On the topic of chocolate (sorry I know …again), I have recently discovered raw cacao beans and of course how ridiculously healthy they are for you. If you can handle the bitter taste, then these little beans are definitely something awesome to incorporate into your daily diet.
Not only are they absolutely amazingly fantastic for our body, but they contain an unbelievable amount of:
- Anti-oxidants - way more than any other food, and which are very powerful at healing the skin.
- Magnesium - more than any other food and which happens to be the number one mineral deficiency in the US.
- Chromium - again more than any other food and which also happens to be the number one trace mineral deficiency in the US
- Incredibly high levels of Vitamin C
So if you eat one of these little beans, you are getting a concentrated source of anti-oxidants, magnesium, chromium and vitamin C. More than any other food around and way better than popping a synthetic supplement or pill.
The word ‘cacao’ actually means ‘cocoa’. Apparantly the Brittish couldn’t pronounce the word cacao, so they called it cocoa instead. Seems strange to me, it’s not hard to say, you kind of pronounce it like: ka-cow. You can watch my video below for the proper pronunciation.
This food is so special, that a long time ago in Mexico City they even used it as currency. That’s how amazing and valuable the cacao bean was considered to be. Now you can just pick up a giant bag for around US$15. I guess we’re really lucky now how affordable and accessible this food is.
But what exactly are anti-oxidants?
So apart from anti-oxidants protecting us from free-radical damage of the skin, they are really just a measure of the color pigment in a food. So essentially, the darker the color of the food, the more anti-oxidants it contains. You’ll notice in the video when I crack open the cacao bean that it’s a black or deep purplish color. This just shows how many anti-oxidants are present in the bean.
Now blueberries are quite dark too, and they’re often thought of as being fantastic for our skin. But while blueberries contain 32 antioxidants, and wild blueberries contain 61 ..cacao beans contain an unbelievable 621 anti-oxidants!!! That is an insanely high amount. Now you know why I’m putting up with the bitter taste of these little things, because I know how GREAT they are for my skin.
Here is a video I recorded which shows the actual cacao bean, and some chocolate I bought from a farmers market that was made out of these beans.
Fran
Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.
30 responses ↓
ok yeh i really like those cacoa beans which you hsowed they look shealthy thansk alot for giving nice information about healthy food. buh i m sure they must be too bitter,,i will be waiting for you to post any info about how to make them abit sweet,,and that cacoa powder which you showed can we mix it into warm milk and have it as well,,,or any idea to use it? also can honey be used as a sweetner or not
thanks.
Hi Mishal, yes you can mix the cacao powder with warm or cold milk. It does need a sweetener added to it though, like honey, agave, stevia or xyliol.
Where can get I cacao beans? Also how many should I eat each day (Raw)?
hey fran I dont know if I can handle the bitter taste of cocoa beans. do you know if they come in a supplement form (in pills) that i can buy from the health store? Thanks!
That cacao circle looks really delicious! A few months ago I bought an 85% dark chocolate bar from the store to try. It actually didn’t taste quite bad, though my mom thought it was way too bitter. Our taste buds must have different preferences!
Susie- There may be one, check the health stores. What you can do is buy the cacao power product like I showed. And use that exactly how you use regular cocoa, because it’s actually the same thing but only WAY better for you. So use it in your baking, add it to smoothies, make hot and cold chocolates with it, etc.
I’ll be posting a couple of recipes soon that you can make at home using the cacao power.
Leira- Tastes buds can definitely be different. I actually used to hate dark chocolate ..and then I started eating it ..and the more I ate the more I liked it! Now I prefer dark chocolate and think milk chocolate doesn’t have enough flavor. Although there’s no way I could eat 100%! I’ve tried that before and it’s extremely bitter.
Jon- You can get them from most health stores. There’s no formula on how many you should eat. So just snack on them every now and again, add them into smoothies, cook with them … etc.
Hey Fran! I live in Toronto too, do you think you can tell me the exact address of the farmer’s market you went to? And also, which store in Toronto did you buy the Cacao Powder from?
And also, how often would you eat dark chocolate? Can you eat too much that it can actually be bad for your skin?
Hi Renee, I think I gave you the farmers market address in this post a while ago: http://www.highonhealth.org/high-on-health-readers-i-need-your-help/
If the chocolate contains a type of sugar and/or chemicals then don’t eat a lot of it ..just use it as a treat. If however you’re eating cacao beans then go for it, have as many as you want!
I learned about how amazing cacao beans are from David Wolfe: http://davidwolfe.com/
Honestly I don’t think you could fine anyone that eats healthier than him. He eats 15-20 cacao beans a day.
Fran do you know where else in Toronto they sell the raw cacao beans? There’s that place in farmers market they were selling 2kg at $38. I just wanna try it out anywhere you know sell it in bulk form where i choose how much I get or somewhere that sells it in the $10 range?
Hi Jon, I actually bought that massive bag at the brick works farmers market for about $10 (or it may have been $13).
But I think most health store probably sell them, so you could try there. If you can’t get the actual beans you could probably get the cacao nibs which are just good, they’re just pre crushed up.
Thanks Fran, I’ll look into the Pre curshed up cacao nibs it sounds better than peeling the beans.
do anti oxidants expire at all?
andrea- anti oxidants are a pigment of color so they don’t expire. However, the older a fruit or vegetable is, the less nutrients it has, so it’s better to buy as fresh as possible. This is why farmers markets are awesome, or better still - growing in your own garden!
The cacao beans I buy are sun dried so last a long time, anti oxidants in tact
thanks, i’ve been trying to find out for a long time. i adore your blog.
i checked Whole Foods the other day for raw beans but all they had was nibs. do you have any suggestions on how to eat those, if not by themselves? and what is the unit of measure for the anti-oxidants? like, 32 per ounce, per cup, per blueberry?
Thanks for the video it was great. I don’t suffer from Acne or anything but came across David Wolfe and I love the idea of eating all of these delicious foods that are so good for you.
I ordered some cacao nibs, goji berries and some bee pollen yesterday to try out.
I just want to know if the cacao nibs are just as good for you as the beans? I beleive they are the same but just been taken out of their shells is their any disadvantages from this?
Jamie & Andrea- Yes, cacao nibs are great too. Usually they’re just crushed beans with the husks removed so there’s no processing involved.
I guess the advantage of the nibs is there’s no husk (which can be annoying to remove), and they’re easy to cook with. And the beans are kind of special because they’re in their absolute natural form
Andrea, I have no idea what the unit of measurement is for antioxidants, I just know that there’s HEAPS more in cacao beans than any other food.
Theo Chocolates, here in Seattle, is Organic and Free Trade. I learned some of what you said on their tour. Isn’t it amazing??
hi fran, im in aussie and live in sydney. ive been having a real hard time trying to find these cacao bean or powder. Would you know any place where i can buy it?
thanks soo much!!!
Orawan, just keep checking health food stores.
Fran, I would just like to ask you what is the difference between cacao beans and cacao nibs? How many beans per day do you have?
Cacao nibs are just crushed up cacao beans. You can eat as many each day as you like
Hi Fran
I just watched your blog video… very fun…curious if you had ever heard of Xocai?
Heather- Yes, I’ve heard of it ..haven’t tried it or looked closely at the ingredients though
hey fran…i was giving up chocolate for a long time..and now found bitter chocolate 70% cacao, but it´s just bought in the supermarket.. i thought it doesn´t contain so much sugar…so shouldn´t be so bad for me… but i´m nto sure, do you know about it?
maybe it helps if i write the ingredients:cocoa mass, cane sugar, cocoa butter, emulsifier, soya lecithin..may contain nuts, peanuts, gluten and milk solids.
thx!!! and congratulations for helping all of us.^^
Hey David, you need to look out for refined sugar. Do a search in my blog or check the archives - click on “acne” at the top of the page - for chocolate articles, I’ve written heaps about chocolate, including an article on what soy lecithin is.
FRAN! i think u are kool i need your help an i am trying to improve my skin i am mentally strong and believe i can withstand the bitterness so the beans sound kool i live in england would they sell them here also?
Hey Fran
New to “blogs” lol…. learning ASAP.. just got your response.. thanks.
I’d love to teach you more about Xocai’s ingredients (if your interested) lol ….
I’m a registered nurse and am blown away. I also have my own holistic health center in Rockwood and together with my Mom and Sister in Milton.
You seem to be so excited about cocoas benefits… I’d love to have your opinion on this superfood Xocai.
Check out my webpage… ignore the beginning of the video (cheeeesy) it gets better.. check out the links (on RT side of page) I have LOTS more I want to add.
Thanks Fran!
Hey Fran
Oh I really hope you don’t think I’m posting on trying to sell Xocai.. lol… I just feel so excited and passionate about what I’ve found!! I too wanted to health benefits of the raw cocao beans… it was just so bitter… I’m a chocolate freak! Always have been! then I found this… its amazing…do some “googling”
100% of the nutrients remain from the raw cocoa in the finished chocolate. They don’t heat the chocolate… they cold-press it!! and leave it very pure… no refined sugars.. no fillers…. wow… just read about hun.. hope it sounds wonderful.
I figured since I KNEW I’d be sharing the wonderful health stories with everyone… so I did join as a REP for the company.. so of course I can get you some to try… even a day’s worth… you won’t believe it!! I work in Toronto as a Nurse so I could drop some off to you or you can always get some via my website or call.. : )
I LOVE your site.
Heather xx
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