What do you have for breakfast?” people often ask me. “POLKADOT SHROOM BARS!” I reply, though not all of the time because I’ve recently discovered that life is about balance and not one long string of hedonistic moments. Sometimes I give the same answer for many of my meals and snacks.
To those who haven’t yet joined The Raw Chocolate Revolution, this reply may seem unhealthy. They may think I am obese or addicted to sugar. Yet, I’m healthy in the extreme. I’m a normal weight, and haven’t eaten refined sugar in over a decade. This is because the chocolate I eat is raw, vegan, free from refined sugar, organic, loaded with superfoods (chocolate being the main one!), and fully life-affirming.
Raw cacao contains hundreds of chemicals, is high in magnesium, iron, chromium, tryptophan and antioxidants. It contains PEA, the love chemical. The only other food to contain PEA in any significant amount is algae, so chocolate and algae go fantastically together. Chocolate contains anandamide, the bliss molecule. Ananda is the Sanskrit word for “bliss”. Oh, and it’s so full of antioxidants, it’s off the ORAC charts. It really is.
Cooked chocolate contains rancid oils which don’t contribute to ecstatic living. It can also be made with cruel (calf-kiling) dairy, mass of refined sugar, and other ingredients that don’t contribute to good health.Cacao is a poor source of caffeine. A typical sample of cacao nibs or cacao beans will yield anywhere from zero caffeine to 1,000 parts per million of caffeine (less than 1/20th of the caffeine present in coffee).
Raw chocolate bars, on the other hand, combine unadultarated purity, a creamy chocolate taste, and often the benefits of nutrient-dense superfoods. Raw chocolate looks and feels similar to conventional chocolate, and most importantly melts in the mouth in the same way. Raw chocolate is my idea of heaven on earth. Is it yours?
