Chocoholics alert! This is a must read for all chocolate lovers, health enthusiasts, anti-aging warriors and beauty fanatics!

All chocolate bars, candies, nougats and other derivatives are made from the super-power almighty cacao bean, which are harvested from inside the cacao fruit. Yes, chocolate grows on trees!

If you have noticed how chocolate balances your hormones, appetites and moods (perfect for that after-break-up-cheer-me-up!), you are not alone, and you are very close to the divine truth.

The cacao, is what I would call a SUPER SUPER food - the ancient tribes used it as a sacred offering, some pray to it, some use it in concocting medicines for healing various diseases, others use it as a secret beauty trick.

There is not only something special in the cacao bean; but MANY special properties which enable it to have healing, rejuvenating, anti-aging, immune-boosting, hormone-balancing, slimming, beautifying and strengthening impacts on a person after consumption.

1) Hundreds of Chemicals for Health

Besides a truckload of beneficial nutrients for health, cacao is especially high in magnesium, sulfuriron, chromium, tryphtophan and anti-oxidants. Each of these are indispensable in the pursuit of health, longevity and lasting youth.

2) Incredible Minerals for Beauty

The top beauty mineral contained in abundance is Sulfur - which gives beautiful hair, strong nails, young and radiant skin. On top of it all, it makes the liver and pancreas function optimally. No wonder the Mayans worshiped it!

3) MAO Inhibitors

This stands for Monoamine Oxidase Enzyme Inhibitors. Studies have shown that these MAO inhibitors which are present in Cacao beans helps to diminish and control appetite and cravings. The famous Dr Gabriel Cousens has also confirmed that MAO inhibitors encourage anti-aging effects and rejuvenation in an experiment conducted in 2008.

4) Contains PEA and Anandamide

PEA stands for Phenylethylamine - which is the chemical we produce when we are in love. When you eat cacao, you become constantly in love! Remember how we become all charged up, feeling nice and romantic whenever we fall in love? Imagine all the rosy cheeks, radiant skin and shining eyes, youthful looks constantly for the rest of your lives regardless of whether you are single or not!

Anandamide is a blissful chemical produced naturally by our bodies when we are feeling happy and great. Cacao enzyme inhibitors keeps this chemical in our body around longer, while adding onto it its own natural reserve of Anandamide. When a person feels blissful and happy, he does more good, makes more peace, shares more love. No wonder the ancients say cacao is a spiritual food!

(And do you know that the Sanskrit word for Bliss is “Ananda”? It was an interesting finding for me when I saw this; seems like the ancient Indian ascetic masters knew quite a few things about all these age-reversing and youth-boosting advantages too!)

5) Boost metabolism, increase fitness stamina, and aids natural weight loss

Try it on yourself! Raw cacao speeds up the body’s natural metabolism, and makes you burn fat even while resting. And when you take it before exercise, you can literally feel the energy swoon to the sky!

Having said that, it is important to note that only raw cacao has this benefit. The conventional roasted and processed chocolate products piles on more fat than it helps to burn because of the sugar, milk and hydrogenated fats.

Some important pointers to look out for while consuming cacao:

1) Only go for Raw Cacao

The conventional chocolate products have been roasted, cooked, processed and modified to be very far away from what Nature intended for us to consume.

First of all, cacao has what we call theobramine (same family with caffeine, but different substances and has effects). This is also what perks us up when we eat cacao. Studies conducted have shown that raw and roasted theobramine has very different results on the body!

Experiments conducted on myself presented the same facts. I feel the greatest on raw cacao. There is an unmistakable feeling of “congestion” even if I were to eat the purest, finest quality, natural almost 100% dark chocolate bar. The ingredients in this commercially sold chocolate bar is only cacao butter, cacao powder, and nemera sugar (a kind of natural pure sugar). Almost, I would say, raw. But of course, we all know that it was roasted.

2) Go for pure and natural dark chocolate if Raw Cacao is not available to you

Have you noticed that there are more and more dark chocolate with lesser and lesser sugar, addictives, milk etc on the market today?

Yes, our world is evolving. Of course, these are still far away from my best choices; but when raw cacao is really not available to where you are located, then opt for the most natural and least adulterated chocolate options.

Milk and dairy not only spoil the benefits of pure raw cacao; but these are substances which the body has to eliminate. A food should enhance the energy of the person after consumption, not take away.

Read your labels carefully when shopping for conventional chocolate.

But fret not! Raw cacao is now available in Singapore. You can now experience the power of raw cacao without traveling to the States!

Send us an order enquiry to info@rawfoodlifestyles.com today to grab your pack of anti-aging and slimming secret now!

Ladies, buckle up and join me in this adventure into the Cacao WonderLand! There is no turning back, because we simply can’t imagine living any other way!

Love, Light, Laughter
From The Cacao Monster Linda Loo

(C) Copyright 2008-2010, Linda Loo

Tags: raw food diet, low fat recipies, raw food health, raw & living foods