Cocoa Powder Provides Hope for the Certified Chocoholic

Question: I have to take medicine and stick to a strict diet to lower my cholesterol. Giving up steak was no big deal, but as a certified chocoholic, I am in chocolate withdrawal.

Recently I read that the cocoa butter in chocolate isn’t so bad for cholesterol watchers as was once thought. Is this true? Are any of the following safe for me to eat: cocoa powder, chocolate or carob?

Answer: Dr. Scott Grundy, an internationally known expert on diet and cholesterol, shocked the medical community a few years ago when he reported that stearic acid, the principal fat in cocoa butter, does not raise blood cholesterol even though it is a saturated fat. In fact, this component of chocolate may actually lower cholesterol.

Unfortunately, chocolate candies and desserts are usually laden with added butter, cream or other forbidden fats, so we can’t give you a green light to indulge in chocolate. Carob candies are often loaded with saturated fat, too, so we would urge caution.

Cocoa powder, on the other hand, is extremely low in fat. Desserts made with cocoa powder are your best bet for satisfying a chocolate craving without wrecking your cholesterol-lowering diet, as long as you leave out butter, cream and other no-nos.

Q. In your column you have written about a new migraine medicine called sumatriptan. You suggest it is being tested in the United States.

I suffer from severe migraines relieved only by Sansert. I would like to know how to volunteer for a clinical trial for this new drug.

A. Your doctor will need to get in touch with the drug company, Glaxo, that is developing sumatriptan (Imitrex). It has clinical trials under way in California, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina and Texas. For specific information, your doctor can call the company at (919) 248-2112.

Whenever you volunteer to participate in drug testing, it is important to recognize you will be taking certain risks. Always ask about side effects and special precautions.

Q. I have been going to the doctor for toenail fungus, and he says there is no cure. He prescribed a cream called Lotrimin, but it doesn’t do any good.

Isn’t there some medicine that will make it go away?

A. Your doctor is certainly right that curing toenail fungus is difficult, if not impossible. An oral medicine called griseofulvin sometimes works if it is taken for six months to a year. But the medicine is expensive, may not work and has side effects.