Superfoods: Raw Chocolate

[sharingispower]

How eating huge amounts of chocolate can be amazingly good for you!

Why is raw cacao amazing?
When it isn't cooked it has at least four times the anti-oxidents of cooked cacao.
It's only when it is cooked, mixed with dairy and refined sugar that it becomes fattening.
It stabilises blood pressure
Opens up blood vessels allowing better circulation.
Helps allow toxins to be released from your cells.
Stimulates digestive system and metabolism.
Will help to regulate hunger.
Has lots of magnesium for better brain function. Also good for preventing muscle cramps.
Regulates blood sugar and supports pancreatic function.
Contains something called theobromine which will help your heart, as well as the magnesium.
Lowers the glycemic index of other foods digested at the same time.

Here's what the Raw Cacao experience is like:
If you drink a raw cacao shake and sit still you'll feel it a little. If you get up and move your body you'll feel it quite a lot. Because it dilates all your cells and blood vessels more oxygen and materials for repair are able to be circulated through your body. In short, it makes you feel more alive. Get your lungs and heart putting more oxygen into your bloodstream and check out how it feels.

Detox!
The other side of that coin is that dilating cells also provides an opportunity for them to dump waste it's been carrying for quite a while. In this way Raw Cacao is an amazing detoxifier.

I spent a few months drinking chocolate shakes made of raw cacao, raw honey and water a couple of times a day, with really high doses of raw cacao. I'd make a shake in a big jar recycled from buying 1ltre fruit juice, with about 12 to 16 huge heaped desert spoons of raw cacao and about 5 or 6 spoons of raw honey to make it taste like chocolate. It was basicly a race to see if i could drink the jar before it made me go to the toilet and purge out whatever toxins it caused my body to release. This kind of dose will make you about as high as it's possible to get on food alone. My partner at the time chose agave syrup instead of honey and lost about 20kg over about 10 weeks. We ended up telling her to stop! I can't say I'm recommending this approach, but I tell this story as an example of how effective it is at detoxing.

What i do recommend is:
Using raw chocolate shakes to hide other healthy ingredients that don't taste so great.
My mixes have lots of other ingredients, some not so pleasant on their own.

For example:
Raw Cacao + Raw Honey or Agave Syrup
Spirulina (not too much or it'll be like drinking swamp)
Maca Powder
Bee Pollen
A pinch of MSM (organic sulphur)

I recommend adding one ingredient in at a time and getting an amount you're happy with, before adding the next. Listen to your body and feel if you have added too much Maca or whatever.

This brings me to one of the most important points...

The Deliverer of Medicine.
Again, because of the dilating effect it has on the body, cacao is known traditionally as the deliverer of medicine, helping deliver whatever you ingest with it deep into your system.
This is something that's important to be aware of.

Now that I'm over my Cacao detox binge I tend to eat it once a day for breakfast using the mix listed above with meusli. I have between one and two desert spoons of cacao in my breakfast, though if i'm running low i could have as little as a teaspoon or two and be happy.

Some final notes:
High doses may make you feel nauseous. I put that down to the immediate dump of toxins out of your cells into your blood stream suddenly hitting the liver. If you feel this way, slow down. A lot. Even better would be to start slow and work your way up.
High doses may make you feel high. Too high. All your cells buzzing, hard to focus, ungrounded etc. If this occurs, eat avocado, maybe with a little salt. Good quality salt.
If you want to use it for hot chocolate, don't let the pot on the stove get hotter than you can touch with your hand. Any hotter and you're cooking it, aka killing it.

That's about all I can think of for now, enjoy getting healthy eating chocolate all day.

[Bella]

I've been adding carob to my muesli every morning - does that have a similar effect to chocolate?

Also, I heard somewhere that yoghurt is a superfood, but i'm trying to cut down on my dairy intake - does anyone have any suggestions for a good dairy-free yoghurt? I one soy brand the other day but it tasted terrible! It had a weird bitter aftertaste...

[sharingispower]

for i have nothing nice to say.

[sharingispower]

I'd look into kefir as a living health supplement. I've heard it has far more beneficial cultures than yogurt. I think you need to keep growing it yourself though.

Same with kombucha. not really anything like yogurt, but full of awesomeness that would mean you'd never need yogurt again. I heard a story about a little town that was a statistical anomaly when it came to how low their rates of cancer were. In all the USSR theirs was the lowest. what did they do differently? The men drank Kombucha in the morning and the women drank it at night.

Off you go to find yourself a scobie. ewwww.

If you don't know what any of these things are... GTS.
(google that shit)

[lhyne]

I agree. Chocolate contains more magnesium than any other food. Magnesium is the number one mineral deficiency in the west. It is the most powerful stress relieving mineral. It also relaxes the muscles and builds strong bones and teeth.

[wandaA]

Is organic chocolate similar to raw chocolate? I heard that regular chocolates loses some of its health benefits with the way they are processed.

_____________________
An advice from an online chemist is well worth it.

[fionadirk]

I have no idea about this. I am hearing it for the first time. A chocolate is a chocolate whether it is raw or organic.



Agomelatine for depression and anxiety treatment

[zoeyparker07]

Cocoa chocolate is one of my favorite ingredient to make a morning drink.

[Mical]

Raw chocolate has so many benefits. It is a good food and very healthy. Chocolate is my favorite. Thanks for this sharing. I like this post. Everyone should be aware with raw chocolate.