What is Cacao?

- Cacao is the bean from which chocolate and cocoa is made, in its most natural and potent form. If you take cacao powder and heat it and chemically treat it, you get cocoa powder. Then if you add sugar, butters, more processing, you get chocolate. Cacao

- comes from the tree Theobroma cocoa, named by the ancient Greeks meaning “food of the Gods.” Humans have been drinking cacao for well over 4,000 years, and it has been used as medicine and even currency throughout human history.

- Ancient Mayan and surrounding cultures held cacao to be a sacred plant and it was a required part of marriage ceremonies due to belief of its link to fertility. In fact, cacao was an important part of virtually every type of ceremony in the ancient Americas.

Learn more about the practice of cacao ceremonies!

 

What makes it a “superfood”?

• Antioxidants: cacao contains high levels of flavonoid antioxidants, which have been shown to help prevent nerves from injury and inflammation! Raw cacao contains more antioxidants than roasted cocoa because the heat destroys nutrients. Raw cacao has even more antioxidants than blueberries!
• Mineral dense: zinc, which is important for the immune system, magnesium, calcium, manganese, selenium, iron.
• Theobromine is a uniquely marvelous compound similar to caffeine, notable for its mood and energy boosting effects.
• Increases nitric oxide which helps improve blood circulation
• The above listed benefits were verified and reviewed from scientific articles pubmed

 

The Fascinating Case of the Kuna Indians:

A native population that inhabits the islands of Panama, they consume an average of three 10-ounce cups of cacao beverage daily, and the prevalence of hypertension is very low. They also experience less diabetes mellitus, heart attack, stroke, and cancer compared to Kuna Indians that have migrated to urban areas on mainland Panama. Kuna Indians that live on the islands consume an average of 10 times more cacao than those who move away. Scientists suspect that high cacao intake may be partly responsible for the low incidence of cardiovascular disease among the Kuna islanders. Multiple subsequent studies have had similar findings.

 

By Elixir Shots

 

Quality Matters

We use cacao that is USDA certified organic, fair trade certified, and third party verified to be free from contaminants such as heavy metals cadmium and lead that are commonly found in low quality cacao powders (yikes!).

 

 

 

 

The statements made on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Results vary and are not guaranteed.