About Carob

by Dave

I have read two things about carob that seem to be opposites, the first that carob is high in sugar and the second that carob helps regulate blood sugars.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,
Dave

Hi Dave,

I think the confusion about carob may be based on what form of carob you are referring to.

The natural form of carob from the tree and pods would be what is being referred to as carob that helps to regulate blood sugar. This can also probably extend to organic carob powder.

I suspect that when you read that carob is high in sugar, they would be referring to carob that is made into candy and carob chips, etc., where sugars are added during the process.

Regards,
Angie

Comments for About Carob

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May 11, 2020

Nutritional properties of Carob NEW
by: Annie

Carob plants are high in carbohydrates and naturally occurring sugars, around 50% of their weight (sucrose, glucose, and fructose). This makes carob powders quite sweet to taste, even without additional sweetening. (By comparison, cacao, which is used to make chocolate, is quite low in natural sugars, which is why so much tends to get added in to cacao-based confectionary).

The health benefits of carob are due to its vitamin & mineral content, and polyphenols (e.g., tannins, flavonoids, phenolic acids). There are many valuable parts of the carob plant, however, not all parts of the plant are found in manufactured foods.

Carob is caffeine free and gluten free and tends to be feature in many 'health food' stores - however, beware of processed carob products. These can be just as problematic as bad chocolate products. Many of the old Carob 'buttons' or 'chips' are made with palm oil or other cheap waxes and taste just like wax. However, roasted carob powder mixed with quality ingredients is heavenly. It is an under-rated plant flavour in its own right.

Personally, I use carob widely in recipes (such as cakes, brownies, fudges and blocks of carob chocolate) and have found that I need to use less sugar in recipes due to carob's own high natural sugar content.

My most popular chocolate blocks are made from a secret blend of cacao & carob (about 50:50) on cacao butter, with some maple syrup, cacao nibs & rock salt.

Good luck! Read more here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6261171/

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