Cocao, which is also known as coca and cacoa is made from roasted and ground cocoa seeds that have been harvested from the Throbroma tree. The Theobroma tree grows within 20° of the equator and requires shade and humidity. It is said to have originated in South America and Mexico. The Olmec’s first discovered cocoa fruit and ate it in 1500-400 BC. Traditionally Aztecs would harvest the beans from their pods, ferment the beans, roast them, grind them into a paste, and mix them with water, added spices, chillies and herbs (Coe’s Theory). Cocoa was something you drank up until about 150 years ago.
Cocoa powder has a unique composition of fatty acids and antioxidants – giving cocoa a natural stability preventing oxidation
So overall about 5-10g/day or 30g/week shows evidence of positive health benefits
In some instances, there has been issues with:
Cocoa does not = chocolate. In fact, the dark brown, pleasantly bitter, chemically complex substance we know as chocolate bears little resemblance to the pulp surrounded seeds of the cocoa plant from which it is produced. One would never suspect that one could actually be derived from the other. To be called chocolate a product must simply contain the ingredient “cocoa”
“After water, cocoa is the single healthiest substance you can put in your mouth. It can easily replace a number of psychiatric drugs for mood, plus it produces the same chemistry in the brain that occurs when we fall in love.”
Chris Kilham