What is cacao?
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- The Forastero, the most widespread, accounts for 80% of the world’s production, mainly from Africa, produces bitter beans with acidic notes and has a very high yield. {{{TEMP_MARK_53}}}
The first traces of cacao use are found in southern Ecuador and northern Peru, around 3500 BC under the Mayo-Chinchipe civilization. It was later cultivated in Mesoamerica. Its name itself is derived from cacahuatl, referring to the cacao beans in Aztec, the great empire known for its medicinal consumption of cacao, particularly in the form of a spiced drink. “A bitter beverage” according to the Spanish colonists, who swiftly began to spread it across Europe!
From cacao to chocolate
Before obtaining “commercial cacao” and then chocolate, different stages occur: harvesting of the pods, shelling (extraction of the beans), fermentation in banana leaves, sun-drying. The beans obtained are still considered as raw cacao (although for some purists, it should not even be fermented!).
Next come roasting between 120 and 140°C and then crushing, which makes it possible to obtain cacao paste. This paste is then pressed in hydraulic presses and filtered, to obtain on the one hand a liquid, cacao butter, intended for the production of chocolate, and on the other hand a solid, the cake, which will give cacao powder.
Dark chocolate consists of cacao paste, cacao butter, and sugar. It is recommended to consume dark chocolate with a minimum of 70%, meaning it contains 70% cacao and cacao butter and 30% sugar. Milk and white chocolates are very poor nutritionally and far too sweet. France is the leading consumer of dark chocolate!
Read also The day we harvested cacao in the Amazon!
During their roasting, the antioxidant content of the beans significantly decreases. Dark chocolate and cacao powder, while still beneficial, are less advantageous than raw beans. Their impact on our body varies depending on their manufacturing processes, origin, and bean quality.
Consuming raw cacao beans, rich in polyphenols, is the best way to benefit from its remarkable properties.
Savored for millennia, the beans, beyond their aromatic and indulgent aspect when transformed, have great nutritional qualities and numerous benefits.
Rich in magnesium, which promotes good mood, and in flavonoids, powerful antioxidants, they are also particularly stimulating due to their high theobromine content, an equivalent to caffeine.
The richer a cacao is in polyphenols, the better it is for our health, but this content is not specified when buying beans, chocolate, or cacao powder.
The numerous benefits attributed to cacao, real good news for foodies like us, are now confirmed by scientific studies. Its nutritional richness and its antioxidant compounds, particularly flavonoids, are at the origin of most of its properties. Currently, Harvard University is conducting a massive study on 18,000 people to explore all its virtues, here are the main ones.
- Vitamins: B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, E, K
- Proteins: 8 essential amino acids (including tryptophan)
- Theobromine, caffeine
- Minerals and trace elements: magnesium, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, selenium
- Antioxidants: polyphenols (ferulic acid, flavonoids…)
The benefits of cocoa
⚡️Stimulating and euphoric, boosts concentration and memory
Cocoa contains theobromine and caffeine, two stimulants that reduce fatigue and help to increase concentration and memory. Theobromine is milder than caffeine and acts more over time. It also triggers the release of adrenaline, an euphoric molecule.
Moreover, its flavonoids contribute to improving brain functions and protecting the brain. They are also responsible for the production of nitric oxide, which improves blood flow to the brain.
{{{TEMP_MARK_30}}}Also read Theobromine, the gentle stimulant of cocoa
🥝 Source of antioxidants
Cocoa beans are one of the most antioxidant-rich foods. They contain significant amounts of polyphenols, these pigments that color plants, including flavonoids (notably catechin and epicatechin), excellent antioxidants. They are also rich in vitamin E, known for its antioxidant activity.
{{{TEMP_MARK_73}}}This study from The Hershey Center for Health & Nutrition (funded by the chocolate manufacturer Hershey) demonstrated that raw cocoa contains more antioxidants than any other tested fruits, including blueberries and acai berries.
🧘🏻♀️ Antidepressant and promotes well-being
Cocoa is a natural antidepressant and is good for morale for several reasons. This information and the idea of eating chocolate already brings happiness to some!
The beans contain serotonin, the hormone associated with well-being. And also tryptophan, an essential amino acid, the neurotransmitter that allows our body to produce serotonin. Lastly, its high magnesium content helps reduce stress.
This systematic review highlighted cocoa’s ability to improve mood.
This study from the University of Tübingen in Germany shows that cocoa improves satisfaction and calm.
{{{TEMP_MARK_23}}}❤️ Protects from cardiovascular diseases
{{{TEMP_MARK_39}}}It also helps to reduce bad cholesterol levels, which decreases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
{{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}}}} {{{TEMP_MARK_31}}}☁️ Reduces Blood Pressure
Cocoa is also an ally for reducing blood pressure. As we’ve seen, the flavonoids it contains promote the production of nitric oxide, which acts directly on the vessels and arteries, reducing blood pressure.
This study from the University Hospital of Cologne shows that the consumption of dark chocolate improves blood pressure.
🏃♂️ Aids in Weight Loss
{{{TEMP_MARK_35}}}Since it is particularly nutritious, cocoa provides us with energy, reduces appetite, and increases the feeling of satiety.
As we’ve seen, it contributes to our general well-being, and this could be one of the reasons for its ability to aid in weight loss.
This study published in the International Archives of Medicine, conducted on subjects following a low-carb (low carbohydrate) diet, showed that those who consumed 42g per day of 81% dark chocolate lost more weight and faster than others.
🔬 Potentially Anti-Cancer
Cocoa is the food with the highest flavonoid content, and these help to prevent cancer occurrence.
It may limit the damage to cells caused by toxic molecules and prevent the occurrence and development of cancer cells.
This study from the Institute of Food Science and Technology and Nutrition in Madrid highlights that cocoa rich in polyphenols limits inflammation, tumor growth, and metastases.
Expert Opinion
With more than 1,800 thousand tonnes consumed in 2018, Europe is the world’s largest consumer of cocoa. In its raw form, as powder or transformed into chocolate of all kinds, cocoa is present in every household.
💡A very rich food: Cocoa, especially in its raw form, contains numerous nutrients. Even consumed in limited quantities (equivalent to two squares of dark chocolate per day), the magnesium intake is significant for stress regulation and prevention of muscle cramps. However, be careful not to overconsume: cocoa is largely made of fats; therefore, it is very ‘rich,’ both in nutrients and calories!
💡Cocoa or chocolate: To appreciate the bitterness of cocoa, one must take the time to get used to it, whereas the craving for the sweet taste of chocolate comes much more easily. Chocolates, apart from dark chocolates containing more than 70% cocoa, are rarely interesting from a nutritional point of view and should therefore be consumed occasionally.
💡Sourcing: Many cocoa plantations around the world have been called out for their unethical production methods: deforestation, forced labor, even child labor, poor remuneration for small producers, etc. Our consumer choices can encourage better practices: prioritize products with quality labels (organic, fair trade, etc.), and avoid low-cost, poor-quality products to benefit both humans and the planet.
Perrine Bellanger – Dietitian Nutritionist
How to Consume Cocoa?
Raw Cocoa
Also read Raw cacao, a concentrate of good mood
Cocoa powder and raw cocoa powder
Ordinary cocoa powder is obtained from the cake, the pressed cocoa paste made from roasted beans.
But there is also and increasingly more raw cocoa powder, made from unroasted beans. It will be much less sweet than industrial cocoas, more aromatic and more beneficial.
It is prepared like ordinary cocoa powder, with cow’s milk or plant-based milk, or it can be added to homemade energy drinks.
Also read From bean to bar: raw chocolate in Brooklyn
{{{TEMP_MARK_33}}}Also read All about raw chocolate
Sustainable consumption: favor organic and fair-trade cocoa and chocolate
✓ Of course, we recommend consuming organic cocoa and chocolate made from it, to best benefit from its virtues. There are a large number of small organic cocoa producers around the world, often grouped into cooperatives. Favoring beans and chocolate certified organic allows you to consume a quality food, untreated, without pesticides and GMOs. Finally, organic cocoa is finer and more flavorful, which is essential especially when raw beans are consumed.
✓ Beyond these aspects specific to consumption, favoring organic products also contributes to a better preservation of the environment, especially since cocoa is grown in threatened areas and subject to deforestation such as the Amazon or the tropical forests of West Africa. Not to mention that the use of pesticides is harmful to farmers.
✓ The economic interest in cocoa beans regularly takes precedence over any legal considerations, ecologically speaking, with tropical forests devastated, and humanly speaking, with very difficult working conditions and child labor exploitation. According to a recent report by the American NGO Mighty Earth, no less than 30% of Ivorian production would thus be illegal. Thus, we favor fair-trade certified channels, with as few intermediaries as possible.
✓ The ideal is to favor organic cocoa from agroforestry plantations, a cultivation method respectful of the environment, which allows optimizing interactions within the same ecosystem. For example, some trees will provide shade or produce nitrogen, others will host insect predators likely to harm the plantation…
Dosage
{{{TEMP_MARK_38}}}Raw cocoa: 2 to 4 beans in the morning, up to 8 for a stimulating effect
Raw cocoa powder: 2 teaspoons per day
70% dark chocolate and more: 2 to 3 squares per day
Contraindications and side effects
At the recommended doses, there are no major contraindications or side effects of cocoa on our body, unlike ordinary chocolate, which can lead to weight gain and gastrointestinal disorders.
However, it is particularly toxic to certain animals such as dogs, which cannot tolerate theobromine.
History and current culture
{{{TEMP_MARK_3}}}Then evidence was found of cacao cultivation in Mesoamerica, notably under the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec civilizations, who used it as a currency. It was also a staple of daily, ritual, and honorific diets. They prepared a drink based on roasted and crushed beans with spices, particularly bitter. They regarded cacao, cacahuatl, as a gift from the gods, hence its later classification Theobroma cacao, “food of the gods”.
Europe industrializes its production
In the 16th century, Spanish conquistadors shared the Aztecs’ taste for cacao and transformed their original drink by removing the spices and adding sugar. From then on, cacao was exported to Europe and spread among different courts and elites, notably those of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. It was enriched with milk to soften it, and it soon became confectionery and pastries.
Cacao production began to industrialize. At that time, Venezuela was the main producer of cacao. Chocolate consumption was still expanding, and to meet the demand, South American forastero plants were imported into Africa. To São Tomé and Príncipe, then to Nigeria and Ghana.
{{{TEMP_MARK_63}}}In the 20th and 21st centuries, the leader of cacao emerged as West Africa, notably Côte d’Ivoire, which today represents 40% of the global supply. Even though there are small producers aiming for quality cultivation, the majority of its production is disastrous for the environment and human rights, primarily fueling large industrial chocolate manufacturers (Hershey’s, Mars, …).
A recent article from Le Monde highlighted the ravages of intensive cacao farming, particularly in the world’s top two producers, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. Child labor, forced labor, and deforestation are commonplace. It’s worth repeating: always check the source before buying!
Also read Cacao culture and global market, between gastronomy and political tensions
Detailed Nutritional Values
This data was synthesized and verified for Darwin Nutrition by Laure Fourchaud, Doctor in Nutritional Physiology.
| Cacao | {{{TEMP_MARK_1{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}}}} | %DV* | /5g (1 tsp) | {{{TEMP_MARK_1{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}}}} |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_134}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}4}}} | 11.4 | 11.4 | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}1}}} |
| Fiber (g) | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}2}}} | 110.6 | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}3}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}5}}} |
| Water (g) | 3 | — | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}4}}} | — |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_113}}} | ||||
| {{{TEMP_MARK_138}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}5}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}6}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}7}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}8}}} |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_139}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}9}}} | 22.26 | 2.89 | 1.11 |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_135}}} | 1.75 | {{{TEMP_MARK_173}}} | 0.08 | 0.09 |
| Fats (g) | 13.7 | 19.57 | 0.68 | 0.97 |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_1{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}}}} | ||||
| Calcium (mg) | {{{TEMP_MARK_2{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_230}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}7}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}8}}} |
| Iron (mg) | {{{TEMP_MARK_153}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_231}}} | 0.69 | 4.95 |
| Copper (mg) | {{{TEMP_MARK_2{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}}}} | 380 | 0.19 | {{{TEMP_MARK_232}}} |
| Magnesium (mg) | {{{TEMP_MARK_2{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}}}} | 133 | 24.95 | 6.65 |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_130}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_183}}} | 191.5 | 0.19 | 9.57 |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_136}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_223}}} | 104.85 | 36.7 | 5.24 |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_137}}} | 1524 | 76.2 | 76.2 | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}1}}} |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_143}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_233}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}2}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}3}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}4}}} |
| Salt (g) | — | — | — | — |
| Zinc (mg) | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}5}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}6}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}7}}} | 3.4 |
| Vitamins | ||||
| {{{TEMP_MARK_131}}} | — | — | — | — |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_132}}} | — | — | — | — |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_133}}} | — | — | — | — |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_123}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_232}}}8}}} | {{{TEMP_MARK_1{{{TEMP_MARK_231}}}}}} | 0.003 | 0.32 |
| Vitamin B2 (mg) | 0.24 | 17.14 | 0.01 | {{{TEMP_MARK_203}}} |
| Vitamin B3 (mg) | — | — | — | — |
| Vitamin B5 (mg) | 0.25 | 4.16 | 0.012 | 0.21 |
| Vitamin B6 (mg) | 0.12 | 8.57 | 0.01 | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}0}}} |
| Vitamin B9 or folate (µg) | 32 | {{{TEMP_MARK_230}}} | 1.6 | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}8}}} |
| {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_2{{{TEMP_MARK_230}}}}}}}}} | 2.5 | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}1}}} | 0.12 | {{{TEMP_MARK_{{{TEMP_MARK_233}}}3}}} |
*%AR: % Reference intake for an adult
Other antioxidant compounds: catechins and proanthocyanidins
Other compounds: caffeine (230 mg) and theobromine (2057 mg)
Sources and Scientific Studies
Farzaneh A Sorond, Lewis A Lipsitz, Norman K Hollenberg, and Naomi DL Fisher, 2008. Cerebral blood flow response to flavanol-rich cocoa in healthy elderly humans.
Stephen J Crozier, Amy G Preston, Jeffrey W Hurst, Mark J Payne, Julie Mann, Larry Hainly & Debra L Miller, 2011. Cacao seeds are a “Super Fruit”: A comparative analysis of various fruit powders and products.
Scholey A, Owen L, 2013. Effects of chocolate on cognitive function and mood: a systematic review.
Sokolov AN, Pavlova MA, Klosterhalfen S, Enck P, 2013. Chocolate and the brain: neurobiological impact of cocoa flavanols on cognition and behavior.
Strandberg TE, Strandberg AY, Pitkälä K, Salomaa VV, Tilvis RS, Miettinen TA, 2008. Chocolate, well-being and health among elderly men.
Kwok CS, Boekholdt SM, Lentjes MA, Loke YK, Luben RN, Yeong JK, Wareham NJ, Myint PK, Khaw KT, 2015. Chocolate consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease among healthy men and women.
Mostofsky E, Levitan EB, Wolk A, Mittleman MA, 2010. Chocolate intake and incidence of heart failure: a population-based prospective study of middle-aged and elderly women.
Taubert D, Roesen R, Lehmann C, Jung N, Schömig E, 2007. Effects of low habitual cocoa intake on blood pressure and bioactive nitric oxide: a randomized controlled trial.
Johannes Bohannon, Diana Koch, Peter Homm, Alexander Driehaus, 2015. Chocolate with high Cocoa content as a weight-loss accelerator.
Martin MA, Goya L, Ramos S, 2013. Potential for preventive effects of cocoa and cocoa polyphenols in cancer.
