What is Cacao? How Different Is It From Cocoa & Chocolate?
Cacao is excellent, not only as something to take for pleasure; it has health benefits such as lowering blood pressure, provides iron, and much more.
There’s something though. Some people confuse cacao with cocoa. Are they the same? No. Do they have a relationship? Yes. Cocoa comes from cacao, and chocolate comes from a mix of both.
What Makes Up Chocolate
Cacao is the most crucial ingredient to make chocolate. It is its very soul; to make chocolate, it is necessary to process the raw cacao seeds from the fruit, and in the best case after a very detailed and artisan crafting work, the result will get mixed with sugar, some spices, and a variety of other enhancers for flavor, texture, and even effects.
As with every processed food, the more you process, the more it gets lost, the more you refine, the more smooth and easy in the palate it can be. Yet many times, that comes at a high cost and not only in the pocket.
Milk chocolate contains between 15–40% cacao, the rest of the ingredients would be milk, sugar, vegetable fats and others.
Ceremonial cacao, on the other hand, is made from mostly cacao beans, some water, and then mixed with a little bit of natural sugar to taste.
It is always consumed in a warm liquid form out of a cup or mug, and usually has a very bitter taste to it. Different spices can be added such as chilli, cinnamon, nutmeg, or vanilla, depending on what you like. Here are 15 ways you can use cacao, amongst the many on earth.
The Health Benefits Of Cacao
The health benefits of cacao are great in number, since its nutritional content is abundant and the more it is being researched more and more is being found!
To mention a few, cacao is naturally high in iron, magnesium, and B-complex vitamins, the mineral content of chocolate corresponds exactly to the minerals that we need to fight off the effects of stress.
One of the highest mineral deficiency in people is magnesium. The number one source of Magnesium is Cacao, Copper, zinc, which are all very important for the endocrine system, detoxification and longevity.
Cacao is the highest food with iron content which is good for the blood. It also contains phosphorus and Flavonoids which help for bone density and to maintain a healthy heart and cardiovascular system. There are lots more to mention but you get the idea why Cacao is often called the greatest super food.
Cacao Ceremonies
Shamanic plant rituals are some of the oldest holistic healing practices. Cacao ceremonies are actually a kind of ritual based on these beautiful seeds from the fruit of Cacao, but they don’t have hallucinogenic effects, yet some people say it really helps them to have clear visions.
There are so many different ceremonies in existence today, some have the intention to be a journey through dance, others will focus on introspection, meditation and silence.
Cacao ceremonies often involve a group of people sitting in a circle, setting an intention, sometimes, chanting or repeating certain mantras. But there is no actual norm or specific set of rules. Many times people is invited to share thoughts and feelings after the meditation and
This often involves opening up to complete strangers in the circle, and creates a safe space where everyone’s concerns, and dreams can be shared.
Definitely Cacao in its purest form allows you to be open, first to yourself, this plant has the power to increase blood flow, to activate your heart, stimulate the mind, all of this is science facts.
In a deeper way people often say Cacao is a heart opener, that helps you to get deeper than the surface layer of our noisy minds. You don't need to be in a circle with chanting or to be at a certain event to experience it.
So many people have found so much joy in the benefits of Cacao that it has become a trend amongst many different communities and different practitioners. From ecstatic dance floors, meditation retreats, yoga, to even silent retreats.
The Benefits Of Cacao To The Environment
Most importantly, long term effects of moderate use will not only include health benefits in body and mind, but choosing wisely Cacao can be a regenerative ecological crop that can help ease some of the environmental threats we face today.
The reason for that is that cacao is a crop that needs bigger trees to grow under their shade and it can be grown as a food forest type of system. However, choosing your Cacao source is definitely a must in your list of steps on your path to a more conscious being.
Cosmic Cacao offers you one of the best truly organic, ceremonial grade, small batch and artisan crafted Cacao you can get nowadays. If you have the opportunity to taste this amazing product of nature, make sure you get some really good quality.
We work to provide you an ancestral delight that will take you on a journey of gratitude, on a personal level, sharing in community, making you feel at home wherever you are.