Discovering the true benefits of chocolate
By Laura Bijnsdorp
Bart, a friend from Holland and I walked along the cobblestone streets of Antigua, Guatemala, taking in all the sights of colourful structures and centuries-old churches. We had been in the colonial town for a few days now and had eaten lovely vista dinners, roasted marshmallows on the base of an active volcano and danced salsa in one of the town’s many vibrant bars.
We were almost ready to leave Antigua, but we had one more important stop to make first – The Chocolate Museum. Bart and I both loved chocolate and we had heard that besides tasting chocolaty treats at the museum, one could also sign up for a chocolate-making workshop. Yum!
The Chocolate Museum was a chocolate-lovers dream. Everywhere, you saw different chocolate products on display, from chocolate bars to chocolate beauty-products to chocolate flavoured condoms. There were lots of tasters, lots of chocolate paraphernalia, information about chocolate and a restaurant with chocolate-themed dishes. We signed up for the tour and 15 minutes later, a guy with a large chef-hat introduced himself as Ronny our chocolate chef and led us to a kitchen counter that had been set up in the middle of the museum.
Ronny first told us a bit of history about chocolate, and it seemed that in these parts of Central America, this “food of the gods” had a 4,000-year history. Mesoamericans who first cultivated cacao plants found in the tropical rainforests of Central America fermented, roasted and ground the cacao beans into a paste that they mixed with water, vanilla, honey, chili peppers and other spices to brew a frothy chocolate drink.
Olmec, Aztec and Mayan civilizations, the latter of which ruled Guatemala during that time, found chocolate to be an invigorating drink, mood enhancer and aphrodisiac, which led them to believe that it possessed mystical and spiritual qualities. The Mayans worshipped a god of cacao and reserved chocolate for rulers, warriors, priests and nobles at sacred ceremonies.
When the Aztecs began to dominate Mesoamerica in the 14th century, they craved cacao beans, which could not be grown in the dry highlands of central Mexico that were the heart of their civilization. The Aztecs traded with the Mayans for cacao beans, which were so coveted that they were used as currency. (In the 1500s, Aztecs could purchase a turkey hen for 100 beans.) About a century later, chocolate would spread through Europe and eventually the world.
Ronny brought us back to present day when he asked, “What do you know about the difference between cacao and cocoa?” I thought cacao and cocoa were just two ways to say the same thing. As far as I was concerned, chocolate was chocolate. But I was wrong. The reality of cacao versus cocoa is a bit more complicated than that. While cacao and cocoa start from the same place, the way they end up (and what they go through along the way) has different effects on their nutritional benefits. Knowing the difference between the two reveals some key insights about how your favourite indulgence can affect your health.
Let’s break it down:
Cacao – the name cacao can be used when talking about the actual cacao plant or any unprocessed form of the cacao plant.
Raw cacao – When the cacao bean is not roasted before being processed; all processing occurs at low temperatures; seed retains all enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Cacao nib – The cacao seed is broken into small pieces, resulting nibs; they are unprocessed and raw.
Raw cacao powder – The cacao seed (or nibs) is cold-pressed to remove the fat (cocoa butter) and then ground into powder – processed but still raw.
Cocoa powder – Same as raw cacao powder except the cacao seed is roasted before being processed.
Cocoa butter – The naturally-occurring fat in the cacao seed; it is extracted and then remixed with cocoa powder at varying concentrations. It is also sold to other industries for use in cosmetics, etc.
Chocolate liquor – The cacao seed gets roasted and ground into a paste, not pressed, then it’s melted. When cooled, this is considered unsweetened baking chocolate. No cocoa butter is extracted. This is not the same thing as chocolate liqueur.
The process for making chocolate is fairly simple: Heat cacao beans, grind into a liqueur, add fat and sweeten. However, subtle alterations at any of these stages can result in wildly different chocolate bars.
So, again, what is the difference between cocoa and cacao?
Cocoa is processed cacao that has been roasted at high temperatures. Cacao is made by cold-pressing un-roasted cacao beans. The process of making cacao is minimal and preserves all the antioxidants, while roasting at high temperatures decreases them in cocoa. So you can use both cacao or cocoa to make your chocolate but raw cacao powder is better.
As research today shows, chocolate is known to have a lot of benefits including a tremendous antioxidant potential.
Some of the healthy benefits of chocolate include:
- It’s good for the heart and circulation
- It reduces risk of stroke
- It’s good for your skin
- Chocolate makes you feel better
- It’s good for cognition
- It’s high in minerals
- It has anti-inflammatory properties
As cacao has the most benefits, this also means that the darker the chocolate, the better. Eat only less-processed chocolate that contains at least 65 percent cacao. Not only does dark chocolate have a higher concentration of antioxidants than milk chocolate, but milk chocolate is also higher in added sugar and unhealthy fats.
It is also important to know the brand of chocolate you are buying. Most popular brands, such as Hershey’s are very tasty but unfortunately not the best choice. Like other industrial chocolate makers, for the most part, their products aren’t really chocolate. During their manufacturing process, just very little cocoa butter (which has good health benefits) is mixed with other vegetable oils. This is a cheaper way of producing chocolate, but the problem is that the final product is something other than “real chocolate.” Most of them also contain a lot of sugar or high fructose corn syrup and use soy lecithin as an emulsifier.
Although I am very happy that recent studies are out to prove that chocolate can be beneficial, as with any sweet treat, remember that moderation is key. Some dark chocolates contain more sugar and fat than others. Read the labels to ensure just what your dark chocolate contains and strive to not exceed one ounce per day.
After our chocolate-education, Bart and I each walked away with a bag of self-made chocolates. Moderation was not on our minds that day, and before we reached the hotel, most of them were gone. Yum! Chocolate!
