Today, cacao is best known as an unprocessed superfood, the ideal treat for those opting to eat a raw diet. While the product is made from cocoa beans, it holds an incredible amount of healthy nutrients, unlike traditional cocoa. Supercharged with flavonoids and magnesium, the miracle food tastes slightly different to a regular chocolate bar, but is great for adding a sweet, chocolatey kick to smoothies or deserts. In this article, we will explore cacao further, discussing the array of health benefits the superfood holds, in addition to looking into cacao ceremonies and exactly what they entail.
What is cacao?
Both cacao and cocoa come from the Theobroma cacao tree, but the two products must not be confused. Raw cacao is created by cold-pressing fresh cocoa beans, preserving the natural nutritional content; cocoa, on the other hand, is extremely processed, roasting the beans at high temperatures before the pressing takes place, and adding vast amounts of sugar to the mixture. Heat treating the beans decreases the health benefits greatly. Simply put, cacao is the healthy version of cocoa. While the product may not be as sweet as your average chocolate, there is always the option to add a natural sweetener to the mix, such as a small amount of honey.
Even thousands of years ago, cacao was thought of as one of the best superfoods; the health benefits of the product were thought to be so strong that the product was once used as currency, considered a ‘food of the gods’ by the Aztecs and Mayans.
Health Benefits
Rich in an array of essential minerals, cacao boasts numerous health benefits for anyone that consumes it. Containing minerals such as sulphur, calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium, copper and manganese cacao is ideal for adding to a morning smoothie or sprinkling on a healthy dessert.
Thought to hold the highest magnesium content than any other food, cacao is great for balancing brain chemistry, ensuring strong bones, teeth and nails, in addition to regulating blood pressure and the heartbeat. Better still, the miracle product contains high antioxidant levels, supporting the nervous and cardiovascular systems, working to prevent havoc-causing free radicals from forming in the body. Boasting more flavonoids than any food currently on the market, is some respects cacao is believed to be more beneficial to the body than blueberries, and even green tea – with studies showing that the product contains up to four times as many antioxidants.
High levels of sulphur make cacao a great beauty product, too. Sulphur is essential for building strong hair and nails, in addition to ensuring healthy, beautiful skin, encouraging a younger looking appearance. Not only is cocoa great for the physical health, but also holds benefits ideal for mental-health. The mood-boosting product is thought to raise the level of serotonin in the brain, consequently helping to stabilise the mood, reduce symptoms of PMS and also act as an antidepressant.
What are Cacao Ceremonies?
For thousands of years, cacao has been used worldwide in a practice known as ‘cacao ceremonies’. During the ceremony, high-quality cacao is consumed to encourage the connection with your inner-self, thought to aid the opening of one’s heart chakra. Perfect for those working towards a certain goal, the ceremony encourages any transformation you are working towards; whether you’re hoping to develop a deeper connection with your inner-self, or looking to let go of past traumas, cacao can aid the insight necessary to move towards your end goal.
During the ceremony, only the highest grade of cacao is used. Grown in the rainforests of Guatemala, the product is nursed to life without chemicals, grown in the natural habitat that nature intended, as opposed to on huge, corporate farms. Once the beans are fully grown, they are carefully extracted from the pods and heated slightly over hot coals to encourage easy peeling. Before the getting ground in a traditional mill, the beans are hand-peeled by Guatemalan women, sifting out all the mouldy beans during the process to ensure maximum quality. The choice of mill used for the process was purpose build to grind cacao beans only, instead of being used to grind coffee and cocoa beans, too. Heated slightly as they are ground, the beans turn into a fine powder, sticking together gradually to form a thick paste. Once completed, the paste is crafted into blocks and referred to as ‘cacao liquor’.
Although cacao liquor is similar to that of the powder form, there is a couple of large differences. Unlike the liquor, powdered cacao has had most of the cacao butter removed during the process, while the cacao liquor contains both the power and the butter, allowing a richer flavour and additional health benefits. Typically, hot chocolate provided in yoga classes contains nutritious cacao butter in the mixture; so next time you’re in your yoga clothes, check for a slightly oily film on the surface of your hot chocolate – the perfect indication of the nutritious superfood.
History and Origins of Cacao Ceremonies
It’s believed that cacao was first used as a ceremonial medicine as early as 1900 BC. Traditionally, the chocolatey product was used by the Olmec people, before being taken on by the Aztec and Mayan cultures, using the cocoa liquor as a ritualistic medicine.
Typically used by the Ancient Mayan Shamans, ceremonial cacao was first used in the ceremony as an aid to travel between the worlds. To enable this, the Shamans often infused their cacao with spirit, thought to give the ceremonial cocoa another dimension, never present in other forms of cacao. Since this point, ceremonial cacao is seen as being an ancient form of alternative medicine, thought to open the door to the heart.
How do the Cacao Ceremonies work?
Typically, the ceremonies begin by the participants sitting in a sacred circle, partaking in shamanic prayer to honour the cacao spirit. After vocally asking for their intentions to be recognised, the participants drink the cacao together, served in a liquid form. Once the cacao has been consumed, people in the ceremony share with one another their reasons for being there, and the hopes they hold of what can be achieved. New participants are often amazed at the safe and intimate space, allowing even the shyest people to open up to strangers. Most often, the ceremony is finalised with dance, encouraging the ceremonial cacao to activate within the body.
Recipes
To get you started, here are a few of my favorite ways to make a delicious frothy cacao. I like to use a high-speed blender, which makes the drink super smooth and creamy, but if you don’t have access to a blender you can make it in a small pot on the stove with a whisk.
Feel free to adjust and combine whichever ingredients are calling you on the day! Recipes make 2 servings.
Morning Ritual — my favorite cacao tonic
50–60g chopped cacao (about 5 heaped tbsps) / 1/2 tsp cinnamon / 2 medjool dates / pinch of cayenne pepper / pinch sea salt / 750ml hot water (not boiling) / 250ml oat milk or other plant-based milk.
Often I’ll add 1/2 tsp of one or two nourishing herbal powders/adaptogens too, such as shatavari, medicinal mushrooms, ashwagandha, mucuna pruriens, or maca.Look into each herb and which might suit your body and lifestyle before incorporating.
Blend for 30 seconds until frothy and serve.
Iced Cacao — for hot days or an afternoon pick-up
In a blender, add:
4–5 tablespoons chopped ceremonial cacao paste / 1–2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup / pinch of sea salt / optional: cinnamon, other spices, or medicinal herb powders / 250ml hot water
Blend for 10 seconds on high to melt cacao and other ingredients together into a smooth paste, then add:
1 tray of ice cubes (approx 12) / splash of oat milk (or your plant milk of choice) / about 250ml cold water (or however much you find you need to top up to 1000ml total)
Blend again until everything is well-combined and smooth. Honestly, it is heaven-sent!
Meditation + Ceremony — ceremonial cacao for deep connection and practice
70g chopped cacao (about 7tbsps) / 1/2 tsp cinnamon / pinch of cayenne / pinch of sea salt / 750ml hot water (not boiling)
Combine in a pot on the stove for a more traditional experience or mix in a blender for a blissfully thick, frothy cup.
If sharing in ceremony, you can gently reheat the blended mix on the stove when you’re ready to serve. Always keep on low heat and never let the cacao come to a boil as this changes its molecular structure and the way our bodies are able to absorb its nutrients. Try unsweetened for a deeper, potent dose. Cacao’s bitter medicine is good for us! I like to give people the option to try it first without any sweetner, and then they can add a teaspoon of raw honey if they like.
Heart Beams — sweet self love and tenderness
40g chopped cacao (also optional to add 1 tbsp cacao powder for added richness) / 1/2 tsp cinnamon / 2 medjool dates / 1 tsp sprinkle of organic edible dried rose petals / 1 crushed cardamom pod / 1/2 tsp Shatavari powder / 750ml hot water (or try with this rose tulsi tea instead of using rose petals for a divine heart-opening flavor)
Blend all ingredients for 30 seconds until frothy.
While you’re making your tonic, take your time and give thanks to the alchemy of ingredients that are helping make this healing drink for you. As tea master Wu De teaches, the ceremony begins long before you sit to drink.
Morning Rituals
Taking the time to create space, make a nourishing tonic and sit down to sip cacao is a mindfulness practice in itself. When we strip away all the embellishments, distractions and layers, we see that mindfulness — being present with our own consciousness — is our humanity.
You don’t need cacao to make this a powerful ritual — you can try it with tea, coffee, or simply fresh water to experiment with what feels best and works for you to connect in mindfulness. Cacao tastes and feels divine to me and this assists me in experiencing the divine around and within with a sense of ease and grace, similar to the peace and calm awareness I find in tea ceremony, Cha Dao.
Here is a simple flow of how you may like to create a daily morning ritual. I hope it provides an easy framework that you can alter and explore deeper.
Opening Space:
A way of entering the space or beginning, setting it apart from the everyday and drawing you into sacred time and sacred space. You can start by tidying your practice area, so the space is clear and distraction-free. You might like to light a candle, burn some incense or bring something from nature, like a flower, into your space. Take a few deep breaths through your nose to settle into your body and the space, bringing your awareness to the sensation of the breath moving in and out. You can try placing your hands over your heart space and see how that feels. Trust whatever you need that day.
Gratitude:
Expressing gratitude alters your consciousness, changing your perception and awareness of what is truly meaningful and abundant. Here you are opening your heart to offer blessings to the world and everything around you. Connecting with the spirit of cacao, with the elements (fire, water, air, earth, ether), with the sun, sky, earth, plants, and ancestors, thanking each of them for their presence in your life. Gratitude is a celebration of being alive and receiving the infinite gifts of the Universe.
If a gratitude practice is new for you, you can use simple phrases such as “I’m grateful for …” or “I am so thankful that …” If you notice yourself struggling to find something you’re grateful for on a particular day (and we all have those days), a good place to start is by simply saying, “Today, I’m grateful to be alive.”
Intention:
Setting an intention is a way of signalling to consciousness that you’re ready, willing and open for whatever is to come. It’s a way to connect in with your higher self and ask for what you need. When setting your intention, you can say something like “My intention for today is …” or “Today, I will …” Your aim is to express a specific phrase or word that reminds you of what you’d like to embody during the day.
Once you’ve spoken your intention into existence, take your first sip of cacao mindfully and bring your awareness to all the sensations of your body — delight in the experience of the senses!
Now is a beautiful point to take time for sharing if you’re drinking cacao with someone else, meditation, journalling, stretching, or reading a passage from a book that inspires compassion, love or creativity in you.
Closing Space:
Honoring the time, space, yourself, and all the components that came together to create the experience. Close in whatever way feels most special to you. You might like to speak a prayer, sing a song, bring your hands together and bow to the Earth (and your own heart), or give yourself/loved one a hug. Welcome the mystical unfolding of the day. You’re ready to meet life with love, compassion and energy!
You may notice you don’t need coffee — as much or at all — to feel energized. Perhaps you notice that you don’t react as quickly to a triggering situation that day or that you feel more connected and grounded in your body as you move through the world. Embrace whatever comes as a result of your practice and watch yourself to grow in new ways! I’d love to hear what you experience in the comments if you’d like to share.
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