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cacao nibs

jenergyjenergy Raw Newbie

OK, this may be a silly question, but here goes…

I’ve been hearing and reading about cacao nibs for a while so I bought some to try and… WOW. Here’s my somewhat silly question: does raw chocolate have caffeine in it or something? I mean, holy cow. Vroom-a-zoom-zoom!! Hehehe… not that I’m knockin’ it or anything ;o)

Comments

  • Yes Jenergy,

    I believe it does. I was craving chocolate the other day so I made raw cacao truffles, coconut oil, raw cacao, agave, dates, blended and then I rolled it in coconut flakes and chilled it for a while. Man, I had 1 and my heart was racing! I really felt it especially as I gave up coffee and tea when I went raw. So yeah, caffeine, big time in the raw chocolate products.

  • spiritedmamaspiritedmama Raw Newbie

    Yes, raw cocao does have caffeine, just as any chocolate does. Some raw foodists don’t agree with eating cocao, as it is not truly raw due to the processing, etc., and because of the caffeine. However, I have found it helpful in transitioning to raw. I used to crave it alot, but now I rarely crave it at all since I have been 100%

  • koolieaidedkoolieaided Raw Newbie

    Are cocao nibs different then chocolate? I though that it was the same thing.

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    Cacao is a bean which is fermented and dried, and then sold as raw cacao.

    If the beans are for the mainstream chocolate industry they are then roasted at this stage to make cocoa.

    People call stuff made from ‘raw’ cacao raw chocolate. But I don’t believe there is any truly raw chocolate, unless you were to go and get a pod and eat it off the tree yourself. It is fermented and dried at high temperatures. As well as caffeine it has theobromine in it which is a poison. If dogs eat chocolate they often die because of the theobromine, and if we ate it in enough quantity it would be kill us too! I think it gives a caffeine like buzz, and contributes to the WHEY HEY!! feeling you get off raw cacao.

    I must say though, that it did help me to transition to 100% raw. But is not for me anymore…

  • jenergyjenergy Raw Newbie

    I’ve definitely been taking it easier on the cacao since that first post, up there… that first rush was fun (being a recovering alkie & addict, I know that reaction to substances well), but of course there came the crash. I think I just ate way too many of them initially, because of the novelty and then of course because my body & brain’s reaction to them felt good (I pretty much snacked on them all afternoon), and when the effect wore off I was sorry. It wasn’t totally horrible, but definitely unpleasant. Tired and crabby and headachy. I’ll be using up my supply of cacao nibs sparingly from here on in!

    Zoe, that’s pretty interesting about the theobromine… I’ve never looked into that before. I think I’ll do some online research and find out what I can about it. Thanks for the heads-up.

    Hey, remember the days before the internet when something like that would’ve meant a trip to the library or something equally labor-intensive? Hahaha… I’m dating myself, aren’t I? ;o)

  • Hey Jenergy,

    How many did you have to eat to get a caffeine rush?

    I just bought a bag of David Wolfe’s cacao nibs and I must tell you that I was very disappointed. I thought they would be raw but they are not raw. I ate about 5 of them yesterday and today I grounded some up and tossed a pinch of it on my fresh raw coconut. I can’t say that I have adjusted to the taste.

    Honestly, I was watching one of David’s lectures on Google. It was a Google lecture… and he went on and on about the virtues of raw cacao. I mean he sold the stuff so well that I bought it. I recently learned that he has made most of his money from that product. Boy do I feel like a sucker. And as for the Gogi berries… his are imported from China… you know the country that has been sending us all of those toxic food, pet and health care products that have been making us sick.

  • Rawfeelings- Why do you feel that the nibs are not raw?

  • In early October, the annual “Green Festival” came to Washington, DC. There were lots of vendors with free cacao samples.

    I must have OD’ed on cacao, because I was wide awake at night & didn’t go to bed until very late. And then I had trouble sleeping.

    I think it was all the caffeine in the product. I can’t really handle even a small amount of caffeine without it disturbing my sleep. But I had this – the Green Festival is only here once a year – thought pattern going through my head.

  • pianissimapianissima Raw Newbie

    omg ron4540_ i had the same thing happen. i just couldn’t believe it. i twas like i was on SPEED. i had a very “watered down” amount of it and i was wired for two days.

    i never used to eat chocolate before going raw. this is just another one of the numerous foods i bought cuz it was touted by raw chefs, only to find out that it wasn’t raw to begin with.

    or maybe it is raw, but it doesn’t agree with me one bit, so i’ll make some more “brownies” for my friends (they love them!)

  • rawfeelings: I also saw that youtube video with David Wolfe (and Matt Amsden). David said he lives mainly on superfoods like raw chocolate! He even wrote a book just about cacao.

    http://www.amazon.com/Naked-Chocolate-David-Wol…

    pianissima: Yeah, it was like a crescendo to fortissimo!!

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Rawfeelings~ I tried to ignore your comment about China, but I don’t think that ignoring it supports the spirit and heart in which this website is founded. I can understand you have an issue with a particular manufacturing practice that a minority in China have exhibited. I just don’t think this is the platform to address it. I will also be sensitive to where in my life I have created that kind of context for an issue, because it is not a unique phenomenon to you.

  • Tainted, toxic pet food from pet food plants in China have KILLED many a beloved pet (family member) here in the United States. So in all fairness, I am with Rawfeelings on this issue. I would not ever again buy potentially tainted pet food from these factories in China knowingly because I love my cat and dog. I’ll stick to pet food made and packaged in the US. Don’t kid yourself, Bluedolfin, if this were a child of yours we were discussing, I think you might feel differently. And it is not only 1 plant in China which was manufacturing poisoned food for our pets. I also do feel that this is the place to address these matters, because we are discussing food and HEALTH, and these two are intricately connected in our overall well-being. Where your food comes from matters. Imported foods from many other countries are often heavily sprayed with pesticides and are unregulated. Organic foods are generally far superior to commercial foods, so where my food comes from and how it is produced definitely matters to me. And that pertains to my cat and dog’s food, as well.

  • BluedolfinBluedolfin Raw Newbie

    Hi laurajean~ China did not kill those beloved pets, some manufactures who are in China did. Hopefully a full investigation will be done to find out whether these incidences were knowing done, were done because of pressures from contractors in the US, or ???.

    No country is immune to cases such as these. I see China as an emerging country that has all the same problems as those countries that have previously “emerged” and those that have not “evolved.” There are examples from all over the world of manufacturers (sometimes government sanctioned) in different countries doing vile things. I’m American and here in the US, I (and probably you) can site many instances of horrendous business practices, some intentional, some not. Just think e-coli in spinach, other vegis and meat in the past few years, dumping known injurious pharmaceuticals and devises on other countries that the US has outlawed (ie. IUDs, silicon implants, numerous drugs that have been recalled), cigarettes (the US government subsidizes the growing of tabacco that is made into a legal product that is a known health risk! RJ Reynolds

  • kandacekandace Raw Newbie

    Hey everyone: Bluedolfin summed this up quite well. Further, we could go on and on not only about the state of cooked food imports, but also goods exported from the US – however, this isn’t quite the place for all of that. Let’s move on from the focus on China and back to raw food and health!

  • You can actually buy unfermented raw cacao nibs. They are produced by a company called Wilderness Family Naturals.

  • I have lived in the tropics and i use to get cacao pods off the trees and dry them in the sun and make my own raw chocolate nibs. YES they CAN be raw….it depends where you buy them. they dont have to be dried at a high heat to be chocolate. i know that because i did it for myself.

    so PLEASE dont think that you CAN’T get raw chocolate. i am sure someone like wilderness family naturals is selling low temperature dried cacao nibs. chocolate is SO yummy there is NO reason for a raw foodist to go without chocolate when you CAN get it raw !

    anyway… thats my 3 cents. if you like chocolate…. go for it.LOL

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