Cacao is the seed of the fruit of the cacao tree and the main ingredient of chocolate. It is rich in flavonoids and antioxidants, taking even more than açaí and blueberry, which brings the following health benefits:
- Improve mood and combat depression and anxiety by increasing the production of serotonin, the hormone of good mood.
- Prevent thrombosis due to the presence of flavonol;
- Fight high cholesterol by being rich in antioxidants and prevent the formation of atheroma plaques;
- Prevent atherosclerosis by preventing the accumulation of cholesterol in the blood vessels;
- Prevent anemia, being rich in iron;
- Reduce the risk of diabetes due to flavonoid antioxidants and to help fight against insulin resistance;
- Prevent problems like dementia and stroke by improving blood circulation, cognition and memory;
- Reduces pressure because it improves the quality of blood vessels;
- It helps to regulate the intestine because it has flavonols and catechins that reach the large intestine where they can increase the amount of bifidobacteria and lactobacillus, which are good for health;
- Helps control inflammation, which can be observed by reducing the amount of C-reactive protein in the blood.
To get these benefits, you should consume 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder per day or 40 g of bitter chocolate, which is equivalent to 3 about 3 squares of the bar.
It is important to remember that only bitter chocolate, with at least 70% cocoa, also brings health benefits, because milk chocolate and white chocolate contain little amount of cocoa and lots of sugar and fat. In cooking, cocoa can be added in cakes, pasta, biscuits or in fruit salad.
In addition, cocoa powder should not be consumed along with calcium-rich products such as milk, cheese and yogurt because it has oxalic acid, a substance that decreases the absorption of calcium in the intestine.
Nutrition information and how to use it
The following table shows the nutritional composition of 100 g of cocoa powder.
| Amount in 100 g of cocoa powder | |||
| Energy: 228 kcal | |||
| Protein | 19 g | Calcium | 128 mg |
| Carbohydrate | 57 g | Iron | 13 mg |
| Fat | 23.24 g | Sodium | 60 mg |
| Fibers | 33 g | Phosphor | 734 mg |
| Vitamin B1 | 40 mcg | Vitamin B2 | 40 mcg |
| Magnesium | 499 mg | Potassium | 1524 mg |
How to eat fruit cacao
To consume the fruit of the cacao tree one must cut it with a machete to break its bark that is very hard. Then the cocoa can be opened and a whitish bunch covered by a very sweet viscous substance can be observed, whose interior has the dark cocoa, which is known worldwide.
It is possible to suck just the white gum that surrounds the cocoa seed, but you can also chew it all, also eating its interior, the dark part is very bitter and does not look like the chocolate that is so well known.
How chocolate is made
So that these seeds can be transformed into powder or chocolate, they must be harvested from the tree, dried in the sun and then roasted and kneaded. The resulting batter is kneaded until the cocoa butter is extracted. This paste is mainly used to make milk chocolate and white chocolate, while pure cocoa is used in making chocolate in bitter or half bitter.
Cocoa Brownie with Flaxseed
Ingredients
- 2 cups brown sugar tea
- 1 cup of flaxseed flour
- 4 eggs
- 6 tablespoons unsalted margarine
- 1 ¼ cup cocoa powder (150g)
- 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
- 3 tablespoons white wheat flour
Method of preparation
Melt the butter in a water bath, add the cocoa and stir until smooth. Beat the egg whites, add the egg yolks and continue beating until the mass becomes light. Add the sugar and beat until homogenized. While mixing slowly with a spatula, add the cocoa, wheat and flaxseed until uniform. Bake in preheated oven at 230ºC for about 20 minutes, as the surface must be dry and the interior must be moist.
Learn the difference between the types of chocolate and their benefits.
Other foods that improve mood
Watch in the video below what are the other foods that also improve mood:
