It's to Live For!

It's a great snack that kids love, women desire and men search to find the best of. It's been known to help with depression, is good for your heart, brain, skin, and has even been used as an aphrodisiac. It contains antioxidants that lower your blood pressure, improve circulation and your digestion. It's simply irresistible. What is it? You guessed it: Chocolate, of course!

So what could make this yummy treat even, ..well, yummier? And not only that, but healthier as well? By making it *raw* chocolate! That's right, raw chocolate. Perhaps you've heard of the raw food movement, or superfoods, or maybe you're even a raw foodie yourself! If the latter, then I'm sure you're smiling by now, because you know the amazing power of this delicacy! If not, then be sure to read up on those links and find out ~ I'll probably be covering a lot of road on raw foods here ;)

So what's raw chocolate got that Hershey's ain't got? Well, in a nutshell: It's good for you! I know, I know... "But didn't you just say that chocolate was already good for you?" Well, yes... and Hershey's doesn't contain just the raw chocolate (AKA 'cacao', pronounced 'ka-kow'), either. They (and most other chocolate brands) contain many added ingredients and cook their chocolate, making it other than best ever.

So if Godiva can help bring you out of the blues, one must ask: What can the REAL, raw, unprocessed and natural thing do?? For this I can only answer: WOW. You *must* try and see for yourself! =D I've seen and heard so many people in such ecstatic states of bliss, simply from raw chocolate, you'd *have* to experience it for yourself to believe it! (I have!!)

Not only that, but this is seriously so good for you, you can eat it all day, every day and be in far better health than you ever had been! How awesome is that?? And better yet, you get to tell your kids, "YES!" Yes, you can have chocolate, yes you can eat it for breakfast, yes, yes yes!

"But chocolate is candy! It doesn't have any vitamins or minerals!" I hear what you're saying and my answer is "It might!" If you're eating a [Insert Your Favorite Brand Here] bar, then no, it probably doesn't have many; and yes, it is a candy. Please eat these in very limited quantities, if at all. However, raw cacao is certainly not candy, which is a concept it even took me a while to get past. Raw cacao is a food. Not a snack, a candy, junk food, dessert, etc. It's an actual food. Like a vegetable. (Except it's not, it's actually a nut.)

In fact, it contains lots of vitamins and minerals: magnesium, copper, iron, phosphorus, calcium, anandamide, phenylethylamine, arginine, polyphenols, epicatechins, potassium, procyanidins, flavanols, vitamins A, B, C, D, and E.

It has: alanine, alkaloids, alpha-sitosterol, alpha-theosterol, amylase, ascorbic-acid, ascorbic-acid-oxidase, aspariginase, beta-carotene, dopamine, fructose, glucose, glutamic-acid, leucine, linoleic-acid, lipase, lysine, niacin, peroxidase, phenylacetic-acid, phenylalanine, phosphorus, riboflavin, rutin, tannins, theobromine, thiamin.

And if you can even pronounce all (or any!) of those, then you win 10 Crunchy Bonus Points ;) In fact, research has shown that there are over 300 chemically identifiable compounds in cacao beans, making it one of the most complex superfoods on planet Earth!

Still not sold? (And as an interesting side note here, Cacao beans were even used as currency in some civilizations!) That's ok, it took me a while to get it as well, and I had to do my research first. I encourage you to do the same, and here are some references I found to start you on your way:

Wiki
Ulimana
Natural News
Archives of Internal Medicine (Note: this article doesn't specify, so I'm pretty sure they're using cooked cocoa, not raw cacao. However, I still thought it was interesting, and helps you understand the power of cacao, even in it's cooked form!)

And here's a recipe I know you and your family will enjoy!

Raw Chocolate

Ingredients:

1 cup Raw Cacao Powder
3/4 cup Raw Cacao Butter
1/2 cup Raw Agave Nectar
2 Tablespoons Tocotrienols

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together. If you can keep everyone from digging in right away (good luck!), pour the mixture into molds, or (as in the picture) paper cupcake cups, and place in the fridge or freezer for an hour or so.

Variations:

You can add in whatever you like! In the picture, we added on top some raw cashews, goji berries, and dusted some with Tocotrienols. You can choose to add in maca, pecans, walnuts, etc., vanilla, peppermint, you name it!

Enjoy!! <3