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cacao

delalunadelaluna Raw Newbie

cacao - how often do you use it? does it give you a "high"? and do you have difficulties falling asleep because of it? does it cause skin breakouts?

i'm deciding whether to use it in recipes or just stay away from it.

thanks for your inputs~

Comments

  • RawEverythingRawEverything Raw Newbie

    I've mixed feeling about cacoa, first it's almost impossible to get raw, second they are beans, beans are toxic. tried nibs and beans but I don't get very good feelings about it. I enjoyed 80%+ chocolate bars but lately they don't taste as good as they did. I think my body don't need it else it would be very tasting. But if you like try to get the best quality 80%+ (no Soy Lecithin) bars and enjoy it 8) (btw I have no problems with sleep or skin or anything).

  • eechoeecho Raw Newbie

    Its not ideal but I don't blame people who like it and use it to transition. I've definately been high off it before. I use it to stay awake to study, instead of coffee. It'll be phased out eventually though.

  • wichtenwichten Raw Newbie

    i've come to prefer carob to cocao. I get jittery off of cocao and its also pretty high in fat. carob seems like the healthier option, raw or not.

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    There have been a few threads about cacao on this website. Everyone is going to have their own opinions about it. And it seems that cacao treats everyone a bit differently. I personally like to use it on occassion, especially in desserts. I feel fine when using it. Sometimes it gives me a bit of a kick if I put it in my morning green smoothie. My advice would be to try some and see how it treats 'you'. If you don't feel well after eating it then I'd avoid it. We're all different so see what works for you :-)

    Here are just a few past threads:

    http://www.goneraw.com/forum/raw-cacao-beans-poison-or-superfood

    http://www.goneraw.com/forum/cacao-or-carob

    http://www.goneraw.com/node/19175

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    I agree with eecho that it's great for transitioning. Just be mindful that it can produce the effects of drinking a cup of strong coffee with some people.

    This past Monday night I was driving home late from Boston back up to Vermont. I was tired and had to sit through construction traffic all through Mass on I-93! I was worried I might need to get a cup of coffee to just stay awake (I'm coffee free after so many years of trying to quit). I had remembered that in my big 'take out' order from Grezzo, there was a nice raw chocolate cookie! Well I ate the whole cookie and that had to be the equivalent to the double soy lattes I used to drink. I had no problem staying awake and didn't need to get a coffee.

    The moral of that story? Well the cookie was delicious ;-) But I think it had more cacao than I might use in my own desserts so I really felt the effects. I tend to like chocolate recipes that use less cacao or I just modify them. I've seen recipes in some of my gourmet recipe books that use a ton of cacao in brownies and such (for example: one cup of cacao for one batch of brownies! Wow!). That would be too much for me and would probably send me over the edge. So I would advise just being careful and mindful of the quantities of cacao in your recipes if you choose to use it. Sometimes less is more ;-)

    I like carob as well but find it tastes completely different than cacao. I personally wouldn't substitute it for a desired chocolate taste....but that's just me...

  • JoyceHJoyceH Raw Newbie

    oooh one more observation. When I used to eat 'cooked' traditional dark chocolate bars with processed white sugar, my face would break out a little. I used to think it was the chocolate but now think it was just the refined sugar. When I use raw cacao, my face is always fine now. But like I always say, that's just my own experience.

  • I got a raw chocolate ganache the other day, loaded full of cacao. Not only did it taste fantastic, but it gave me this great feeling of intense bliss for a long while afterwards! So yeah, I'm a fan. :-)

  • raw chocolate (cacao) tends to give me a bit of an upset tummy...not as much on the jitters though.

    but I eat it anyway :P it's so darn good, and it has helped me through the transition...eventually I am sure I will be able to omit it completely.

  • RawaholicRawaholic Raw Newbie

    I probably have cacao 2-3 times a week maximum and 0-1 minimum. It depend on my mood. Sometimes I just don't want raw chocolate at all, and other times I really crave it!

    I use either the nibs or the powder. When I do have cacao I usually have it blended with frozen banana, raw honey, vanilla, and maca as my last meal of the day. The tryptophan in this stuff puts me right to sleep! I feel very calm and if I have had any emotional stress that day it all goes away and "even out" quite nicely if you will.

     

  • sv3sv3 Raw Newbie

    I just got emailed 'The Raw Food World Newsletter?' today and it was all about how Essential Living Foods (ELF) just came out and 'confessed' that their raw cacao powder is not actually raw. They then go on to say that they have sourced the only raw cacao available from Big Tree Farms in Indonesia. It could all be a marketing ploy but as I don't buy anything from them anyway, I'm not that bothered.

    I don't really eat cacao (just stick to carob) but thought you guys might be interested in this news anyway.

  • Hmm I thought raw cocoa is good for you. I have read about sunfood.com's product description on raw cocoa powder, beans, and nibs, and they all say they are extremely healthy. Like they say 1 pound of their raw organic cocoa powder has the antioxidant power of 80+ 6 oz baskets of organic blueberries.

    Hmm so the question is raw organic cocoa good for you or bad for you...

  • have_merseyhave_mersey Raw Newbie

    I kind of figured ELF wasn't raw, but KNOW ING it is upsetting. :( I haven't bought ELF products in a while but I loved those cacao paste squares. Pooh.

  • have_merseyhave_mersey Raw Newbie

    I use it. It doesn't break me out, even when I have eaten entirely too much. I never have difficulties falling asleep either, but raw cacao is extremely low in caffiene. The raw things that keep me energized never prevent me from relaxing, or resting. Sort of adaptogens.

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