Cacao is the raw seeds of the cacao pods sourced from the Theobroma cacao which is name of the tree on which the pods grow. Cacao gets name from the Mayans who use call it “KaKawa”. Mayans called cacao as food of gods and used it as a ceremonial offering to gods. During Mayan civilization cacao was not grown commercially like today and it grew in the deep forests from where it was sourced. There were more than 10 varieties of cacao varieties which were available and some of them are almost extinct or rare. Cacao beans post roasting are called cocoa and you see cocoa as a term which is used usually by brands to represent the percentage of cocoa in their products.
Cacao beans are a rich source of compounds like Theobromine, phenylethylamine, Polyphenols, Caffeine and healthy fats. Each of these elements are known for their health benefits. Beyond these cacao has small quantities of various minerals like iron, Calcium, Magnesium etc which are beneficial to our health. Most of the compounds mentioned are the ones which give the bitterness to the chocolate we consume. Manufacturers to make the their products palatable to masses sweeten their products with various sweeteners. We will be talking purely about only the important elements of cacao which Theobromine, Polyphenols, Theophylline and Phenylethylamines in this article.
Theobromine
This is the compound because of which the tree where cacao grows gets its name. Theobromine has similar properties like caffeine and give the bitterness to the cacao. Theobromine is a compound which provides various benefits and some of them are provided below:
Helps in blood flow: Theobromine expands blood vessels for blood to flow freely and increase performance of our heart. As theobromine helps in increase free blood flow its helps in avoiding artery blocks which is one of the reasons of heart related ailments. It also is proven to reduce blood pressure.
Improves Cardiovascular Health: Due to its antioxidant properties, Theobromine helps in reduction of inflammation in heart and also helps in improving the performance of cellar layers of our arteries to pump blood across the body.
Improves Lipid Profile: Theobromine helps in increasing good cholesterol and reducing bad cholesterol in our body improving our lipid profile.
Stimulates Mind: Theobromine like Caffeine helps in increasing cognitive function and mood improvement. It has neuroprotective properties improving cognitive function. That’s why doctors ask old age people to consume dark chocolate regularly to help with their cognitive and cardiac health.
Healthy Skin: Theobromine is also known to protect skin form various harmful and aging impacts. Due to its antioxidant properties, it helps in keeping the skin young protecting it from free radicals. Free radicals are unstable cells which form in the body and can cause harm to other cells causing various long-term ailments.
Polyphenols
There is a lot of talk about Polyphenols in chocolate. These are called flavanols. Cacao has different type of flavanols out of which important ones are Catechins, Procyanidins and Epicatechin. Flavanols have antioxidants properties and help in maintaining cardio vascular health, reduce inflammation in the body. Flavanols in cacao help in stimulating the growth of stem cells which are very important for our bodies to heal internal inflammation. Stem cells are unique cells which can take any
Phenylethylamines
This is the compound which associates chocolate with love or romance. Phenylethylamines are released in mind during early stages of love or romance creating that nice feeling. Cacao is a rich source of phenylethylamines which creates that nice feeling when you consume the dark chocolate. This helps in releasing dopamine in our brain making us feel happy. That’s why it’s also called love molecule. Phenylethylamines in dark chocolate are also known to help in increasing energy levels and managing depression.
Theophylline
Theophylline is known to relax the muscles around lungs and airways to make it easier to breathe. It is often used to treat asthma and other lungs based disorders like COPD. It also is a anti-inflammatory agent and known to improve heart health as well. Cacao is a rich source of Theophylline.
Now that we know what kind of compounds are in cacao and their health benefits the question many might have which is best chocolate to consume. Anything above 70% Cocoa is best source of beneficial compounds. The sweeter versions of the chocolate like milk or white chocolate have low levels of cacao and have low quantities of these compounds.
That’s why doctors and nutritionists suggest to have dark chocolate on a daily basis to keep our ourselves healthy.
Note: All the above information is collected through reading various proven research reports and data available on the web.
