Chocolate lovers rejoice, chocolate is actually very healthy for you! The only catch is it must be raw, unheated and unprocessed. Chocolate originally comes in the form of beans which are the seed of a fruit. 
In that form it is called by it's ancient name "cacao" used by the Olmec and Mayan Indians. Back then money literally used to grow on trees because cacao beans were used as currency.
With today's scientific techniques we are able chemically analyze cacao to find out what's really in there. Tests show it to be a primary source of magnesium, which more than 80% of America is deficient in. Magnesium is great for a healthy heart, increasing brainpower, building strong bones and soothing menstrual pain. No wonder women crave chocolate around that time of the month. In addition, cacao has the highest antioxidant content of any food, beating out blueberries, green tea and red wine by a mile. It also contains many mood-elevating nutrients like tryptophan which promotes relaxation and encourages better sleep, anandamide the "bliss" chemical and phenylethylamine which mimics the brain's chemistry when in love, it's the reason chocolate is often called an aphrodisiac.
There is a good reason why the Olmec and Mayan’s used to worship a cacao god. You can live like the emperor/empresses of the ancient world and indulge in the most sacred superfood in history …raw chocolate!
Go down to your local Whole Foods or health food store and ask for raw cacao beans and begin to heal your body and mind with raw chocolate! If your local store doesn't carry cacao, click below to buy from the most trusted raw organic food distributor Sunfood.com. The link takes you directly to raw chocolate beans but the site has tons of raw chocolate products like raw chocolate bars, cacao butter and powder so search around the site.
There are lots of ways to eat cacao, if you love dark chocolate then try eating the beans right out of the bag. If you crave a sweeter chocolate experience then dip the beans in honey or agave. You can blend it into smoothies or crush the bean into tiny pieces and add to trail mix or as a topping on soy ice cream or yogurt.
Be a kid again and eat as much chocolate as you want and become healthier for it. Have fun finding your favorite way to eat cacao!
Comments
Hi Megan,
Nice article! looking forward to trying the whole beans, have tryed the nibs with frozen bananas made icecream like with puree blueberry and the nibs on top, twas alright yet would love to try whole bean on it's own to know what i'm dealing with, have a rawsome evening ;) Stephen
I love raw chocolate! It's amazing how, as one opens up to the infinite possibilities in life, like the potential for vibrant living with raw food nutrition... amazing things start to happen... the world was not what it once seemed! Life is fascinating! It turns out that chocolate is actually one of the healthiest foods on the planet! Who would have imagined? We can have our salads and eat our chocolate, too!!! Raw food is fun. Thanks Megan for sharing this great info!
Shawna rawshawna.com
I dig this chocolate topic and enjoyed reading your article Megan. Tell me, if I am eating a dark chocolate bar, one from a quality-conscious producer like Italy's Eraclea for example, am I still receiving a significant percentage of magnesium? If not it's beans or bust!
Hey Megan,
I love the easy to read article about the beans! Thank you for helping further my education on raw food! I will check out the site to order those cocoa beans. Can't wait to read your next article!
Greetings Megan,
I enjoyed your article on chocolate. As an avid chocolate lover, I was delighted several years ago to learn that chocolate is healthy. It's one of the "little exceptions" I allow in my largely raw food diet.
I say exception, because all my research indicates that even before it leaves the local farmer it is sun-dried to temperatures above 115-118F (the dividing point between raw and not raw according to most raw food experts). Truly raw beans carry a risk of salmonella.
While I don't think any chocolate or cacao that reaches the US is technically "raw", I still believe what is sold here as raw is a better choice than the bars eaten by most who eat the Standard American Diet.
Thanks for sharing. I look forward to reading more of your articles.
Hi Megan,
Happy to see you promoting a raw food lifestyle. Unfortunately I am disappointed that you have chosen to write about cacao as a health food. I guess David Wolfe has gotten to you as well. Cacao does have many vitamins, minerals, trace elements, and antioxidants. However, those good things do not overcome the very bad things that cacao contains...caffeine, theophylline, and theobromine. These substances cause a host of symptoms including abnormal glandular growth, nervousness, depression, anxiety, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, itching, heart and circulatory issues, nervous disorders, osteoporosis, birthing abnormalities, stomach maladies nausea and vomiting. Further, all three are classed as notorious carcinogens (cancer- causing agents). A carcinogenic mould called aflatoxin has been found in large quantities on cacao beans. Cocoa butter and other active ingredients in processed and raw chocolate provoke acne outbreaks and dermal infection in a great number of consumers.
Note that no animals in nature consume cacao beans. Have you ever tried to eat a raw cacao bean? The taste should tell you that they were never meant as food for humans. Stick with a living foods diet consisting of fresh raw fruits, vegetables, soaked nuts and seeds, and sprouts and will be health and vibrant. No chocolate required!
I stopped eating chocolate and cacao powder as I found it quite addictive, don't get me wrong I love the taste. But felt like I *had* to have it all the time. After researching the dangers of some of the natural chemicals in there I realized it's not different from other "natural" stimulants such as coffee and likely didn't belong in my system, especially since it had to be greatly altered and processed to be enjoyed. Also when I ate it after being off for such a long time I felt nervous and shaky. So, I don't think it's for everyone, but I also truly believe that if you are eating chocolate/cacao/cocoa on a daily basis you might have a dependency on it as I did.
Also I don't believe it contains anything special in it that fresh plant foods don't already provide to our diets.
WOW.....chocolate a health food? not even close. You will do about 100 times more bad to your body eating chocolate than good. especially raw. Just cuz its raw doesn't mean its healthy at all and that goes for a lot of raw foods. Eating whole, fresh, ripe, raw fruits & veggies and little nuts and seeds will give you more than enough of every vitamin, mineral, antioxidant, amino acid, omega 3's and 6's. chocolate is NOT good for our bodies by any means. its a drug. You will get addicted and your heart will definitely not be happy.
How does the percentage in chocolate bars work?
I don't see why a dark chocolate bars can't contain any milk solids... for example, why couldn't a 90% bar have 5% milk solids, and 5% sugar?
I'm slowly trying to ween off the standard milk chocolate, which actually contains very little (<45%) cocoa, but find that the dark chocolates (>75% cocoa) is a bit strong for me at this time.
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