Cheap Used Car for Sale: Cacao Powder Is A Healthy Super Food

There’s been a lot of discussion about free radicals and antioxidants, but some are unsure of what these terms mean in regard to our health. Exposure to the sun, cigarette smoke, pollution, and toxic chemicals, such as chemical weed killers, and unhealthy foods can all release free radical activity in the body, however they also can be produced by factors like stress, damaging healthy tissue. Antioxidants in the foods you eat reverse that process, helping to combat disease by zapping harmful free radicals.

That’s where cacao comes in. Cacao Vida does sell organic cacao powder with these unique properites. Raw cacao powder contains more than 300 different chemical compounds and nearly four times the antioxidant power of your average dark chocolate – more than 20 times than that of blueberries. Protein, calcium, carotene, thiamin, riboflavin, magnesium, sulfur, flavonoids, antioxidants, and essential fatty acids are also present. The precise blend of all these elements combined serve to kick in naturally occurring phytochemicals that have incredible benefits throughout the body, such as lowered LDL cholesterol, improved heart function, and reduced cancer risk.

High in antioxidants Cacao blocks harmful free radicals in the body. It also protects the body against many diseases including premature aging. Cacao has good amount of vitamin C and magnesium, which helps in protecting the skin and keeping it healthy.

For those who think chocolate must be bad for you (it has to be if it tastes so good, right?), rest assured: there’s only one gram of sugar in a half-cup serving of raw cacao. It’s what’s done with it that makes the difference. Unfortunately, high heat from processing and refining to produce different types of cocoa or chocolate damages the cocoa bean’s micronutrients, along with the health benefits.

Not only that, but additions like high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), sugar, and partially hydrogenated oils limit the amount of actual cocoa, and dairy products actually block the absorption of antioxidants, so if it’s nutritive benefits you’re looking for, your average chocolate bar isn’t likely to supply much.

The cacao tree produces clusters of pod-shaped fruits that contain seeds, or beans, used to make cocoa. The seeds are fermented to develop their flavor and color, and then they’re dried, roasted and ground into a paste. The fat, or cocoa butter, is removed from the paste, leaving the dry unsweetened cocoa powder. The cocoa butter is remixed with some portion of the solids and sweeteners to create chocolate. One tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder has 12 calories, 1 gram of protein and one-tenth of a gram of sugar. The same portion has 1.8 grams of fiber, which is 5 percent of the daily intake for men and 7 percent for women.

Flavonoids are the plant-based substances responsible for many of cocoa’s health benefits. There are many different types of flavonoids, but cocoa is a good source of two: epicatechin and catechin. Natural unsweetened cocoa powder has 196 milligrams of epicatechin in every 100 grams of powder, compared with unsweetened chocolate squares which have 142 milligrams and dark chocolate candy with 84 milligrams. Sweetened cocoa mix and milk chocolate have even fewer flavonoids. The flavonoids in cocoa function as antioxidants that help prevent systemic inflammation. Epicatechin relaxes the muscles in blood vessels, which improves blood flow and helps lower blood pressure, according to research published in the March 2012 issue of the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.”