Raw Chocolate:

Experience The Health Benefits of Raw, Organic Cacao Nibs & Powder

In my practice, I regularly design custom eating programs for people who are looking to overcome health challenges or just maintain excellent overall health. Almost invariably, I am asked to include some healthy snack options that will satisfy cravings for conventional sweets, usually ones that are coated with chocolate.

The requests for truly healthy chocolate treats became frequent enough that about a year ago, I stopped insisting that the only way to go was to learn to be happy with an assortment of fruits, and began experimenting with different varieties of organic cocoa from all over the world.

The more I researched and experimented in our kitchen, the more excited I became. I almost couldn't believe how good the homemade chocolate treats that were coming out of our blender and food processor were. I used different types of raw, organic chocolate nibs and powder to make dairy-free treats like chocolate truffles (just like the ones you see in the image to your right), chocolate smoothies, chocolate peanut butter smoothies, and chocolate ice cream. Every treat that I made was free of dairy, sugar, preservatives, unhealthy oils, and all of the other less-than-healthy ingredients that go into conventional treats.

After almost a year of testing and preparation, I am excited to be able to provide through our web site two new products: Raw, organic cocoa nibs (raw chocolate pieces), and raw, organic cocoa powder. I'm excited about sharing these products because raw, organic chocolate is one of the most powerful, health-promoting foods that we know of.

Here are the key reasons why eating raw chocolate is good for your health:

• Raw chocolate is naturally rich in flavonoids, which are natural nutrients with antioxidant properties - the same nutrients that make berries, grapes, and green tea health-promoting foods.

• Flavonoids that are abundant in raw chocolate can protect your cells against damage by free radicals, which can help to prevent premature aging.

• Flavonoids in raw chocolate are good for your heart, as they can help to prevent stickiness of platelets, which are cells that play an important role in blood clotting.

• Flavonoids can help your body produce nitric oxide, a compound that promotes a healthy cardiovascular system.

Before you make conventional chocolate bars a staple in your diet, it's important to understand that the health benefits of chocolate are mainly due to its rich flavonoid content. And the more chocolate is processed, the fewer flavonoids it retains. Fewer flavonoids translates to less antioxidant content and less potential health benefits.

If you want to eat chocolate to optimally support your health, your best choice is raw, organic chocolate that has no added ingredients like sugar, milk, and oil. Your next best choice is dark chocolate with 70 percent or more cocoa content, but this ranks a distant second to raw chocolate, since conventional dark chocolate bars are exposed to significant heat and processing. The worst choices are milk and white chocolate. Most varieties of milk chocolate have only about 25 to 50 percent the flavonoid content of dark chocolate, and white chocolate has no flavonoids.

The antioxidant content of different foods is measured by what's called the ORAC test; the higher the ORAC value for a food, the greater its antioxidant content. Here is a list of ORAC values for foods that are known to be rich in antioxidants, as calculated by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Journal of the American Chemical Society:

Dark chocolate	13,120
Milk chocolate	6,740
Prunes	5,770
Raisins	2,830
Blueberries	2,400
Blackberries	2,036
Kale	1,770
Strawberries	1,540
Spinach	1,260
Raspberries	1,220
Brussels sprouts	980
Plums	949
Alfalfa sprouts	930
Broccoli	890

Beyond its value as a food that is super-rich in antioxidants, raw chocolate is also abundant in the following health-promoting nutrients:

• Serotonin (3 mg per 100 g) and tyramine (2 mg per 100 g) - both are capable of creating a mild calming effect.

• Copper (0.8 mg per 100 g) - needed for energy production, proper nerve signaling, optimal bone health, and formation of healthy connective tissue in your heart and blood vessels.

• Phenylethylamine (PEA) - can help to promote mental alertness and focus. It is also thought to combat feelings of depression, and is released within your brain when you are in love.

• Magnesium (131 mg per 100 g) - is needed for healthy bones and teeth, energy production, and optimal heart, nerve, and muscle health. Magnesium levels tend to be low during menstruation, which may explain why some women tend to crave chocolate on a periodic basis.

During my research, I experimented with raw, organic cocoa from locations throughout South America and Southeast Asia. Ultimately, I chose the highest quality raw chocolate that I could find to share with our newsletter subscribers.

Here are some key details on our raw chocolate products:

• Our raw chocolate nibs are made from certified organic, peeled cocoa beans, the same beans that are used by makers of fine chocolate. They're great to eat on their own, or mixed in with smoothies, shakes, banana-based ice cream, trail mixes, organic yogurt if you can tolerate dairy, and all sorts of natural desserts made by grinding pecans, dates, figs, and other all-natural foods.

• Our certified organic, raw chocolate powder is made by cold-pressing the shelled cocoa beans and separating the fiber of the beans from the natural oil in the beans. The oil becomes raw cocoa butter, and the fiber cake is milled into our antioxidant-rich raw chocolate powder. Our raw chocolate powder is not Dutch processed. It can be used to impart real chocolate flavor and nutrient-density to smoothies, drinks, and countless chocolate desserts.

• Our organic, raw chocolate nibs and powder are tested and cleared for all microbial contaminants by a third party laboratory before being cleared to share with our subscribers and visitors.

• Our raw chocolate nibs and powder are cultivated in Peru and certified organic, certified kosher, and processed below 118 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Our organic Criollo cocoa beans are only partially fermented; they are never irradiated or fumigated.

• We transfer our freshly harvested cocoa beans to the processing facility as quickly as possible, where they are given a thorough cleansing with purified water. This cleansing process is extremely important to preventing microbial contamination, ensuring a safe and clean product.

• We practice fair trade purchasing; our Peruvian partners were recently awarded Fair Trade certification.

Every order for our raw chocolate nibs or powder comes with instant access to a downloadable collection of my favorite simple and healthy recipes that call for our nibs and powder. Once you learn how to make my raw chocolate smoothie and raw chocolate truffles, you may be able to give a big Hershey's kiss good bye to conventional chocolate milk shakes and candy bars. To access this special collection of raw chocolate recipes, once you have paid for your order, go to our shopping cart, click on View Account, sign into your account, and click on Your Downloads.

Raw & Organic Chocolate (Cacao) Nibs 16 oz. (1 pound) pouch List Price: $19.95 USD Limited Time Sale Price: $16.95 USD (plus S&H) Order 3 or more and save an additional 10 percent.

Raw & Organic Chocolate (Cacao) Powder 16 oz. (1 pound) pouch List Price: $19.95 USD Limited Time Sale Price: $16.95 USD (plus S&H) Order 3 or more and save an additional 10 percent.

If you like to eat chocolate, then I recommend our raw chocolate nibs. If you plan on blending raw chocolate into smoothies and other drinks, then I recommend our raw chocolate powder. I like to put both nibs and powder into our chocolate and chocolate peanut butter smoothies - the nibs add texture that makes the smoothies feel quite substantial as energy boosters. Most of my recipes call for both nibs and powder.

Please note that our raw chocolate nibs are fresh pieces of raw cacao beans, which means that they have a crunchy texture, much like that of coffee beans, except with a rich, chocolate flavor. Our raw chocolate nibs do not have a soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture like most conventional chocolate bars do.

To keep our raw chocolate nibs and powder as fresh as possible, I recommend keeping them in your refrigerator or a cool, dry place.

Please Note: As is the case with all of the products that we use and recommend through our web site, if you know that you can make use of our chocolate nibs or powder, I recommend that you order more than one item at a time. This is because UPS (for orders in the States) and USPS (for orders everywhere else) charge one main fee to ship any package, and then add only modest increments for each additional item. Ordering more than one item at a time will significantly reduce your per-item shipping and handling charge. This principle holds true with any combination of items that you order from our recommended products section - in other words, if you order a bottle of our super green food along with a package of our raw chocolate nibs, then you will save significant per-item shipping and handling dollars.

Of course, if you have never tried any of our products and would just like to give one of them a trial, then it makes sense to place an initial order for one item to make sure that you can make use of it.

The modest profit margins on all of our recommended health products are used to support the work that we do on our web site - we greatly appreciate your support.