Chocolate cravings, we’ve all had them. Whether it’s to sate an emotion-fuelled appetite or fulfil a guilty pleasure, chocolate seems to be a unique foodstuff of which we can’t get enough.
But what if you were to discover that, providing you choose your chocolate well, there is no need to feel guilty when you take a bite?
Raw cacao is an antioxidant-packed substance that is native to the Americas – where chocolate literally grows on trees. You’ll find minerals such as magnesium, calcium and zinc inside a block of your favourite ‘healthy chocolate’. Not to mention essential B vitamins, protein and fibre.
In the western world, magnesium deficiency is estimated to affect between 70-80% of the population. Ensuring you get enough magnesium from your diet may decrease your chances of heart and blood disease, type-2 diabetes and bone disease. All that sounds like very serious reasons to be reaching for the chocolate!
How do you get your daily dose?
Cacao comes in many forms, including beans and nibs to snack on and butter and powder to be creative with. Be sure to avoid any roasted cacao, as this process destroys many of the vital vitamins and minerals found naturally in cacao.
Loving Earth is an ethically-minded, health-loving company; their raw cacao products are sourced from native Peru and blended with superfoods and other deliciousness. Their Orange & Gubinge Dark Chocolate is made with single origin Certified Raw Organic Cacao and an indigenous Australian bush plum grown in the Kimberleys.
Another heavenly orange-cacao match is the Orange & Cacao Life Bar from Emma & Tom’s. This raw baby is a no-guilt snack and ticks off one of your daily servings of fruit. Not to mention the cold-pressed orange oil will be permeating through your nostrils each bite you take.
Hot Choccy, who are proud purveyors of the raw stuff, add that little extra something to do-it-yourself hot chocolate with their seven available flavours. Order online or visit them at local markets such as the Arts Centre Market, where they froth up a storm all in the name of chocolatey health!
If you’re wondering why chocolate makes you feel amazing, that is thanks to an amino acid called tryptophan. This little guy plays an essential role in the production of serotonin, which is one of the feel-good chemicals found naturally in the body.
So do your health a favour, grab something rich in raw cacao and get those endorphins flowing!
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