TheChocolateLife :: LIVE 2021 Year in Review

2021 was a momentous year for TheChocolateLife.

It started out with a move from the Maven Network to the Ghost publishing platform, opening up a whole new range of creative possibilities, including engaging Contributing Writers – members of Team TCL – to create and publish original content for TheChocolateLife.

Two members of Team TCL – Keith Ayoob and John Malik – will be joining the Xmas Eve live stream to discuss The Year in Chocolate 2021.

Keith Ayoob - The Chocolate Life
Keith Ayoob, Assoc. Prof. Emeritus of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY City, who loves chocolate research. As a foodie, he searches out new artisan bars during his travels.
Click to see the index of Keith’s posts.
John Malik - The Chocolate Life
Chef Mentor & Consultant, Food & Travel Writer, Hobby Farmer. Spent (almost) a year in Belize. Once got hammered with Tony Bourdain. Southern by the Grace of God.
Click to see the index of John’s posts.

2021: The Year in Review
My 2021 was marked by change, opportunity, and my first international trip since COVID lockdowns began.

Live Stream URLs – Watch/Participate on:

TheChocolateWire channel on YouTube
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LinkedIn

Want to participate? Ask questions and post comments during the live stream or afterwards in the post comments!

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How You Can Make a Difference:
The Case Against Slavery

Earlier this year, International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) filed a new lawsuit against Nestlé, Cargill, Mars, Hershey, Olam, Barry Callebaut, and Mondelēz on behalf of eight formerly enslaved children who were trafficked from Mali and brought to Côte D’Ivoire where they were forced to perform hazardous work harvesting cocoa for one or more of these giant multinationals.

Terry Collingsworth of IRAdvocates was a guest on Clubhouse earlier this year and will be the featured guest on TheChocolateLife :: Live on January 21st.
Episode 19.03 — Slavery_on_Trial.m4a
Listen to the Clubhouse room with Terry Collingsworth and Ayn Riggs of SlaveFreeChocolate.org

IRAdvovates is taking on these seven powerful multinationals and the giant corporate law firms they have hired to preserve their slavery and labor exploitation scheme. They will spend what it takes to continue profiting from child slavery. IRAdvocates is able to stretch a dollar a long way in this fight but any dollar you can add for them to be able to preserve pressure on these companies to stop child slavery in the cocoa sector will go a long way.

The goal is to raise $15,000 before the end of December to fund a research trip to Côte D’Ivoire that will help gather new evidence and shed light on the ongoing violations of human rights in the cocoa sector.
Donate — IRAadvocates
Click on this card to show your support.
Gaslighting Slavery
Updated August 30th. When leadership not only fails to lead, but - IMO – deliberately dissembles, what can we do?
For more of my thoughts on this topic.
Are chocolate giants on the verge of solving child slavery?
Campaigners have dismissed new reports by chocolate companies that child labour is being addressed in their supply chains. Despite a
Recent additional commentary

Blood Pressure Is Reduced and Insulin Sensitivity Increased in Glucose-Intolerant, Hypertensive Subjects after 15 Days of Consuming High-Polyphenol Dark Chocolate
Abstract. Flavanols from chocolate appear to increase nitric oxide bioavailability, protect vascular endothelium, and decrease cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk
Keith’s favorite research study of all time on cocoa/chocolate (for hedonistic reasons – the subjects were REQUIRED to consume 100gm of chocolate daily for 15 days).
Natural Bioactive Compounds Useful in Clinical Management of Metabolic Syndrome - PubMed
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clinical manifestation characterized by a plethora of comorbidities, including hyperglycemia, abdominal obesity, arterial hypertension, and dyslipidemia. All MetS comorbidities participate to induce a low-grade inflammation state and oxidative stress, typical of this s…
Antioxidant activity and polyphenol and procyanidin contents of selected commercially available cocoa-containing and chocolate products in the United States - PubMed
In the United States, commercially available foods, including cocoa and chocolate, are being marketed with statements referring to the level of antioxidant activity and polyphenols. For cocoa-containing foods, there has been no comprehensive survey of the content of these and other chemistries. A su…
Natural Bioactive Compounds Useful in Clinical Management of Metabolic Syndrome - PubMed
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a clinical manifestation characterized by a plethora of comorbidities, including hyperglycemia, abdominal obesity, arterial hypertension, and dyslipidemia. All MetS comorbidities participate to induce a low-grade inflammation state and oxidative stress, typical of this s…
Influence of chocolate matrix composition on cocoa flavan-3-ol bioaccessibility in vitro and bioavailability in humans - PubMed
Conflicting data exist regarding the influence of chocolate matrices on the bioavailability of epicatechin (EC) from cocoa. The objective of this study was to assess the bioavailability of EC from matrices varying in macronutrient composition and physical form. EC bioavailability was assessed from c…

The New “Superhero” Teaser Trailer


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