Did you know that chocolate is actually good for you? YAY! Pardon me while I do a Happy Dance!
Chocolate comes from the cacao bean and contains an abundance of phytochemicals called flavonoids, which are the same skinfood, superfood antioxidants found in red wine, green tea, and virtually all fruits and veggies.
A good rule of thumb to follow is the darker the chocolate, the higher itsnutritional superfood benefits.
Cacao nibs, raw organic cocoa powder, and high-percentage organic dark chocolate have the most healthful antioxidants. Look for chocolate that's at least 70% cacao to optimize the antioxidant power and health benefits, and choose raw cacao for exponentially more magical superfood powers.
Both are consideredchocolateand they're derived from the same cacao bean, but one is raw, the other is processed.Cacaois raw, derived from the raw cacao bean.Cocoacomes from fermented, roasted cacao beans.
Cacao is the purest form of chocolate you can consume.
Cacao is known to have a higher antioxidant content than cocoa.Both are seriously packed with superfood nutrients, however raw cacao is considerably more potent with vitamins and nutrients.
It's this very abundance of superfood antioxidants in dark chocolate that positively affects the mood by stimulating your endorphins. Endorphins are hormones in your brain and nervous system that help to relieve pain or stress, and boost happiness.
Increased endorphins result in that sensual, euphoric, blissfully happy, fully satiated feeling.
The Amazing Health Benefits of Chocolate
- Reduces stress levels
- Strengthens gut health
- Boosts immunity
- Improves heart health
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves blood flow
- and it's GREAT for your skin!
Additionally chocolate contains a plethora of beneficial micro-nutrients including copper, potassium, iron, fiber, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, zinc, and selenium. Sounds like a multi-vitamin, but it tastes so darn good...
Here's a rich and sensual recipe for a cup of liquid love to sweeten your day or evening. Drinking chocolate is more like a dessert than a beverage as it's quite thick and rich.
Use the info above to help navigate your cocoa/cacao superfood choices and I put a couple links at the bottom of the post to some chocolate bars that I love for this recipe.
From one chocolate lover to another, you really can't go wrong hereunless you burn it,so keep an eye on the heat and be patient with the constant stirring. It will be so worth it!
- 1 pint (16 oz) milk of choice dairy, almond, or coconut
- 4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate bar, chopped
- 2 oz milk chocolate bar, chopped
- sweeten to taste with your of choice, stevia, honey, maple syrup, coconut sugar or granulated sugar, or no sweetener at all
- apinch of Himalayan sea salt
Warm about 1/3 of the milk on low heat with the chocolate and salt, stirring gently, but constantly until the chocolate is melted. Add the rest of the milk and heat until thoroughly warm. Vigorously whisk the hot chocolate until completely smooth. The drinking chocolate should be thickdecadent consistency.
Serve piping hot with a dollop of whipped cream/coconut cream, garnish with a cinnamon stick, chocolate curls, or a heart shaped marshmallow.
Add a twist to the recipe withtheseflavor-boosting hacks!
We recommend choosing 1-2 variations unless you're really comfortable combining spices in the kitchen.
- If you like chai you can simmer some spices into the milk such as 1-2 star anise, a couple slices of fresh turmeric or ginger, a cinnamon stick, and or a few cadamom pods
- substitute some of the milk with strong coffee
- add a dash ofcayenne pepper into the mix
- add a splash of liqueur such as rum, Bailey's or Kahlua at the end
- sprinkle with ground, cardamom, cinnamon and/or nutmeg
SpaGoddess encourages you to carefully select the highest quality ingredients you can find for your recipes to achieve exceptional and even mind-blowing results in the kitchen as well in your skincare products!
For a completely raw, organic cacao we recommendDivine Organics Sacred Cacaogrown in Equador. The Divine Organics is unsweetened, so take that into account when adding your sweetener of choice as unsweetened cacao is quite bitter. We love this88% Dark Cocoa Bar made by Endangered Species Chocolate. We also love that they work with small farms and are Non-GMO and Fair Trade plus they donate 10% of sales of this bar to help save the panthers. Endangered Species brand also makes a delicious48% Milk Chocolate Barthat's made with all-natural, shade-grown, ethically traded, non-gmo, single-origin smooth milk chocolate with 10% going to save the sea otters (yay!).
Use these high quality environmentally friendly chocolate bars, in this drinking chocolate recipe, and you are sure to have a sweet, healthy, and very memorable treat!
Truly enjoy!
xoxo
SpaGoddess
