The Raw Cacao Challenge – Coffee Substituteby Thomas ClearyWhy would anyone want a coffee substitute, you ask? Caffeine jitters, restless legs, hungry all morning, afternoon energy drop, yellowing teeth, bad breath, restless sleep, even heart palpitations; it was time. When Matt Monarch of The Raw Food World proposed the challenge for someone to come forward ‘who is seriously willing to experiment with replacing coffee with cacao (for three months)’ I knew I should step up. The decision was then sweetened by Linus Gorpe of The Raw Chocolate Company who agreed to provide 90 Raw Chocolate Bars to help me through the 3 months. WOW! Long Term Habit Causes Concern While I am a fairly healthy, vegetarian, 42-year-old science teacher who gets exercise regularly, I had a long term coffee habit. I would wake early with three stout mugs of coffee then take a thermos of decaf along with me to work. It didn’t seem to matter what I had for breakfast, I was hungry well before lunch, due to the coffee. The caffeine was also causing, or at least contributing to, restless legs, jitters, energy peaks and drops, and poor digestion. Even heart palpitations, a benign, skipping-a-beat, thumping feeling in the chest, seemed to be increasing with coffee use. It really was time.
The transition to my coffee substitute was quite smooth. I began drinking a mixture of cacao powder, Maca powder (both can be ordered from The Raw Food World), and Teeccino (a carob, barley, chicory based coffee substitute). I would brew this up in my French Press. This mix had a full mouth feel, a slight coffee-like bitter taste, and an endorphin stimulant effect without the negative side effects I had been experiencing.
Raw Chocolate Bars!As time progressed I substituted cacao nibs (a whole food cacao that still includes the cacao butter) for the cacao powder. And then there was the Raw Chocolate Bars - Amazing!!! These bars are SOOOOO good they come with a warning label: “There is so much good stuff in this bar, we recommend you take it slooooow. Don’t scoff the lot in one sitting ~ unless you want an endorphic journey!”These totally raw, mulberry sweetened bars really were divine and to be rationed. I was worried about their stimulant content but found the endorphins pick-me-up to be lovely without any caffeine jitters. This was so satisfying to me that it was nearly four months before I thought to check if my ‘three month challenge’ was over! Throughout the challenge my energy has been great. I wake up well rested in the morning and the cacao gets my day off to a good start. I started working out at the local gym for the first time in years. I have heightened senses, alertness, and body awareness. I had a decrease in the heart palpitation symptoms and by the end of the 3 months they were nearly gone. Testing the Old HabitA few weeks after the challenge was over, I ran out of my cacao / Teeccino supplies, and decided to brew a pot of organic, fair trade, Swiss Water-Processed decaf coffee that I still had around. To my surprise, I had lost the acquired taste for coffee. I drank it for the next few days anyway, until my new shipment came in. By the second day the palpitations and the energy ups and down had returned. I was amazed at the effects and relieved when my coffee substitute arrived. I doubt I will ever go back to coffee!A special thanks to Matt Monarch of The Raw Food World and Linus Gorpe of The Raw Chocolate Company for providing the supplies for this challenge.
(for a 3-Cup Coffee Press |
Thomas’s Coffee Substitute Recipe
)
