Carob Makes a Comeback: Now Recognized as a Functional Food
High in fiber and minerals and low in fat, carob—hailed as a “health food” in the 1970s—is making a comeback.
Remember carob? You probably do if you’re of a certain age. If you were around in the 1970s and 80s, you witnessed carob’s heyday in the United States, when it made its debut as a healthy chocolate alternative, appearing in “health food” stores and vegetarian cookbook recipes.
Carob was touted as a healthier version of chocolate, but it never quite caught on—maybe because no one was really fooled. Earthy and grainy, carob doesn’t especially taste like chocolate and eventually fell out of fashion as a chocolate substitute. However, now it’s reappearing as a “functional food,” popping up as an ingredient in items such as coffee alternatives and brownie mixes, as well as in powder form to add to recipes.
What Is Carob?
A “neglected legume of the Mediterranean Basin,” carob can be categorized as a “functional food” due to its high dietary fiber and mineral content and low-fat content, according to a review in the journal Reviews on Recent Clinical Trials.
The carob tree, an evergreen, produces as its fruit a pod composed of 10 to 20 percent seeds. The pods contain “sugars, proteins, crude fibers, minerals, vitamins, polyphenols, vitamins, and lipids,” write the review authors, who are affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, China.
The pods are also known as “locusts,” and it is believed that the “locusts” the Bible describes St. John the Baptist eating were actually carob pods. This is why the pods are sometimes called “St. John’s Bread.”
Is Carob Good for You?
Carob pods are a “nutritional powerhouse,” Sophie Schoen, a registered licensed dietician with Cleveland Nutrition in Cleveland, Ohio, told The Epoch Times. She said they contain “vitamins and minerals that are not often found in plant foods, such as iron, magnesium, calcium, and certain B vitamins such as riboflavin and niacin.
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Regarding the carob versus chocolate issue, Ms. Schoen said, “Compared to chocolate, carob has a better profile of vitamins and minerals and is also higher in fiber and lower in fat and calories, making it a great alternative for baking and cooking.
What Can I Make With It?
Carob powder is gluten-free, so it can be used in baking for people who have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. Combining carob flour with chickpea and hazelnut flours improves the taste of gluten-free cookies, food scientists in Turkey have determined.
Even if you were put off by carob when it debuted as chocolate-in-disguise, you may want to give it a try now that its versatile, functional, and subtle flavor is making a comeback in unexpected ways.
