Is there Caffeine in Cacao??
by Wilderness
Thank you so much for guiding this detox. The recipes were delicious, not just for a cleanse, but for regular every day eating. It was really helpful to have a focus for the week. It's difficult for me to do something like this on my own, but knowing there was a whole community out there along with me, and you two as "cheerleaders" made it so much easier. It took awhile for my bowels to get going, but they eventually began holding up their end of the bargain. I had a wicked headache for over a day, that I finally had to take medication for, or I wouldn't have been able to work. So that was the only time I had to veer from the cleanse. I noticed from the first day that I had more energy, didn't have my usual late afternoon tiredness, went to bed earlier. I tend towards insomnia. Most of the nights my sleep was better, but the night after I had a cacao shake as my afternoon snack was definitely a difficult night. Too bad, because I loved the shake. Does cacao have more caffeine than processed chocolate? I'm wondering because yesterday I had a very small piece of cacao fudge in the late afternoon and another one around 6pm. I woke up during the night for 4 hours, from 12:30-4:30am. Usually, that amount of chocolate, even a few pieces of a 70% chocolate bar, wouldn't do that to me. I will definitely do the cleanse again. Thank you again for this wonderful gift you are giving to the community. Blessings, Wilderness Answer: Thanks for the great feedback, Wilderness and for this great question about cacao. Raw Cacao is a very powerful superfood with very stimulating effects. It contains a bitter alkaloid named Theobromine that is similar to Caffeine but not quite the same. In general it produces less intense and more beneficial effects...but it can still keep you up! Theobromine is much more gentle on the central nervous system and adrenal systems than caffeine but is more stimulating to the heart. As a myocardial stimulator and vasodilator it increases heart rate while dilating blood vessels, generally creating a reduction in blood pressure. For these reasons theobromine is used to treat cardiac failure and angina. Raw cacao is a great tool to use for clear focused energy and stimulation but it is not to be underestimated. Unlike processed chocolate, it retains all of the powerful alkaloids of the original plant. So a piece of our Raw Cacao Fudge will contain much more active theobromine than the same size piece of processed chocolate. We are learning more and more about the power of raw cacao as we go. It is a powerful food to be used with reverence and respect. Of course, it is making more sense now that its Latin name is Theobroma, or "food of the Gods." Thank you for this question as it inspired us to include more detailed information about cacao's stimulating effects on our Healthy Chocolate page and to include warnings on all of our cacao recipes. I hope you continue to enjoy the delicious and healing effects of raw cacao...maybe just earlier in the day or when you nee the extra boost.
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