With Easter fast approaching and chocolate everywhere, I decided I would check out this superfood and its benefits.  

You have probably heard chocolate called by several different names.  But which one is correct?  All chocolate is derived from cacao beans (also known as cocoa beans).  So cacao is chocolate.  True chocolate consists of just one ingredient — cacao — with no sugar, no dairy or other additional ingredients that are often found in the ingredient list on chocolate bars.  

Cacao’s Latin name is Theobroma cacao, but the more common names are cacao, cocoa, and chocolate.  Beyond its various names, we somehow know that chocolate is good for us, but what is it about “chocolate” that draws us to it?

According to David Wolfe, “Every study on chocolate is pointing to the same conclusion: there is something in chocolate that is really good for us.  That something is the raw cacao bean…The cacao bean has always been and will always be Nature’s number-one weight loss and high-energy food.” ((Superfoods, Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2009), 34)

[Tweet “Cacao is one of nature’s best antioxidant food source. #cacao #antioxidant”]

Cacao is one of the best natural food sources for antioxidants (those free radical scavengers that protect us from aging too quickly or become sick in other ways), magnesium (supports the heart, improves brainpower, relaxes muscles, helps to build strong bones and increases your body’s alkalinity), iron (backbone for our blood’s hemoglobin for carrying oxygen), chromium (helps to balance your blood sugar), manganese, and zinc (needed throughout your body for all kinds  reactions).  As well, cacao also  contains copper, omega-6 fatty acids, tryptophan (mood enhancing amino acid), serotonin (a primary neurotransmitter in your body), soluble fibre, and theobromine.

What is theobromine?  It is similar to caffeine and is an effective antibacterial substance that kills the organism that causes cavities.  Although like caffeine, theobromine does not stimulate the nervous system.  Instead, this compound  “dilates the cardiovascular system, making the heart’s job easier.” (Wolfe, 45)

In a 2008 study by Dr. Gabriel Cousens, he “discovered in clinical tests of healthy people that cacao does not elevate blood sugar in the same way as a caffeine-containing food or beverage.  In fact, Dr Cousens found that cacao has less of an effect on blood sugar that nearly any other food.” (Wolfe, 46)

Conclusion, enjoy your chocolate.  Okay, not the processed chocolate found in the bar by the checkout stand at your local grocery store.  Instead choose dark chocolate or even find some plain-Jane cacao beans to nosh on.  I found some lovely golden cacao beans at Light Cellar recently that are mouth-tantalizing.

Learn more about this awesome superfood, “Cacao – Friend with Benefits.”  Click here to check it out or on the title.