MikeLigalig.com

There is a persistent urban legend that Chocolate contains caffeine. It would seem that this rumor is based primarily on a confusion between two similar alkaloids: caffeine and Theobromine. Theobromine is the active ingredient in Chocolate and it occurs only in Cacao. The two stimulants are related and have a similar structures, but are very different chemicals with different properties, effects and origins. There are of course, some Chocolate products that have added caffeine, but it does not occur naturally in Chocolate.

This rumor seems to have a life of its own; it won't go away and yet most references to it are references to the urban legend itself! Amusingly, almost all of the Chocolate & caffeine references on the Internet are circular. (Follow the references through a few links sometime -- you often wind up back at the page where you began!!) It is actually quite common to see references that confuse Caffeine and Theobromine. Many people and some semi-scientific sources confuse the two. Stollwerck, for example, says in one place Chocolate contains 1.2% Theobromine and 0.2% Caffeine, but in another place it says just 1.4% Caffeine and doesn't mention Theobromine, which is obviously wrong.

There is no scientific substantiation that Chocolate contains caffeine, and a great deal of evidence that it does not. The Biochemist, (Apr/May 1993, p 15) did chemical composition tests where they specifically distinguished between Caffeine and Theobromine. They found regularly up to 1.3% by weight Theobromine in Chocolate. They also found other pharmacologically active compounds including up to 2.20% Phenylethylamine up to 1.54% Tele- methylhistamine and occasionally up to 5.82% Serotonin. They could not detect any Caffeine at all.

source: www.xocoatl.org

Sikwate!  Sikwate!  Sikwate!

kinutil....hehehe

Gervistill, by the peculiar way you've constructed your username, I'm guessing that it consists of parts of three names.  The first being from your first name and the last two syllables being from your middle and last names, both of which are definitely Inabangnon.  Am I right? 

Sorry if I'm prying.  The thought just struck me.  You don't have to answer. 

@sigbin,

hehehehe..
nearly right!!

Grabe nis Sigbin oi, kusog kaayo mo hubad ug username. Murag almanake. 

Anyways, pare pareho ra man na sila actually, they have similar properties coz they belong to the methylxanthines -- caffeine, theophylline and theobromine. Naa na sila capacity tanan to stimulate the CNS. Ang caffeine lang ang pinaka potent, with theobromine having the least stimulant property. When we eat a chocolate, more than likely ang naka cause nga ma stimulate ta is not the theobromine  itself but the sugar in the candy bar...ga cause ug saka sa atong blood sugar.

Ma'am C2H4, are you a chemist by profession.  Your username implies it but this

Quote from: C2H4 on September 08, 2007, 02:50:06 PM
Anyways, pare pareho ra man na sila actually, they have similar properties coz they belong to the methylxanthines -- caffeine, theophylline and theobromine. Naa na sila capacity tanan to stimulate the CNS. Ang caffeine lang ang pinaka potent, with theobromine having the least stimulant property. When we eat a chocolate, more than likely ang naka cause nga ma stimulate ta is not the theobromine  itself but the sugar in the candy bar...ga cause ug saka sa atong blood sugar.

lends certainty to the assumption.

Not quite, Mr Sigbin. I was a pharmacy student, and not a very good one, to be honest. Haha.

This was discussed in our pharmacognosy class, and the only reason I remember it is because our teacher was cute.

Do you think that would be a good case to present to CHED? to only allow cute teachers to enter our classrooms?

Quote from: C2H4 on September 10, 2007, 11:40:55 AM
Not quite, Mr Sigbin. I was a pharmacy student, and not a very good one, to be honest. Haha.

This was discussed in our pharmacognosy class, and the only reason I remember it is because our teacher was cute.

Do you think that would be a good case to present to CHED? to only allow cute teachers to enter our classrooms?

I would predict that there would be a 15% improvement in overall class attendance and as much as 90% improvement in memory retention of the students.

I bet the male students will be memorizing something else. Hahaha.