What are the health benefits of Cacao?
The Cacao Bean is truly astounding in all the powerful benefits it brings to the Body, Mind and Spirit!
BODY
Cacao is most well-known for its Antioxidants. The most noteworthy antioxidants are Polyphenols, found in red wine and green tea. The Cacao bean is one of the highest sources of Polyphenols. In the Solomon Island beans, that are imported by The Cacao Ambassador, there is 33mg per gram of Polyphenols. This is what gives the bitter taste but also the powerful antioxidant boost.
The second most recognised health ingredient in the cacao bean is Theobromine. Cacao contains the highest source of this, supporting energy and upliftment. Even tests done on commercial chocolate has shown to have high levels of Theobromine.
Theobromine is a stimulant like caffeine but far milder and works differently. It relaxes muscles and gives you energy as a slow burn, not a high followed by a crash like caffeine. Studies also show that Theobromine reduces blood pressure.
Cacao also contains essential minerals including magnesium, calcium, zinc, phosphorus and iron.
MIND
Cacao contains Tryptophan and Tryptamine. Tryptophan creates a sense of Joy, and Tryptamine creates a sense of awakening and wakefulness, or Mindfulness. Both are precursors to the creation of serotonin.
PEA, which interacts with our dopamine pathways which is associated with feelings of pleasure and reward, and also what is known as the love molecule is contained in the Cacao Bean.
A further support to this is Anandamide, named after the Sanskrit word for bliss. The brain has receptors to receive the molecule anandamide and when it receives it, it clicks and gives a hit of pleasure. Chocolate and marijuana are the only two known providers of this chemical. Cacao has very low doses compared to marijuana, however Cacao has two other chemicals in high quantities that prolong the effect of the anandamide so the experience is more mellow and lasts for longer. A healthy effect of upliftment and bliss…
So together Tryptophan, Tryptamine, PEA and Anandamide work to elevate our mood, our focus, our sense of pleasure and reward, our positivity and mental wellness. Cacao unlike other enhancers does not contain high doses of any one of these but is rare in containing such a variety together, that creates a powerful synergistic effect of Joy!
In summary the health properties of the Cacao bean can be listed as supporting Mental Wellness, boosting immunity, reducing inflammation, supporting cardiovascular health, reducing fatigue, supporting skin and bone health, reducing blood pressure, supporting insulin resistance, and supporting with nutritional health.
SPIRIT
Spiritually Cacao was used for thousands of years to connect humans to higher levels of consciousness. It was not used for example like mushrooms for a hallucinogenic effect for it is far gentler and rather creates a state of positivity to support the navigation of day-to-day life being neuroactive but not strongly psychoactive.
It gently and softly opens the heart and the third eye to see more. Today this can be likened to mindfulness practices, taking us into presence through an open heart. It is not addictive and was considered the Food of the Gods, for its gentle and powerful support for a spiritual life as a daily food.
It is a myth that Cacao is bad for you, because of how it journeyed to being a sugar treat rather than the true state of its original consumption which was without sugar.
