I’ve great news for chocoholics. Yes, you don’t have to feel guilty for your chocolate eating habits. It’s not as bad as you think or people say in general. In fact, there are several health benefits associated with eating chocolates. That means you can eat chocolates without any health worries.

Good and Bad Chocolates

Well, yes I’m supporting the habit of eating chocolates. But, I’d like to clarify that not all chocolates have beneficial health effects on human body. There are different variants of chocolates made of cacao, sugar, and several other additives and preservatives. Some of them contain a high percentage of sugar and harm preservatives, you should avoid eating them.

There are several varieties of dark chocolates available in market, with less or no sugar. They are cacao rich and contain several essential nutrients for human body. According to me Xocai chocolates are the best for use as nutrition supplement. They are made of unprocessed, non-alkalized, and non-lecithinized cacao powder combined with the Acai berry and blueberries. These nutritious ingredients in their natural state provide the most powerful antioxidants.

Chocolate Eating Habit

Almost everyone loves eating chocolates. Especially kids are mad behind the mouth watering taste of chocolate. After knowing the benefits of eating dark chocolates, you should not prohibit them from eating them. It’s a proven fact now that dark chocolates are beneficial for health. So a majority of people have adopted chocolates as an essential part of their everyday diet.

However, ensure that you are buying only organic chocolates with less or no sugar, no artificial color and no preservatives. You should also limit your daily intake of chocolates to 90 grams a day or less. Because, Chocolates are energy rich food supplement and only a limited amount of any high energy food supplement is beneficial to your health.

In summary, if you stick to the habit of buying only dark chocolates with only organic ingredients then you can enjoy the taste of chocolates without worry. When you go to shopping next time, focus on buying raw, unprocessed chocolates. If available, you can ask your merchant to provide Xocai chocolates which are the best in providing health benefits.

Xocai products are the perfect delivery system for the antioxidants your body needs while eliminating almost all of the fat and sugar typically found in other chocolate products. For More Information Visit : Xocai Chocolate

Dark chocolate is the best form of chocolate that is beneficial for health. If we consider the positive effects of eating chocolate, nothing can beat dark chocolate. There are several reasons behind the global popularity of dark chocolate as nutrition supplement. Scientific research and health surveys clearly reflect the good effects of eating dark chocolate on human body.

Although there are numerous benefits (medically proved) of eating dark chocolates. It’s not possible to describe all of them here. However, some common and most important benefits of eating chocolates are described below.

Reduced Stress & Better Mood – Eating dark chocolate helps in releasing tension and improving our mood. Antioxidants present in dark chocolate keeps your body free of radicals/toxins, resulting in better feeling. Antioxidants also help in reducing stress and giving a better state of mind for our everyday working.

Instant Energy Source (Ideal for Kids) – Dark chocolates are calorie rich food therefore they are considered as an instant source of energy. Giving a fixed amount of dark chocolate to your kid’s everyday will provide them complete nutrition and help their body in proper growth.

Good for Circulatory/Cardiovascular System – Chocolates are also good for our circulatory system. By freeing up radicals from our blood stream, it helps in improving blood pressure. Cocoa chocolates are helpful for cardiovascular system. It helps in reducing cholesterol level in our body, thus keeping us away from heart related problems.

Best Nutrition Supplement for Cancer Patients – Dark chocolate having cocoa as most important ingredient are an ideal nutrition supplement for cancer patients undergoing treatment. These chocolates (also known as Xocai Chocolates) contain no refined sugars, no added fats, milk, or other filler ingredients. They are good in taste and Cancer patients undergoing treatment (they lose their taste) also like to have them. It helps them in providing required amount of energy to their body for faster healing. These chocolates help in creation of new cells instantly (which is crucial need of cancer patients).

Nowadays, it’s well known and scientifically proven fact that dark chocolates are good for health. Having right dose of dark chocolate on regular basis will keep us healthy, charged and energized always. Even, Time Magazine (one of the most reputed global magazines) reported once that eating dark chocolate help in moderating blood pressure and other ingredients present in dark chocolates help in elevating mood. That means, now everybody can enjoy dark chocolates without any health related worries.

Xocai products are the perfect delivery system for the antioxidants your body needs while eliminating almost all of the fat and sugar typically found in other chocolate products. For More Information Visit : Xocai Chocolate

People love eating chocolates. The taste of chocolate attracts people in every age group. Everybody loves eating chocolates in different forms. However, a question always comes in mind of people, “Whether eating chocolate is good for health?” The answer to this question is not so easy. The effects of chocolate on health vary according to the type of chocolate being eaten. Some types may be good for a person, whereas at the same point of time, another variant may have adverse effects on health.

Positive Health Benefits of Eating Chocolate

Chocolate in its original form is beneficial for health, but it tastes bitter. However, during preparation (commercial manufacturing) process, chocolate is treated with different things to provide a different taste. Chocolate lowers the cholesterol level in human body, thus providing several benefits to circulatory system. Dark chocolate benefits our circulatory system by reducing blood pressure, facilitating dilation, and decreasing risk of infraction. Dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants, so it helps us in getting rid of free radicals in our body.

Apart from other benefits, chocolate is also known as anticancer, brain stimulator, and cough preventer element.

Negative Effects of Eating Too Much Chocolate

Chocolate is an energy rich food. Therefore eating a large quantity of chocolate can result in obesity that further causes several problems. Some variants of Chocolates that are high in saturated fat can increase cholesterol level leading to heart problems. Apart from that sugar rich variants of chocolates may also result diabetes.

For people suffering from some diseases chocolate works as instant source of energy and helps them in quick healing of disease. Our body needs various Vitamins and minerals. Dark chocolate contains essential vitamins like vitamin A, B1, D & E along with essential minerals (like iron, potassium and magnesium) required for proper growth and functioning of human body.

In summary, good or bad effects of eating chocolate depends upon the individual variants of chocolate. Eating organic dark chocolate is good for health. That means, you can have dark chocolates and drinks based on raw chocolate without any worry. However, it’s always better to avoid chocolates rich in sugar or extra fat.

Xocai products are the perfect delivery system for the antioxidants your body needs while eliminating almost all of the fat and sugar typically found in other chocolate products. For More Information Visit : Xocai Chocolate

Peanut butter cups are so passe. The raw version is actually good for you! Unlike the unhealthy, guilt riddled store bought ones, these babies fuel you with protein from raw peanuts, anti-oxidants from raw cacao, blood-sugar regulating and immune boosting cinnamon and low glycemic blue agave nectar. Quick and easy to make and even easier to make a lot of, to store in your freezer.

1/2 cup raw peanut butter
1/2 cup raw peanuts (chopped medium fine in a food processor)
1 tbsp agave

First, set aside about 2 tbsps. of the chopped peanuts. In a small bowl mix the above ingredients until you have a nice consistency for shaping the mass into small balls or mini rectangles. Place them on a plate side by side with a bit of room between each piece (this will allow for the chocolate to drip down and cover each piece fully).

For the chocolate:

1 tbsp. virgin coconut oil
3 tbsp. raw cocoa powder
1 tbsp. agave
1 tsp. cinnamon

Heat a small glass bowl in a larger bowl of hot water. Let it sit for about 60 seconds, remove it and immediately place your coconut oil into it and let it melt. Another option is to heat the coconut oil in your dehydrator, neither will take long as the oil melts quite quickly without the use of high heat. Once melted, add the remaining ingredients stirring them well until smooth. Let this sit for about 5 minutes so it thickens and using a spoon, pour it over each piece of peanut butter. Sprinkle the 2 tbsps. of chopped peanuts set aside over the chocolates and place them in the freezer. After about 20 minutes, remove the chocolates and transfer them to an air tight container using a fork to peel them off the plate. Store them in the freezer and enjoy whenever your sweet tooth beckons.

A day workshop with ‘Alternatives’ in Covent Garden on Sunday 1st November. Winter raw foods.

We made a 3 course raw vegan lunch.

Winter Menu: Tomato & Red Pepper Houmous with my new recipe spiced crackers, Grated winter roots; parsnip, beetroot, swede and pumpkin. Kale and puy lentil salad with Avocado and Seagreens seaweed, Sprouting Quinoa with parsley and hazelnuts. Apple & Vanilla Cinnamon Cream and a Sunflower Seed and Apple Milkshake.

Luscious!

Day 8

I wish I could say I was more excited about the radical weight loss I’ve experienced–7 lbs my first week eating only raw/live food–but I knew it would happen & wasn’t surprised when I got on the scale today.

Also today, well before I knew how much I had “lost”, I felt that moment where I turned a corner and was gaining from this in ways that feel even more rewarding than weight loss.  For instance, everywhere I went today people smiled at me and said hello.  No joke…EVERYWHERE.  People at work and home are remarking on how “tuned-in” I seem, and how “present” I am.  Apparently I’ve been away for awhile…

I also started off feeling kinda miserly about spending money on myself.  That’s sad, huh?  Being stingy with yourself.  Today I felt like I deserved everything I bought at this cool little health food store / raw cafe I discovered in Palm Desert called Luscious Loraine’s. At this point it suddenly seems clear to me that investing in myself is tantamount and that the universe is only going to respond favorably to my doing that.

And remember, that 7 lbs was lost with almost no exercise. Like i said before, I’m really trying to learn how to let my body lead me for a change.  So when I get that urge to start running or jumping or swimming or whatever; I’ll do it.

Tonight I took a brisk full moonlit walk and couldn’t believe the euphoria (I was singing “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that’s…AMORE!”) surging through my veins.  I don’t know if the change is this dramatic with others who stop eating cooked foods and begin feasting on nature’s super-foods?  But for me it seems to get me on some kind of cellular-neural level…

What I ate today:

• Pear
• Freshly juiced greens including Kale with lemon and apple and ginger–HARD CORE!
• Raw nori rolls with avocado, carrot, nut “cheese”, sprouts and tahini dressing (not that great)
• Watermelon Juice of course!
• Death by chocolate shake! Woke up from nap and knew exactly what I wanted…cacao powder, walnuts, hemp seeds, coconut oil, a banana, honey, water and ice…just before I finished blending I through in a chunk of pureraw chocolate I bought at the health food store earlier so it had chunks! Chocolate HIGH!
• Raw soup made of coconut and greens
• Apples with pecan butter!

Note:  So, yeah, I think going cold turkey and doing it the way I’m doing it is a rough transition. And maybe it is better to ease into raw? But, that doesn’t work for me & when I’m ready to make the jump I’m ready.  Also, I noticed that almost every blog or personal web story where some raw foodist gives that advice to start slow…THEY DIDN’T!  They just did it. So my advice, do whichever is going to work for you.

Have you already tasted the delicious organic chocolate experience recently created by Navitas Naturals? If not, what are you waiting for?

All you need is hot water to melt the cocoa butter, a candy mold or ice-cube tray in which to pour the melted chocolate and mix-ingredients, and a freezer to quick-set your finished product.

Organic Superfood Chocolate Kit by Navitas Naturals

Nothing tastes as good as homemade . . . anything… and chocolate is certainly no exception. By using this kit, it’s easy to create these gourmet of pure homemade chocolates. Choose from three recipes: Goldenberry, Cacao Nib and Goji Berry.

You may have heard that chocolate can actually be good for you and this chocolate kit doesn’t make just any ordinary chocolate. Every ingredient provided in these kits is a Navitas Naturals organic and raw superfood: including premium cacao, maca, lucuma, mesquite, and superberries. These are immensely powerful foods: packed with free-radical fighting antioxidants, dense with minerals and vitamins, and overflowing with phytonutrients. The result is chocolate in its most potent form: a sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, and truly energy-charged treat.

Navitas Chocolate Kits ($10 each) are available at Whole Foods, natural food stores and online at NavitasNaturals.com.

 Barbara, Amanda and myself not only hit up the Raw Spirit Festival in AZ but, we had heard so much cool stuff about Sedona that we couldn’t leave without seeing it. We only had a single day to check it out, so we made the most of it!

Montezuma's Castle

 The first place we checked out was Montezuma’s Castle. There we not only got to see and be in the presence of an amazing remnant of civilizations of the past but, we also met some of its present inhabitants. Like this cute lil’ mamajama.

Here lizard, lizard, lizard...

I also got to meet the Mesquite tree. This majestic beauty is  responsible for that wonderful drool inspiring BBQ smell , but more importantly (to me) it also produces a fruit that resembles a pea pod. This mesquite pod was ground into a meal by native peoples and was a staple of their diet. Now mesquite meal is a popular addition to many raw desserts and smoothies for it’s tasty caramel’ish flavor!

Me and the Mesquite Tree :0)

 Next we headed out in search of vortexes at Bell Rock. For those who haven’t heard of the vortex phenomenon what it is, is basically spirals of energy emanating from the earth at various areas around the gorgeous ginormous red rock formations in Sedona. These spirals of energy have been known to cause interesting reactions when people are exposed to them and tree’s growing nearby even begin to take on a twisted form, seemingly growing with the flow! On our trek up to Bell Rock our friend Barbara experienced some funky vibes from the area and I definitely got chills when walking through the same path she had been on. But, what was even cooler than vortex hunting was the amazing view that surrounds you at Bell Rock. It literally looks like you’re walking on Mars with the red rocks and silt beneath your feet and the plant life is something else! 

Chillin' with the infamous agave :0)

 The agave plant (besides being one tasty vegan sweetener for raw desserts)  has one ridiculously huge flower stalk when it decides it’s time to go to seed. The flower stalks are so massive and solid that they can be used as a walking staff! Check out this one …

This lil' agave plant had a flower stalk at least 14 feet tall!

 Bell Rock was amazing but, as much as we wanted to hang out their all day and lift up all the rocks in search of critters (well ok that’s what I was up to!) We needed to get moving. Just then it seemed my search for desert critters finally paid off…sort of. I lifted a large rock and saw what I thought to be a small scorpion clinging to the underside of the rock …well I was half right. It was actually the exoskeletal shed shell of a scorpion left behind from a presumably now larger scorpion. Oh well still a neat find!

Wonder where the lil' guy that left this behind went...

The doorway to rawesomeness...

Nori Nachos with Southwestern style salsa! *Oh yes!*

Thai Spring Rolls! The wrapper was made from young thai coconut meat blended with spices :0)

The Collosal Platter of Falafel, My kinda dish! :0)

The Sea Star Cilantro Salad. Loaded with nutrients and flavor, perfect combo!

                                                                                                                                      

 Everything was amazing and ya know I had to load up some of their raw chocolates on my way out. It was like being in a raw version of Munson’s Chocolates, (one of my fave chocolate places as a kid/teen)! If you’re in the Sedona area you’ve gotta check this place out! I’d recommend it to anyone…raw or not!

One of the masterminds behind those raw masterpieces at Chocola Tree, Chef Illip :0)

 Our last stop in Sedona was an amazing view of the sunset over the city a great way to end a great trip!

 To all you lucky mama-jamas livin’  in or near Sedona…rock on! Peace and love everyone :0)

After dinner the family wanted something sweet, chocolaty, and icy – so we decided to a have a raw ice cream shake using two flavors of my favorite coconut-cashew based raw ice creams I made previously. I decided to use bananas and coconut water to give it a super sweet, and milk shake like flavor. This recipe was right on! Enjoy!

2 medium sized bananas peeled and cut
2-3 large scoops raw vanilla ice-cream
2-3 large scoops raw cacao ice-cream
2-3T raw cacao nibs
3T raw cacao powder
1/4 cup almond nut milk
8oz fresh coconut water
generous drizzle of agave
1T raw coconut butter
1T raw almond butter
4-6 drops chocolate flavored SweetLeaf Liquid Stevia
6-8 purified ice cubes

Place all ingredients in the blender and mix/puree on high-speed until very smooth, creamy, thick and cold like a shake! Yummo!!!!

Love is a feeling that we have when we express God/dess in our life.

I pet my dog and I feel love, I see a baby and I feel love, I remember my son when he took his first steps and I feel love, I imagine meeting my newest great grandchild and I feel love. Love doesn’t know a time, it is past, present and future. It is the innocent child and the old person, it is the dog lumbering along chasing a ball, and it is the cat climbing a tree, love simply IS.

When I feel love, it is a reaction to something that I am doing, seeing, feeling or thinking, and yet, it all comes from within.  From my thoughts, my imaginings, my wishes and desires. I can feel love in my dreams, or day dreams, and I can choose to feel love, even when I am not too happy about a person, place, situation or thing. It is a choice to experience the feeling of love.
I don’t believe that it just happens. Scientists have explainations for pheremones, and hormones, and all kinds of things that trigger a feeling of love inside us, but again, what about dreams?  Or thoughts? I suppose anything can trigger a hormone or chemical response called love, or bliss or joy.

When I think about what love means to me, it is the same as bliss or inner joy, there is a warmth inside me that feels good, and that I want to continue to feel.

I watch my big ole’ dog sleeping on his favorite rug, and I feel love for him, or his peace, for his companionship, for the joy that we share together, our lives that intertwine and the adoration that I see in his eyes. This may be a chemical response, but whatever it is it IS love, and I enjoy expressing that to him and everyone.

I’ve been eating raw food a long time. I’ve also been a student of human behavior, philosophy and psycology for a while too. So, am I more aware of my own feelings because I am eating raw food? Or because I am learning? Or both?  It is to ponder!

Breakfast:
mocha smoothie
made with
1 cup homemade almond milk
6 dates
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp meta greens
1 T soy protein
dash nutmeg
1 inch vanill bean
2 T cacao powder
2 tsps instant coffee crystals
1/2 cup water
2 cups ice

put all ingredients except ice in a Vita Mix, blend on high for 45 seconds, then add ice, blend for another 45 seconds, makes 4 cups, serve

YUMMY!!!

I sometimes make this without the cacao or the coffee, it just depends. I just started adding the meta greens. Can’t tell much difference in taste, I took out one date, as the greens have stevia in them and they are sweet.

if you want to see more free raw recipes  please checkout my website:

www.rawpriestess.com

The crew headed out today to Raw Spirit Arizona. I had hoped to go but it just was not meant to be this time. Hoping to make it next year for sure. So instead of pining away for all the yummy raw food treats sure to be served in Prescott this weekend I decided to make my own yummy treat: raw chocolate chip cookies. Yum!

Cacao Chunk Cookies

1 cup melted cacao butter
1/2 cup almond butter
5 tbs. raw honey
1/4 himalayan pink salt
1 1/2 cups coconut flour
1/4 cup really broken up Cacao Paste
1/4 cup goji berries & hunza raisins mixed together

Mixed together cacao butter, almond butter and honey until creamy. Blend coconut flour and salt and then stir into the butter mixture. Mix in cacao paste and gojis until well combined. Take small handful of dough and shape into a cookie shape. Once all cookies are shaped let chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Very tasty with a glass of almond milk or herbal chai. Coconut flour is very rich in fiber so is best eaten with a beverage. I also have some Brazil Nut Powder which I bought when Matt Monarch & Angela Stokes-Monarch came to Patagonia last week. I was thinking that perhaps a 1/2 cup of this and only 1 cup of coconut flour would be yummy as well.

I absolutely love the Mayan Spice Wild Bars, and have been wanting to come up with my own version of this tasty bar. So, I came up with this delicious and energizing candy square that I think you will absolutely love! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 cup raw almonds
1 cup raw macadamia nuts
1 cup raw cacao powder
1/2 cup raw cacao butter (melted)
1/2 cup raw cacao nibs
1/4 cup mesquite powder
2T blue green algae
4T maca powder
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1/2 tsp raw vanilla bean powder
1 tsp ground cayenne
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp hemp seed
1/2 tsp trace minerals (gold)
6 pitted dates

Preparation:
Grind almonds and macadamia nuts in a food processor until almost a powder. Add all ingredients except for cacao butter, agave, and dates. Blend until well combine. Add cacao butter and agave, and mix very well. Finally, add dates and mix until mixture is completely broken down and combined. It should look chocolaty, gooey, and gritty. Remove from food processor and scoop into candy or brownie type molds. Place in freezer for about 1-2 hours. Remove and serve. They can be stored in the freezer (for several weeks or more) or refrigerator (for about two weeks maybe more) in an air-tight container.

Adreanna deciding what flavor to eat.

Ok, so not exactly on the subject of yoga… but all of my yoga friends love raw chocolate.  Caring more and more about what you put into your body is a natural extension of a developing yoga practice.  You don’t want to fill your body with crap because you know it will hinder your progress and get in the way of purifying your physical self.  Of course, letting go of chocolate is a lot harder than simply cutting back (at least for me), which is where raw chocolate comes in.  Raw chocolate is dense, dark, subtly sweet and so delicious and it is filled with nutrition.  My friend Adreanna makes her own, just across the bridge in Brooklyn and I cannot stop eating it!  Check out her online raw chocolate shop for all of the insane nutritional benefits in her chocolate.

Raw Chocolate Love is another company with amazing raw chocolate, sold all over the city in some of my favorite places like Life Thyme, Liquiteria, JivamukTea Cafe, and Integral Natural Foods.

I’ve been testing out some more recipes from Ani Phyo’s book, Ani’s Raw Food Kitchen. Since I’m a big smoothie gal, I decided that I wanted to create my own chocolate milk and shakes with my own twist. Hope you like them!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Milk.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup raw hazelnuts
1/2 cup well-packed pitted dates
3T raw cacao powder
drizzle of agave
1/2 tsp organic non-alcoholic vanilla extract
5-6 cups water with 4-6 ice cubes (purified water only)

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender and mix until well blended, and super smooth. Serve or store in refrigerator up to 3-4 days for later.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Antioxidant Smoothie.
Ingredients:
3 cups Chocolate-Hazelnut milk (maybe a little more)
1/2 cup blueberries (frozen)
1/2 cup goji berries (soaked and frozen)
1 banana (peeled chopped and frozen)
3T maca powder
4-6 drops clear liquid stevia
1 tsp bee pollen
1T raw almond butter
1T raw coconut butter
dash cinnamon powder
5-6 ice cubes purified water

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend until super cold, rich and creamy! Yummo!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Super-Sweet Milk Shake.
Ingredients:
3 cups Chocolate-Hazelnut Milk (more or less)
2 scoops raw chocolate or vanilla ice cream
4-6 drops clear liquid stevia
1T coconut butter
1T raw honey
1T mesquite powder
6-8 ice cubes purified water

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender and mix until super smooth and frothy. Ready to serve!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Simple Smoothie.
Ingredients:
3 cups Chocolate-Hazelnut milk (more or less)
1 scoop raw chocolate or vanilla ice cream
1 banana
dash cinnamon powder
4-6 drops clear liquid stevia
1 tsp bee pollen
6-8 ice cubes purified water

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in a high speed blender, and mix until smooth.

Picture: Chocolate-Hazelnut Antioxidant Smoothie

I tried to create my own raw version of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Well, it didn’t come out so great – but it still tasted great! Anyway, I made these delicious and simple raw chocolate chips by using raw cacao paste, agave, and pink Himalayan salt. I melted the cacao first, and blended it with the other ingredients. Then I made little dots of chocolate on a flat tray that I left in the freezer for about an hour – to make the chocolate chips! The only problem was, when I made the cookie dough it was too warm from being processed, and the chips didn’t handle very well. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
½ cup ground oats
1 cup almond meal
1T lucuma powder
1T mesquite powder
1T vanilla powder
1 cup ground raw walnuts
1T coconut butter
3T raw almond butter
1T organic vanilla extract (non-alcohol)
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ to 2/3 cup packed dates
¼ cup agave
1/3 cup ground oats (fold in with chips)
1/3 cup almond meal (fold in with chips)
¼ cup raw chocolate chips

Preparation:
Combine all ingredients except last three in a food processor. Blend until a dough mixture forms. Remove from processor and add to a bowl. Add raw chocolate chips and remaining ground oats and almond meal. Combine well. Using a cookie scoop or large spoon, form balls and press into flat cookie rounds or leave as cookie balls. Refrigerate or freeze for storage. More than likely the chips will melt right into the dough mixture as it is combined…that’s why it is called a “disaster!” But it still tastes great! Enjoy!

Ancient Chocolate Found in Maya

“Teapot”

By Bijal P. Trivedi
National Geographic Today

July 17, 2002

Analysis of residue from a ceramic “teapot” suggests that the Maya, and their ancestors, may have been gobbling chocolate as far back as 2,600 years ago, pushing back the earliest evidence of cacao use more than 1,000 years.

“This reopens the whole debate about who first invented chocolate,” said Jonathan Haas, curator of the mouthwatering “Chocolate” exhibition at the Field Museum in Chicago.

The first chemical evidence of cacao use came about 15 years ago after the analysis of residue from a vessel found at the Mayan site of Rio Azul in northeastern Guatemala and belonging to the Early Classic period of Maya culture—approximately A.D. 460. But Michael Coe, co-author of The True History of Chocolate, believes based on a slew of evidence, some linguistic, that the roots of chocolate go much further back to the great Olmec civilization, which preceded the Maya.

 

“The Maya derived a lot of their high culture from the Olmec,” said Coe, also professor emeritus of anthropology at Yale. “Even the word ‘cacao’ is not a native Maya word—it’s Olmec.” The Olmec lived in the southern Gulf of Mexico between 1500 and 500 B.C., and their influence extended to Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica, and El Salvador.

“The new find is hard chemical evidence that the Mayans were drinking chocolate in 500 B.C.,” said Coe, suggesting that people were cultivating the cacao tree long before the Maya civilization, which flourished in southern Mexico, the Yucatán, and the highlands of Belize between 500 B.C. and A.D. 1500.

Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cacao tree, which are swaddled in gooey white flesh inside green-yellow pods. The seeds and the pulp are scooped out of the pod and allowed to ferment until the seeds are a rich dark brown. The seeds are then dried, and then roasted before being ground to produce a thick chocolate paste.

Chocolate for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

The Maya had a lifestyle many kids would envy—chocolate at every meal. “It was the beverage of everyday people and also the food of the rulers and gods,” said Haas. In fact, the scientific name for the cacao tree is Theobroma cacao—”food of the gods.” Hieroglyphs that depict chocolate being poured for rulers and gods are present on Maya murals and ceramics.

Now the newly-analyzed spouted ceramic pot reveals the deeper darker history of this almost drug-like substance.

Mayan teapots have always fascinated Terry Powis, an archaeologist at the University of Texas at Austin, which is how his investigation began. “Spouted vessels are very distinct from other Mayan ceramics and quite rare, typically associated with elite burials,” he explained.

Fortunately for Powis, fourteen such vessels were excavated in 1981 from a site at Colha, which lies close to the Caribbean coast in northern Belize, and have since been housed at the University of Texas, Austin. The Maya occupied Colha, which is known for its production of stone tools and its Preclassic spouted vessels, continuously from about 900 B.C. to A.D. 1300.

The Essence of Chocolate

Powis’s goal was to determine whether the vessels were indeed used to pour some type of chocolate libation. He scraped residue from the vessels and sent the samples to W. Jeffrey Hurst, who has a delicious job as an analytical biochemist at the Hershey Foods Technical Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Using “high performance liquid chromatography coupled to atmospheric-pressure chemical ionization mass spectrometry,” Hurst analyzed all the samples. The first instrument separates all the components of the mixture and the other measures the molecular weight of each. Cacao is a blend of more than 500 chemical compounds. Of this tasty compendium the signature chemical is a compound called theobromine—the chemical marker of cacao.

Of the 14 samples analyzed, 3 were positive for theobromine, “chocolate, that is,” said Powis. The study is published in the July 18 issue of the journal Nature.

These spouted vessels were first dubbed chocolate pots about 100 years ago. Archaeologists knew from Spanish accounts that the Maya drank liquid chocolate and just assumed that the teapots were used to pour the beverage. “Now we have proof,” said Powis.

Chilli, Honey and Maize With Your Chocolate?

By the time the Spanish reached the Maya, around the 1500s, everyone was drinking chocolate—rich and poor alike. Traces of chocolate have been found in ordinary Maya houses.

The Maya drink was very different from America’s thin, watery hot chocolate, said Powis. According to Spanish accounts—many of which come from Bishop Diego de Landa, whose descriptions of Maya culture and language are the primary tools used today to translate Maya glyphs—the Maya enjoyed their hot chocolate thick and foamy.

While standing, Maya poured the chocolate drink from one vessel to another on the ground. The drop, together with the fatty cacao butter, produced a thick head of rich, dark, chocolate foam—the most coveted part of the drink.

Chemical analysis of these vessels is now becoming a standard tool in archaeology. As long as they’re not washed, they can be analyzed for ancient residues. Powis hopes to use the same type of studies to reveal the other ingredients used in the chocolate drinks. From Spanish records, Mayanists already know that the chocolate was mixed with maize, water, honey, or chilli. But what other secret ingredients are discovered will be a sweet surprise.      

Raw cacao creamy oreo cupcakes (courtesy of Lauren Taylor White) 

                  

Eat what the Mayans called “The Food Of The Gods.”

Raw, organic, 100% cacao – Click Here

is the only real chocolate that you can eat that has no negative side effects and is actually the strongest antioxidant of any food, even stronger than acai.

 

Raw chocolates with goji berries & Chocolate dipped orange slices

 Ingredients:

• 100g Raw cocoa butter
• 4tbsp Raw cocoa powder
• 2tbsp Agave Syrup
• Vanilla bean extract
• Goji berries
• Oranges

1. Chop up the raw cacao butter into small pieces so it is easier to melt. Place in a bowl and gently melt over a pan of hot water. Keep the heat low so as to not overheat.

2. Once the raw cacao has melted, turn the heat off but keep the bowl over the pan of hot water. Mix in the vanilla bean extract and the raw cacao powder. Add approx 2tbs of agave syrup and mix well till the mixture is smooth.

3. Add goji berries to each mould and add the warm chocolate mixture. Alternatively, slice oranges and dip them into the chocolate. 

4. Leave to set in the fridge (for 1 – 2 hours) or in the freezer for half an hour. Leave the oranges for 15 minutes in the fridge.

5. Enjoy your sweet treats

We get our ingredients from our friends at ChocChick, why not pay them a visit and buy one of their kits.

A fantastic week in progress!  With new connections and projects flourishing on all sides here’s the latest update:

A special shout to our resident designer Edda Jones who has just taken some sumptuous new photos of our chocolate – which will be up on our soon to be re done website.  Here one just to wet your appetite …mmmmm :-b

We have got top designer Tom Gilbert on board leading on the version 2 of the kit – it looks fantastic, moulds included!

We also have the excellent Laura Emerson joining us on PR – so start collecting clipping of our headlines!

We also have a mysterious lady of chocolate coming on board bringing several years chocolatiering experience at the highest level.

Also special thanks to our production maestro Elliott Tagg for working all his magic!

More news soon – perhaps a surprise or two!

With new flavours being developed as I speak more tasters may be required at any moment! stay in touch!

Our latest product is the fantastic Shazzie’s Naked Chocolate cacao and almond spread! Made with raw organic cacao, almonds and Brazil nuts, it tastes truly indulgent. However there’s no need to get the guilties as it’s actually low in saturated fats, sodium and refined sugar. As well as being sweetened with agave nectar and therefore having a low GI, this spread is also free from added emulsifiers and palm fat. Thanks to the cacao, it’s rich in calcium and magnesium and is also high in selenium, courtesy of the Brazil nuts. Like all our other nut butters, our cacao & almond spread is made in the UK.

Spread some cacao love today!

The health foodies at Navitas Naturals—a California-based sustainable biz—have a mission: to bring you tasty, traditional curatives while building the indigenous communities that grow them.

Read the rest here!