Super Food - The Benefits of Organic Raw Cacao Powder

Here's why cacao powder is my absolute favorite super food and belly warmer during and beyond the winter chilled months. It's super rich in antioxidant. As important, cacao has been long enjoyed for its healthful and invigorating properties in South American cultures for thousands of years! It's also a good source of the following nutrients:

• Iron                    
• Dietary Fiber     
• Magnesium       
• Protein
• Calcium
• Potassium

This particular brand that I use is 100% pure cacao powder that is certified organic, kosher, non-gmo, gluten-free and raw. Furthermore, some of you may not know that the bean of the cacao plant is the nutritional as well as the flavorful source for all chocolate and cocoa (deficient in nutrients) products. If you want the true hot cocoa, raw cacao powder is what you should be mxing up in your cup.

Here's a simple, yet delicious recipe that I use to make my own:

• Boiling hot alkaline water
• organic raw cacao powder
• Freshly gratered nutmeg
• A pinch of cinnamon
• A tablespoon of raw/organic honey
• And last, some almond milk or coconut creamer (mix all ingredients together and viola!) 

The only comment there is yummy, yummy, yummy! And as I sip it down, I can literally feel it penetrating my every cellular fiber - no kidding. I'm that in tune with my body. I have even felt a tingling in my face and a liberating invigorating feeling in my brain while consuming it and that left me feeling quite refreshed, clear headed, and in a warm and joyful mood - very soothing! You can even add it to your smoothie and/or to make chocolate ice cream or dessert in your Vitamix or Blendtec blenders - great stuff!

Additionally, cacao is also known to be one of the highest dietary sources of magnesium, flavanols and polyphenols. It's also a good habit to check the package to ensure that the process of extraction or production is cold-pressed, milled at low temperatures to protect its nutrients. If done otherwise by harsh methods that uses high heat and harmful chemicals, most, if not all of the nutrients will have been depleted from the cacao beans.

So, give raw cacao a go! I know it's not the usual overly sweet and nutrient difficient and/or artificially infused nutrients that are harmful to the body cocoa powder, but I can assure you that you can tolerate the mild bitterness if you brew it using my awesome recipe above.

Well, here's to warm tummies, youthful skin, and some clear headed brain acitivity, with the consumption of raw cacao powder.

Oh, just a minor caveat, it would be highly humanitarian and very thoughtful of you to be sure that the brand that you buy does not support child labor for its cacao picking and production. Other than that, it's a real treat to enjoy anytime of the day or for supper at night! Yum! ;-)

Until next time, be exceptionally good to yourselves!

~San