Is Carob good for you?

- How much is Carob good for us? I hear that it's good substitute for cocoa, but what to do with the flavor?

• Answer:Fortunately for us who love chocolate there is a substitute – carob.

• Contains no methylxanthine. Theobromine is the primary methylxanthine found in products of the cocoa tree. Theobromine affects humans similarly to caffeine, but on a much smaller scale.

• Carob does not require enrichment of sugar, because it has a natural sweet taste.
Carob contains 8% protein (as in other legumes), a large part of the natural sugar - about 46%, B group vitamins, minerals - calcium, magnesium, potassium - and trace elements - iron, manganese, chromium, copper, nickel.

• If we compare it with chocolate, is three times higher in calcium, but one-third less calories and seventeen times less fat.

• Comes from the carob tree, which grows mainly in the Middle East. In ancient times carob beans were considered very valuable, because cattle and sheep fed him very well managed.

• Carob tree bears long pods that are dried and ground into a fine powder

• Dried seeds from the pod are often used as currency in trade. Carob is derived from the word carat (carob bean is keration in Greek), which is still used today to describe gold jewelers.

• Carob is a rich source of fiber - pectin, which aids in digestion and elimination and is useful for stopping diarrhea, nausea and vomiting.

• Pectin calms the stomach, helps to carry away the poisons and toxins from the intestines and eliminated from the body.

• Carob pod contains lignin, which also includes the fiber. Pectin and lignin have a beneficial effect on lowering cholesterol.

• Chocolate and cocoa, seasonings, whose use, as we know, carries a wide range of health risks (including a considerable addictive factor), we can play a little hard to exclude it from our diet.

• To achieve fine "chocolate" flavor and aroma, combined with excellent nutritional value and absence of harmful effects, enjoy the recipes carob instead of chocolate or carob.

CHOCOLATE from carob
2 dl ground almonds, 2 dl raisins soaked in 2 dl water, 2 tbs carob, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp some grain coffee
Everything is needed to be blended. Enjoy!

About the caffeine you can read here...