Chocolate Medicine

Wait, what?!?!  Chocolate as medicine?  You read that right.  We aren’t talking about a Hershey’s bar or other cheap chocolate.  Those varieties have some medicinal properties, which we will discuss below, but not very much.  The Dutch processing method inactivates several components; milk binds up most remaining, and the sugar and emulsifiers take care of most of what’s left.  

What we are talking about is dark chocolate or, even better, raw cacao nibs.  Theobroma cacao is the Latin name for chocolate, and the first part translates as the food of the gods.  

"Frutos del Cacao [Cocoa Fruit] (Theobroma cacao)" by barloventomagico is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

History of Chocolate and Important Implications for Today:

Chocolate is the fruit of trees that originated in the forests of Venezuela, and there is evidence of the cacao beans being used by humans as early as 2000 BCE.  Chocolate became so prized amongst the Maya and Aztecs that it was used as a preferred currency, even to pay taxes! (2)

The earliest uses of chocolate were to grind the sun-dried beans and mix them with water, cinnamon, and pepper to create a bitter, stimulating drink.  The addition of sugar, vanilla, and milk didn’t begin until after it was brought to Spain in 1528 by the Spanish Conquistador Hernan Cortez. (2)

Now, chocolate has spread worldwide and grown in many equatorial countries.  Chocolate is the subject of art, poetry, movies, and artistic candy-making.  But with every commercial commodity, there is a dark side to the story of chocolate - child trafficking and slave labor, destruction of ecosystems, and general exploitation.  This isn’t a story of our past; it continues today.  The US Supreme Court recently heard arguments from former child slaves in their lawsuit against Nestle USA and Cargile, two of the largest chocolate importers in the world.  

To ensure your chocolate is slave labor-free, you can purchase from small brands that go out of their way to pay farmers higher wages in exchange for more oversight of their practices to guarantee their chocolate is slave-free.  The second best way to purchase chocolate is to ensure it bears the Fair Trade label; the oversight isn’t as strong with this label, but it is a step in the right direction.

"Cacao Colombia" by CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Chocolate Energetics and Actions: 

Chocolate is cooling, bitter, and drying.  This stimulates the secretion of digestive enzymes and tones tissues.  The drying effect comes from the high concentration of polyphenols (a subclass of flavonoids). 

Chocolate exhibits the following actions: 

• Cardioprotective

• Neuroprotective

• Inflammation modulator

• Stimulating nervine - increasing energy

• Mood enhancer

• Blood pressure lowering

• Increases sensitivity to insulin

• Balances cholesterol (increases HDL)

• Supports brain health

• Antioxidant with a score over 55,000 on the ORAC Scale (Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity)

"Cacao" by edhi is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Medicinal Effects of Chocolate: 

Chocolate has psychoactive and pleasurable effects.  This bean stimulates the production of several neurotransmitters: 

• dopamine (pleasure)

• serotonin (mood enhancer)

• Phenylethylamine (mood and pleasure stimulant)

• anandamide (endocannabinoid)

Chocolate also contains the methylxanthine stimulants and mood enhancers caffeine and theobromine. (1)  

This all translates into increased energy and euphoria; while this state would be exhausting at all times, there are times when a little euphoria goes a long way!

Beyond giving you a pep to your step and a bit of vivaciousness between the sheets, chocolate has other health benefits.

Chocolate exhibits its most potent effects on the nervous and cardiovascular systems.  The antioxidant effect seems to be most pronounced in the brain and heart.  Not only is it full of antioxidants, but the flavonoids in chocolate help increase the strength and integrity of tissues and have been shown to increase nitric oxide levels, which opens blood vessels, increasing circulation and reducing blood pressure. 

Not only does chocolate contain polyphenols and methylxanthines, but it is also high in many different minerals, most notably magnesium. Chocolate cravings may be associated with magnesium deficiency, but with all the other benefits and incredible flavor, there are many reasons to crave chocolate.

Cocoa butter, the fat that is removed from cocoa powder production, is also rich in healing constituents.  While it lacks flavonoids and doesn’t have the same mood-boosting effect, cocoa butter is full of healthy fats and caffeine that feed our skin.  This is why so many beauty products promote their use of cocoa and why I include cocoa butter in my herbal skin care creations.  Dry, flakey skin seems to be no match for cocoa butter!

Cocoa butter’s beneficial effects on the skin may explain why cheaper chocolates remove the natural cacao fats and replace them with palm oil, coconut oil, butter, and other fats.  The processing that separates the cocoa powder from the butter also necessitates the addition of an emulsifier like soy lecithin to keep the cocoa and fat blended smoothly together.

A great alternative is to work with raw or roasted cacao nibs and add sweetness as desired.  If you don’t have cacao nibs, you can work to re-blend cocoa powder with cocoa butter as we will with the following hot chocolate recipe.

"2015-03-01 - Kazu Cacao Nibs - 0002 [flickr]" by smiteme is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Herbal Hot Chocolate Recipe with Cinnamon and Cardamom

As I have been transitioning into whole foods only this year, I’ve been hard-pressed to find a vegan hot chocolate recipe that doesn’t include copious amounts of sugar and tastes good.  I wanted to incorporate stevia leaves as the sweetener and add cinnamon and cardamom for their medicinal effects.  I haven’t had cacao nibs on hand, so I’ve been working with cocoa powder and difficulty getting it creamy enough for my liking.  When researching this article, an actual ah-ha moment came: blend in some cocoa butter.  I did, I loved it, and here is my final recipe: 

Ingredients: 

• 1 Tbsp Cocoa powder 

• 1 tsp Stevia/Cardamom/Cinnamon blend (see recipe below) - adjust to your taste preferences

• 1-2 wafer(s) Cocoa butter adjust to your preferred level of creaminess

• 1 ¼ cup Hemp milk (see recipe below)

Directions: 

1. Mix up stevia/cardamom/cinnamon powder. I made 4 Tbsp and stored the blend in my freezer.

   1. 1 part ground stevia leaves

   2. 2 parts ground cinnamon

   3. 1 part ground cardamom

2. Blend your hemp milk and pour it into a jar to save.

   1. ½ cup hemp hearts

   2. 2-3 cups warm water (choose your desired consistency)

3. On your stovetop, whisk together all ingredients until well incorporated

4. If a frothy consistency is desired, pour it into a blender and blend it for 30 seconds, adding air that will get trapped in the cocoa butter. 

5. Enjoy!

Note: if you are sensitive to stimulants, take care with this recipe and avoid drinking in the afternoon. 

"Hot Chocolate" by Erick Houli is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I hope you have learned a few new things and have a new respect for this food of the gods!

To our health!

References: 

1. Verna R. The history and science of chocolate. Malays J Pathol. 2013 Dec;35(2):111-21. PMID: 24362474.

2. De La Foret, R, Alchemy of Herbs: Transform everyday ingredients into foods & remedies that heal Hay House, 2017

3. NORC, Assessing Progress in Reducing Child Labor in Cocoa Growing Areas of Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, October 2020, https://www.norc.org/PDFs/Cocoa%20Report/NORC%202020%20Cocoa%20Report_English.pdf

4. Whorskery, P, Supreme Court hears child-slavery case against Nestle USA, Cargill, Washington Post, 12-1-2020 https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/01/cocoa-supreme-court-child-labor/

5. USDA Database for the Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC) of Selected Foods, Release 2 May, 2010 http://www.orac-info-portal.de/download/ORAC_R2.pdf

6. James, Julie, Facebook Live: Cacao Meditation https://www.facebook.com/GreenWisdomLongBeach/videos/10155717045234821