If you’ve ever tried to chew Vivarin instead of swallowing it, you’re well aware of the fact that caffeine- as available in its raw form- has a horrible, bitter taste.

A molecular biologist who owns a coffee shop in North Carolina, however, has figured out a way to turn caffeine into small, flour-like particles and eliminate the bad taste so it can be added to baked goods like donuts, cakes, and pastries.

Currently, he’s getting a patent on the process and trying to see if Starbucks and Krispy Kreme might be interested.

Is this something you’d eat?

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Over the past 4 years, I’ve eaten a lot of dark chocolate, and some of the world’s best bars have made their way through our kitchen. Amedei, Valrhona, Michel Cluizel, El Rey, Domori, Bonnat. The nice thing about chocolate is that it is a very affordable luxury. You can grab yourself the world’s finest bar for less than $20.

Besides tasting great, there’s been a bunch of research over the past couple years showing dark chocolate may actually have some health benefits. For example, studies have shown dark chocolate can lower the “bad” LDL cholesterol, as well as blood pressure in patients with hypertension. And for those interested in improving cognitive performance, please see an earlier Smartkit post about how dark chocolate can boost brain power by improving verbal and visual memory, as well as reaction time. What I haven’t really posted about yet, however, is chocolate’s ability to induce euphoria. All varieties can do it, but I believe dark chocolate does it best. The numerous feel-good chemicals include:

• theobromine (a stimulant)
• anandamide (marijuana like substances)
• phenethylamine (aka PEA, “love drug”)
• caffeine
• and cocoa flavanols

This brings me to CocoaVia, a new chocolate bar put out by the Mars Company that is just starting to become readily available.

What is special about CocoaVia? Out of all the bars I’ve ever eaten, I’m close to concluding it packs the greatest feel-good punch. Thought it was a fluke the first time I tried it, but after having eaten about 10 over the past few weeks, I’m basically convinced.

What is unique about CocoaVia’s composition? The thing that made me want to go out and give it a try is that it’s processed differently from normal chocolate. Under normal manufacturing conditions, almost all of the health-giving plant chemicals (flavanols) are stripped right out. The Mars Company has apparently spent a fortune trying to figure out a way to create chocolate that still retains all these healthy flavanols. In the last year or two, they’ve succeeded, and their top-secret, specially processed flavanol-rich chocolate is called CocoaPro.

And CocoaVia is the world’s first chocolate bar made with CocoaPro.

If any of you chocoholics out there give it a try, I’d be very curious to hear if you notice a similar effect. Please feel free to let me know in the comments section what you think.

A note of caution, though: I personally don’t think CocoaVia tastes very good. Additionally, I’ve noticed a few pimples and zits eating CocoaVia- something that also commonly occurs with other Mars chocolates like Dove and M&M’s.

If you really want all the brain and health benefits that chocolate flavanols confer, you may prefer to go straight to the raw cacao beans. Most health food stores now sell these chopped in the form of cacao nibs.

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One of the greatest misunderstandings people have about the brain is their belief in “free energy”.

Hundreds of millions of students and workers all over the world consume drinks and pills in the hopes of magically relieving fatigue and boosting their energy levels without suffering any downside. Hence the popularity of Red Bull, Monster, Mountain Dew, Coke, Pepsi, energy pills, caffeine pills, amphetamines, cocaine, and of course coffee.

I’m a firm believer that when it comes to brain circuitry and energy metabolism, Newton’s Third Law still holds: Every action has an equal an opposite reaction.

Based on my years of studying the brain and expertise as a neurologist, I am deeply convinced that, on a fundamental level, the consequences of a chemical energizer are twofold:

• As high up as the drug brings you, you will afterwards sink to an equally commensurate low
• Pushing neural circuits into overdrive stresses the hardware, and leads to cumulative wear-and-tear type brain damage

In life, there are always tradeoffs, and everything has a benefit and a risk. Surely, there are times when it is worthwhile to consume a chemical energizer. The important point is to realize there is a downside to taking it, and therefore only use the minimal amount needed to get the job done.

Taking a large dose initially doesn’t mean the beneficial effect will last longer. It just means your handgun gun just magically became a nuclear bunker buster.

Back in college, I never thought twice about downing an oversize vanilla cappuccino to help get in the studying mood. In actuality, all that was probably needed was a few sips at the start and maybe another couple sips an hour or two later.

Just because Monster Energy shoves 16 ounces of caffeinated sugar into a can doesn’t mean you need to drink all of it.

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