Cacao... Healthy or unhealthy ...

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Permalink Reply by Travis on July 23, 2009 at 1:36am

articles showing the truth about cacao? hmmm i think the truth is always a matter of opinion. david wolfe will tell you cacao is a superfood. yes it is high in alot of minerals and antioxidants but david wolfe never mentions that caffeine is a component of chocolate. i know alot of people who've had terrible experiences with cacao and some say there's has been positive. personally i don't like the effects i feel when i have cacao on a daily basis. it definitely wears out my adrenals. kevin gianni has written some interesting stuff on it, for him it actually decreased his magnesium levels and the only food he could isolate that was giving him troubles was cacao. also at a talk i went to recently by fred bisci, he said that there is a compound in chocolate called something or other, sorry for being extremely vague there but it is very addictive and drug like. he said he tried some raw chocolate and felt sick and vomited it up yet knows other people who do fine on it.

i don't mind a SMALL amount of cacao every now and then but only as a treat. i think the best advice is if you notice any negative effects from cacao consumption discontinue using it.

hope this helps!

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Permalink Reply by CheL on July 23, 2009 at 3:16am

ever eat it all by itself without any sweeteners?
not so tasty-most folks at least mix it with bee pollen or gogi's to sweeten it up a little closer to hersheys.

i don't think it's food. (for us, anyway)

raw guts are loaded with enzymes!
good dirt has loads of minerals!
not food for us, food for wolves and worms, ya dig?

also, when i did eat it, it gave me weird rashes...

as for the high, a true high (without a crash) comes from getting out of the way of your own body, letting it flow with water-rich juicy organic ripe raw fruits...
all the other stuff is just a burden for your body to process before it can get back to flowing.


hope this helps :)
peace and love, love.

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Permalink Reply by Josh Fossgreen on July 23, 2009 at 2:22pm

I second the bad-taste sentiment; If you wouldn't eat it plain, why on earth would you eat it? Healthy food appeals to all our senses, taste included.

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on July 23, 2009 at 2:25pm

the thing is...it depends on who you are, what you eat and what you want...Personally, when I was 100% raw, it was too much for me and I couldn't deal with it, it made me feel not so good. Now I am not so strict it feels great. Everyone who tries it seems to have a different opinion about it, and because it is something a lot of people believe they can use to make a living out of raw food, by selling it and products made from it, they do seem to defend it quite vehemently.
I would say that like most things it is down to you to listen to your body, experiment with it, and alter your intake according to how you feel.
One other thing is that it is doubtful whether it is truly raw, even when marketed as such. This is because it is left in piles to ferment as part of the process and these piles reach way high temps, it is also machine dried, so although it is less processed than cadbury's it still has been subject to processing. Alot of people will say and I agree, that the less processing your food has undergone the better, but then again, it is quite skillful to be flexible and not so rigid about things like this and to play, experiment and get to know yourself in the process.

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Permalink Reply by Chicory on July 23, 2009 at 3:26pm

not sure... it feels like gravel in my intestines though..... blech! once in a while should be okay.... not every day though

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Permalink Reply by Aric Strong on July 23, 2009 at 4:38pm

I can honestly say that I've been a pretty insane cacao addict at one point. I was even beginning to behave like an addict, with all the denial, irrational behavior and relationship conflict one could expect.

When I eat lots of fresh ripe fruit and lots of green leaves, my cacao cravings vanish. I completely forget that it even exists. I still have some left in the cupboard, I'm going to use it for special occasion, thats it.

I also find that cacao can help you lose weight to a point, but then it will keep extra pudge on you.

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Permalink Reply by Robert on July 23, 2009 at 5:38pm

I've ingested cacao many times with no problems. Not too long ago, however, I had a BAD reaction to a cacao shake I drank early one morning on an empty stomach (cold sweat, heart racing for hours, vomiting) and ended up bed ridden for most of the day. I've had small amounts since, but I've learned my lesson and never again will I take a dose larger than 1 Tbsp at any one time.

Also, I've found that the 'high' and 'energy' that I get from Cacao is more of a stimulation, and not a natural flowing of energy that I get when eating 100% raw for an extended period.

I think cacao is likely to be at least somewhat beneficial in small quantities, but only in moderation.

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Permalink Reply by Lockheart on July 23, 2009 at 11:06pm

I personally have not had any problems with cacao and I've been eating it frequently since November of last year. I don't eat it every single day, maybe once every 3 days. I don't get the rashes or crashes some talk about, sometimes it gets me wired but in a good way. I'm sure it's just like anything else, if you overeat you can become allergic... some people are more sensitive than others.

P.S. David Wolfe is a chocolate salesman so of course he's gonna say it's the best thing ever.

P.P.S. David Wolfe entertains the hell out of me and I think he's awesome so my previous statement was not supposed to be a negative one... just a simple fact!

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