Organic Raw Cacao SuperFood

I’ve learned a lot about cacao from David Wolfe, who was the first importer of raw certified organic cacao into the US. I’ve come to trust him because of his depth and breath of knowledge in health and nutrition. I’ve read many authors and experts, and there are others I trust in the field also. But on the subject of Cacao, it’s David I acknowledge.

I eat raw cacao every day, in many different ways.

It’s a Chocolate World

Chocolate is everywhere in our society. However, most of it is highly processed, cooked, laden with dairy and flavored with refined sugar. It’s the processing of the chocolate that makes it a health hazard. It’s a strange world that has turned one of the most powerful, natural, nutrient-dense foods into an unhealthy, ubiquitous food item.

Raw cacao, which is highly nutritious, will be one of the foods that health and wellness advocates will want to know about — and use.

These days, cacao is more readily available than just a few years ago, in various natural forms throughout the United States. The most common forms are beans with skins still on (whole beans), nibs (broken beans), and powder (ground beans). However, I prefer raw, certified organic (or the equivalent), skinless, whole cacao beans. Perhaps your preference will be different from mine.

I suggest you start at Sunfood.com because that site will have the widest variety of the best available. When you get to the site, simply search for "cacao" to bring up the current selection of products. If you prefer to purchase in a local store, just read the label carefully. Pictured at the right is the way I purchase most of my cacao.

At the moment of writing this article, this item is out of stock at Sunfood.com. When I talked with one of the support persons, he said that the manufacturer has not been able to keep up with the demand. I purchased some nibs locally. Right away, I noticed the difference in taste. NaturalZing.com also has wonderful raw cacao.

The Real Stuff

Chocolate is made from Cacao (or Cocoa) Beans. Cacao is chocolate; chocolate is cacao. However, when you start with the one ingredient cacao and add healthy ingredients without cooking, you retain the antioxidants, minerals, and neurotransmitter rejuvenating properties.

The raw cacao bean is one of nature’s most outstanding superfoods due to its mineral content and wide array of unique and varied properties. Since many of the special properties of cacao are destroyed or diminished by cooking, refining, and processing, it’s important to consume it raw.

Cacao is hard. To eat it, you need to break it down. Typical ways are with mortar and pestle, high speed blender, regular blender, or your teeth.

Cacao is bitter. Bitter is one of the important tastes, but rarely do we eat bitter items alone. I can eat cacao straight — and often do! — but I think that’s an acquired taste. I also rarely eat a whole handful of cacao on its own. More likely, I eat 3-4 beans alone. Cacao beans are easy to transport in a suitcase, purse, or pocket for superfood nutrition on the go.

Sweeteners for Cacao

Stevia is the sweetener of choice by many people wishing to avoid refined sugar and the mainstream alternatives. In the US, stevia is marketed (by law) as a nutritional supplement and cannot be marketed as a sweetener.

Honey is extremely sweet to my taste, so I only use a very small amount occasionally.

Dates are a living food. Other dried foods serve as interesting sweetening and texture to cacao dishes.

Other natural sweeteners also go well with cacao, such as, dried fruit, mesquite pod meal, carob, yacon syrup.

Please note: I no longer recommend Agave nectar There are a few extremely expensive agave nectar products that are more healthy than most on the market. Since I’m not familiar with the brand names, I am simply avoiding agave and recommending it.

Uses

I add raw cacao to nearly every type of meal. It’s an essential ingredient of my Raw Fruit Smoothies and Vegetable Soups, and, in particular, Raw Food Energy Soup. Cacao adds valuable minerals that are often lacking in restaurant foods, so I’m certain to carry some with me at all times.

Cacao was used as money by the ancient Aztecs — so to them, money did grow on trees. But, make no mistake, they ate cacao also. So they associated both their wealth and their health with cacao.

Recently, I wrote about a different approach David Wolfe is using
that associates food and money.
You can read that article or
go directly to David’s Food that Attracts Money Video.