Who doesn’t appreciate cacao? It’s where our chocolates come from, and if there has been ever a first love for you, it’s probably this gooey little thing.

But, there’s more to cacao than it just being a source for chocolates. There is history- an interesting one at that- and it is even important that we acknowledge it.

So, what is cacao?

Cacao vs. Chocolate: The Aztec Culture and Chocolates

Here are some fun facts about Aztec chocolates:

• Were not usually sweet.
• Didn’t melt in the mouth.
• Sometimes, came mixed with human blood.

It does not take a genius to understand that Aztec chocolate was not the treat to which we are so accustomed. The chocolate industry deems cacao valuable, and why would they not.

In the seventies, many chocolate companies like Cadbury marketed their chocolate by associating it with the Aztec and boasted of its exoticism. However, none of the varieties available was even remotely close to the Aztec version of chocolate.

The Aztecs had cacao as a drink and not as solid food. Wines and beverages were made from the cocoa pod. The cacao bean was also utilized in many of the Aztecs medicine elixirs.

The Aztecs believed that cacao was divine. When Europeans started coming to the New World, it was Columbus and his crew who first discovered the world of chocolates. When they seized a canoe at Guanaja, they saw something that looked like almonds, but tasted differently – it was cacao beans, which was then used as a source of currency in Mesoamerica.

How did The Use of Chocolates Evolve?

Sure, chocolate is everything that is good in the world. In fact, chocolate is naturally associated with sensual pleasure and love.

Cacao is processed to make ready made chocolate look shiny and flawless. It is, however, not the main ingredient of the regular milk chocolate. Even the most commercially available dark chocolates that are made of cacao are always heated up to high temperatures before being alkalized. It is the hydraulic pressure that ultimately gives you the finest chocolate taste you enjoy.

Unfortunately, to make a chocolate that tastes great for months or possibly even years, manufactures use various methods to extend shelf life.  However, almost all of cacao’s psychoactive compounds are destroyed in this process.

The Other Side: Medicinal Use

Chocolate is not only a food, but also a medicine – a delicious one at that.

Cacao’s medicinal properties have been noted to alleviate the following conditions in the body:

• Fever
• Poor appetite
• Anemia
• Reduction of breast milk production
• Mental fatigue
• Tuberculosis
• Kidney stones
• Low virility.
• Improves digestion and bowel movement
• Reduces heart problems
• Helps in the release of dopamine and the endorphin phenylethylamine
• Relieves stress and anxiety

Even today, cacao has not lost its importance; and with our love for chocolates, it never will. Nutritious and tasty, cacao is the ideal super food!

With that being said, always opt for unprocessed chocolate.  100% organic cacao powder contains all the benefits of the cacao bean as it is found in nature.