proof that the gods want us to be happy.
Nice thought, but I avoid anything with Sucralose. Natural stevia (not the heavily processed extract) or xylitol would be my choice for a sugar substitute. Not that I’d need much. I’ve gone as dark as 99% cacao or even cocoa nibs.
Hi ctm,
Great times over the years.
But, you devil, you manage to probe like a dental pick finding a hidden cavity, when you mention those 2 words ‘sea salt’ and thus try to ingratiate yourself with the trendy set – those who more often than not are vacuous about hard science.
FFS, apart from (fairly rare) NaCl salt from diapirs, is not ALL salt sea salt?
Or is sea salt, as opposed to salt, a magic-propertied new invention coloured purple or whatever with a rip-off price tag?
I’d prefer the choccie with just plain salt, ta.
Cheers Geoff.
Reply: Hey, that’s the way the ingredients came out between the manufacturer and the testing lab. You would not believe the Fair trade, Organic Cacao, Rain Forest Action Network certified crap that I HAVE LEFT OUT OF THE DESCRIPTION. I used expensive sh!t. ~ctm
Well done Charles wish you all the best. We will be eternally thankful to you and AW for bringing the world “Climategate”.
Sugar alcohols do have their problems, but there may be no worse product with them than the 5 lb Haribo Sugar Free Gummi Bears. The reviews on Amazon are priceless (i.e. free). The bears are more expensive than their price tag implies.
https://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Sugar-Free-Gummy-Bears/product-reviews/B008JELLCA
E.g. (in part):
Love chocolate. Your product sound YUMMY 🙂
Cost of importing to Australia is probably an issue.
And probably won’t be granted “Halal” status, for a fee, like Cadbury. I refuse to buy Cadbury Australia chocolate because of that.
Halal chocolate..
The berries pick by 72 virgins ???
Not going to happen anywhere that grows chocolate !!
Has happened in Australia…
https://www.cadbury.com.au/products/halal-products.aspx
Hi ctm- Chocolate theobromine content = 200-300mg/40grams dark chocolate. Being fat soluble blood levels of theobromine peak around 2-3 hours after consumption; it’s half life = 7-12 hours. Figure 300-600 mg theobromine dilates arteries of the heart & the heart rate can go up to compensate – but this does not cause blood pressure changes. At high dose (~100 grams of cocoa worth theobromine) some get headaches, shakes or sweat; human LD50 (50% lethality) = 1,000mg/Kg body weight
Chocolate caffeine content in contrast has no effect on heart rate, while it can cause diastolic & systolic pressure to go up. The caffeine content of dark chocolate = 35-35mg/40mg; being water soluble the blood levels of caffeine peaks around 30-40 minutes after consumption; it’s half life = 2&1/2 – 5 hours.
For a more stable chocolate nut bar I suggest using hazelnuts because of all common tree nuts they have the lowest % poly-unsaturated fat content (aside from macademia nuts). Hazelnuts have a high level of mono-saturated fat (44.8%) & this oxidizes much less than poly-unsaturated fat (6% in hazelnuts).
In comparison pistachios are very low in mono-saturated fat & very high in poly-unsaturated fat. Omega 6 poly-unsaturated fat can become an inflammation factor when oxidize.
100 grams of common hazelnuts can have 17.5 gr. of carbohydrates, comprised of 14.2 gr complex carbs & 3.3gr of sugar. Insoluble fiber (good for gut microbes & formed stool) is 13.2 gr & 6.5 gr of soluble fiber.
Total fat is 54.5 gr/100 gr hazelnut. High fat diet up-regulates AMPK; this down shifts the insulin/insulin growth factor 1 signalling pathway (which is what the drug metformin does by increasing AMPK). Calorie restriction also up-regulates AMPK. A
healing cell normally exhibits increased AMPK & one consequence is it performs more oxidative phosphorylation to get more ATP.
Boron content in common hazelnuts= 13.8-22.3 mg/Kg nut meat; it’s good magnesium content causes the boron to have greater effect. A sample of super foods’ comparison for boron/Kg in pomegranate = 5.3, parsley = 4.4, garlic = 2.4 ….
Boron is considered to allay osteo-arthritis & osteo-porosis, while displacing flouride in bones. Hazelnut boron is mostly in different complexed esterified forms (whereas 80-90% of non-complexed boron, like boric acid some people take for joint pain in 24 hrs. is urinated out).
Some of the esterified boron ingested increases the amount of D3 inside our cells; it both augments 25D hydroxylation & stops catabolism of D3. Of the hazelnut’s sugar content a part of the fructose (0.08 mg/gr) is complexed with boron.
Sorry about not having pistachio data handy for comparison purposes. Hazelnuts in USA can be bought online from Oregon producers – ask for “new crop” if available.
Again ctm – Data comparisons per 100 grams, listed 1st for pistachio & immediately following 2nd for hazelnut … obviously cultivar varieties of same nut can vary. From basically USDA 2001 source, as opposed to previous data from my notes.
total fat: 44gr. pistachio vs. 61gr. hazelnut;
saturated fat: 3 gr. vs. 4 gr.;
poly-unsaturated fat: 13gr. vs. 8gr.;
mono-unsaturated fat: 23 gr. vs. 46gr.;
linoleic acid: 13gr. vs. 8gr.;
linolenic acid: 0.3gr. vs. 0.1gr.;
calories: 557 vs. 628;
carbohydrate: 28gr. vs. 17gr.;
dietary fiber: 10gr. vs. 10gr.;
vitamin E: 4.6mg. vs. 15.2mg;
alpha-tocopherol: 2.3mg. vs. 15mg.;
beta-tocopherol: 0mg. vs. 0.3mg.;
gamma-tocopherol: 22.6mg. vs. 0mg.;
delta-tocopherol: 0.8mg. vs. 0mg.;
protein: 21gr. vs. 15gr.;
phyto-sterols 214mg. vs. 96mg.
“p-Anisidine value” (AnV) is an industry measure that is indicative of compounds associated with any sequel of fats being oxidized. The AnV
of pistachio is greater than hazelnut, since as the nut content of linoleic acid goes up AnV level also goes up. The linoleic acid content of pistachio
can be between 14.4-22.7%, based on cultivar; pistachio has greater ratio of poly-unsaturated fat & induction rate of reactive peroxidase enzymes (~6 months phase delay if not refrigerated) than hazelnuts.
You may find these 2 reports helpful in creating an ideal pistachio nut bar:
* Nikzadeh, et al. (2008) “Physical and sensory changes in pistachio nut as affected by roasting temperature and storage”
** Raei, et al. (2009) ” Effects of packaging materials, modified atmospheric conditions, and storage temperature on physiochemical properties of roasted pistachio nut”
Splenda is a chlorinated hydrocarbon. DDT is a chlroinated hydrocarbon. ‘Nuff said!
Nope, Splenda is a chlorinated sugar. It has hydroxy groups, which make Splenda to be water soluble. DDT doesn´t and it is not water soluble but fat soluble.
I’m definitely getting some. I’m diabetic and was doing a liberal low carb diet, about 130g or more a day. I recently switched to a ketogenic very low carb, ~20g, high fat diet and am doing better in a number of areas most noticeably weight loss and fasting blood sugars. It’s nice to have an occasional treat like chocolate with my diet.
Question: How can the Total Carbohydrates be less than sum of the Dietary Fiber and Sugar? In my experience it’s always been greater than or equal to. I always base my food choices on net carbs, calculated as total minus fiber. What is the net carb on this?
Reply: Net carbs is a nebulous term with no strict definition. It is commonly considered to be the number you get when you subtract grams of fiber from total carbs which would technically give our products negative values for net carbs. So we just say zero. ~ctm
I love the notion of a LD (lethal dose) Gringojay gives us for proper/dark chocolate, but as the other stuff pretending to be chocolate certainly will kill you if you eat it we shouldn’t be surprised. I’m just grateful it would be impossible to eat the amount of dark chocolate required without being very sick first.
Afonrazelli’s note about unseriously dark chocolate made me smile too; it reminds me that the next time I go into my local bookstore where they have a “popular science” marked shelf area to ask them where they keep the “unpopular Science” section.
LD was for theobromine itself, not the chocolate total mass. Sorry about poor writting of that by me.
Looks fantastic, Charles, I’ve been looking for a while for some sucralose sweetened low-sugar choccy. Shouldn’t the ‘Total Carbohydrates’ be ’14’ not ‘4’? The subtotal carbs are more than the total of 4.
Reply: I believe the label is correct 23 fat + 6 protein + 4 carbohydrate + 11 fiber + 1 sugar (mostly from the nuts) = 45 g total. By law we can call the plain version sugar free, but not the pistachio version.~ctm
Thanks; the bolding made it looked like the fiber and sugar should be part of the total for Carbs.