This is Monica Reinagle.

Welcome to the Nutrition Divas Quick and Dirty Tips for eating well and feeling fabulous.

Ali writes, I recently bought some carib at my local organic food store on a whim, and now I'm wondering about its nutritional profile.

Is it a healthier alternative to chocolate? What are the pros and cons?

Okay, well first, what is Carib?

Carib is an ingredient that you only seem to run into in health food

aisle of the regular grocery store.

It's usually used as an alternative to chocolate and you'll find it in a

number of chocolate-like formats as a powder for baking, chips that you can add to cookies, or as a flavoring in candy, baked goods, and hot beverage mixes.

So what are the advantages of substituting Carib for chocolate.

Perhaps the primary benefit of Carib as a chocolate substitute is that unlike

Cocoa, Carib contains no caffeine or theobromine. Both of these chemicals, which belong to a family of substances

called methyl xanthines, are stimulants. While caffeine works primarily on the central nervous system,

Theobromine stimulates the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems.

Now these stimulating effects are sometimes beneficial,

as I talked about in my podcast on the benefits of

caffeine, caffeine has neuroprotective effects, reducing your risk of Parkinson's and

Alzheimer's disease. Theobromine on the other hand dilates or widens blood vessels and increases

urine output which can help lower your blood pressure. It's also been found to act as a cough suppressant

and to dilate the bronchial tubes making breathing easier.

Both caffeine and theobromine affect the production and the uptake of neurotransmitters in ways that can lift your mood.

However, it's certainly possible to be over-stimulated.

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