Is Chocolate a Superfood Or Junk Food?

What’s the healthiest kind of Chocolate you can eat? What is the difference between Cacao and Cocoa? Is Chocolate healthy? Isn’t chocolate…chocolate? Adding this one ingredient can take a superfood to a junk food. In episode 72 of HealingMatters, Jason Eagle will explain how Chocolate can be a Superfood!

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The Cacao Tree  

Believe it or not, our beloved chocolate candy bars, chocolate chips, and chocolate truffles actually started as a plant. A cacao tree grows in tropical/rainforest regions with lots of rain and sunshine! After the cacao tree flowers, it produces a seed pod. Each seed pod contains 20 to 50 cacao beans. These cacao beans crumble into cacao nibs after they are fermented. Cacao beans are loaded with minerals, antioxidants and polyphenols. Raw cacao beans are fermented or roasted before they are processed, heated, and turned into its refined form known as cocoa. Cocoa is then mixed with fat, sugar, and other natural or artificial flavors yielding the mass produced chocolate we buy at the stores.

Global Chocolate Companies Vs. Craft Chocolatiers  

Interestingly enough, global chocolate companies like Cadbury, Hershey’s, and Nestle have different recipes and use different ingredients depending upon which country they are selling their product in. Who ever would have thought that chocolate actually does taste better in Europe. If you want to support a local or craft chocolatier, you will likely get a superior quality and flavored chocolate. Usually a chocolatier has a passion for the best chocolate and they have higher standards for ingredients. I know I’d rather indulge in a superior gourmet chocolate. Zingerman’s Deli is a specialty food store and restaurant in Ann Arbor, MI. It’s a great example of a craft chocolate company. Not only do they know the origin of their cacao beans, they’ve traveled there to learn every aspect of the chocolate making process. Check out Zingerman’s chocolate truffles!
David Avocado Wolfe is one of the first companies I was exposed to that made raw chocolates. When he was in town, he brought some real cacao beans with him that still had the white pith on the outside of the bean. I was shocked in how sweet this pith was, almost like a jelly bean! You can buy Sacred Chocolate on David Wolfe’s website.

Is Chocolate A Superfood?

72 Chocolate

Is chocolate a superfood or just another junk food?

Yes, chocolate is a superfood in its raw state without the refined white sugar. Chocolate can increase energy, and it’s loaded with polyphenols, minerals, and antioxidants. In general, the darker the chocolate, the healthier it is because of the ratio of cocoa to sugar. In other words, the darker the chocolate, the less sugar, milk, and other ingredients. As we know, sugar is a junk food. Sugar creates dopamine in the brain, the same as if it was given cocaine. If you want to make your own Superfood Chocolate, I like to buy my Cacao Powder and Cacao Beans from TerraSoul Superfoods.
Here is one of my go to, homemade superfood chocolate recipes. It reminds me of a Snickers candy bar. One date, half of one square of Baker’s chocolate, and either six pistachios or six peanuts. Another go to, superfood chocolate recipe is a quarter cup raw cacao powder, a tablespoon of coconut oil, a table spoon of raw, local honey, and a pinch of sea salt. Great add ins are nuts, cinnamon, shredded coconut. You can even make a three ingredient, raw, superfood chocolate frosting with two perfectly ripe, medium sized avocados, 3/4 cup of raw cacao powder, and 1/2 cup of raw, local honey. Check out the recipe on The Loopy Whisk!

Developing The Palate For Bitter Foods

It’s important to help develop a child’s palate while they are young. The more flavors they are exposed to the more likely they are to choose healthy, nutritious foods over processed, sugar and salt laden foods. Dark chocolate is a great food you could introduce the bitter flavor with. Bitter foods help aid in digestion by stimulating the gallbladder to produce bile.
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Jason and Katy had an unexpected start to a homestead in 2014. Katy’s father didn’t want to mow the lawn anymore. Before you knew it, there were five sheep in the backyard. Jason wanted a garden, so we cleared some land. Katy wanted some chickens, so we built a coop. Follow us on our multigenerational homesteading adventures and watch how we incorporate Jason’s Quantum Reflex Analysis (holistic health) background at S. Healing Homestead.

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