To Your Health - Chocolate is Good for You

Chocolate.  Just the word imparts a mild sensation, a slight tingling up the spine.  It’s a warm, comforting hug of anticipation.  It has the aura of magic.  Feel it?  

There’s a reverence for chocolate, similar to how we feel about our greatest sports heroes  or our favorite classic films.  Always a winner, always satisfying,  never disappointing.  That’s chocolate.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this magical treat was somehow good for you? Right about now we could use some good news.  

Chocolate’s healthy properties were until recently overlooked.  Anything that tasted good must be bad for you, right?  For instance, fats used to be all bad. Now we know there are good fats that are essential to our balanced diet. Cacao butter, the fat content from cacao pulp, is high in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants.  Another interesting parallel is in regards to fermented foods which are helpful to our body’s digestive tract.  All chocolate has been processed through fermentation, although a chocolate bar is much further refined than say kimchi.  Consumers of raw chocolate would get more of this benefit.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/22/health/dark-chocolate-benefits-wellness/index.html

https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/food-features/dark-chocolate/

When  we last visited Mexico we were inspired by cacao ceremonies and new approaches to drinking cacao.  It was then we embarked on a Hot Chocolate journey intending to find the purest dark cacao which is the real star of chocolate’s new health claim.  Traditionally higher in cacao solids and therefore flavanols, dark chocolate contains less ingredients than its siblings, most significantly being less sugar.  The higher the cacao percentage, the purer the chocolate.  Hence our drinking cacao made with 72% Ecuadorian cacao.

Of course when you dig a little deeper, it’s not as simplistic as ‘all chocolate is good.’  There are better quality chocolates which are often better tasting.  Most people who love chocolate have a preference: a favorite type (white, milk or dark), a favorite brand, even a favorite origin.  And too much of a good thing is often not-so-good.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/is-chocolate-healthy-alas-the-answer-isnt-sweet-heres-why/2019/10/25/7933aeec-e6e0-11e9-a331-2df12d56a80b_story.html

The pursuit of all things pure and natural has created a fringe benefit of better quality cacao and couverture.  South America has some of the world’s best chocolate and most of our cacao comes from there. Decades of activism have yielded transparency in the cacao industry and demand has driven better quality ingredients from farm to table.  We’re proud to offer premium pure cacao products from reputable suppliers that support natural farming and a fair wage.  

Chocolate will never be a substitute for green leafy vegetables but it has come a long way from the sugary sweet pale brown bars of the supermarket kiosk. Indulging in good chocolate is far from unhealthy.  It's satisfying in so many ways and brings a bit of joy to your palette and psyche.  More so than ever, we all need to pamper ourselves a bit.  Wishing you the best of health.

OUR CACAO: