Raw Chocolate-Harmful for your health

The latest and greatest “so-called” super food being promoted in the raw food world is raw chocolate, also known as cacao. I myself was excited when I first heard about it. But after trying it, I didn’t feel that great. I asked others how they felt after consuming cacao and there were no complaints. That was then. After a few months, I started to get more and more complaints from people who were taking cacao. It didn’t surprise me because chocolate in general is not good for us. Other than the enzyme issue, why would raw cacao be so healthy for us?

That is when I decided to do research and I found some scary facts. What’s even scarier is that people are so addicted to it, that even after learning of the high possibility of harmful effects, they keep consuming it. What concerns me the most is the amount people are eating. If someone took a pinch, let’s say once a week, then maybe they wouldn’t have to worry. When I see people being lead to believe that there are many health benefits to consuming tablespoons every day; that is just crazy!

If you are eating a raw food diet because you want to find a natural toxin that will make you feel high, then you have found a good product. Beware, because there are many downsides to it. If you are eating a raw diet for health benefits, consuming chocolate in any form should be off your list and out of your mind.

In one of the best overall raw guides ever written “Diet by Design: Fruits, Nuts and Natural Foods” (available at www.rawlife.com) it says the following about cacao:

Chocolate and cacao are outright health hazards due to the chemicals, contaminants, and additives they contain. The chemicals within chocolate are called methylxanthines. They can be further classified as theobromine, caffeine, and theophylline, all of which have deleterious effects on the body. Theobromine is known to cause a host of symptoms including abnormal glandular growth, nervousness, depression, anxiety, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, and itching. Caffeine is highly suspected of being a carcinogen, and is directly linked to heart and circulatory problems, glandular difficulties, nervous disorders, osteoporosis, birthing abnormalities, and so forth. Theophylline causes stomach problems, nausea, vomiting, and nervous disorders.

The processing of cacao beans into powder and chocolate is an unsanitary, risky procedure to say the least. To be blunt-chocolate and cacao are laced with animal feces and hair, insects, and molds. The carcinogenic mold called aflatoxin has been found in large quantities on cacao beans.

Allowable limits have been set by the FDA regarding rodent feces and insect parts in chocolate and cocoa! As quoted from Poison With a Capital C, “…every time you eat a chocolate bar, it may contain a rodent hair and 16 insect parts and still carry the blessing of the FDA.”, and “For chocolate powder or cakes there must not be more than 75 insect fragments in three tablespoons of powder.”, and “Four percent of cacao beans may be infested by insects. Animal excreta (such as visible rat droppings) must not exceed 10 milligrams per pound”.

Now, after learning this information, people will still continue to indulge, making excuses to keep eating it. Please note I have no reason to write this information, other than to make you aware of the truth. In fact, I would make a lot of money if I sold raw chocolate and products that contain it. But I just can’t do that, knowing the truth.

I give lectures all over the world, mostly in the United Stated. I have already giving over 100 lectures this year alone. Just about every lecture I give, I have someone come up to me telling me that they experienced one or more of the symptoms above after consuming cacao. Now if you are eating cacao and have not had symptoms, that doesn’t mean it’s okay for you. It’s just a matter of time, so why not stop now.

More true info on the negative effects of cacao…

Since my last article on the negative effects of cacao, many people have agreed with me how toxic it really is. On the other hand there were some people who would not change their mind about it no matter what the cost. In fact those people got angry with me. The truth can hurt, but I’m just the messenger. As I said in my last article about cacao, I wish it were healthy, but the fact is not! Weather you are willing to admit it or not is your decision, but there are so many foods that are proven to be healthy, why continue to take some that are up for debate? Many people are being mislead to believe cacao and other foods raw healthy. Many of the people who promote it, have a good heart and really feel it is a good food, but I know there are many who sell this product knowing it is toxic and addictive, just to make money.

I recently spoke to a good friend of my Jeremy Saffaron. Jeremy has been involved in the raw food community for a very long time. He has a raw food recipe book out and also and excellent resource guide. Jeremy told me he was the first person to do any raw research with cacao. He spent 4 years (1999 -2003) studying the effects of cacao and have dedicated countless hours surfing the net, talking with specialists, and even got involved with the university of hawaii who’s agriculture branch is looking into raw cacao toxicity.

When Jeremy first found out about cacao he was so excited about it. He sold it for a short while (2001-2002) and was the first person to let others in the raw food world know about it. Again I repeat, JEREMY WAS THE FIRST PERSON IN THE RAW WORLD to let others know about cacao.

He turning on many raw food promoters to it because he believed at the time that is was an amazing discovery as a great tasting nutritionally loaded food and it was also a way to connect with his friends who were still addicted to cooked chocolate even though they were raw otherwise. Another big turn on was the fact that many of the daily coffee drinkers he knew in the yoga scene were glad to switch to raw cacao from their roasted coffee. Jeremy told me he never drank coffee in his life but as a kid did eat chocolate from the store. But 13 years ago he stopped eating chocolate because he found out about the bugs that were in all chocolate. (I mentioned that in my last article about cacao.)

With all the excitement about raw chocolate and all the benefits, Jeremy was thrilled to get the product to the public. However when Jeremy was selling it he did warn people that all the studies on it were not in yet so to be careful not to over due it until further research is conducted. It was also very cost prohibitive at the time at twenty five cents a bean plus each bean had to be personal peeled to eat them. (By the way, this should be a hint about how much can and should be eaten in one sitting)

After eating cacao for six months, Jeremy didn’t really experience negative side effects but he noticed those around him whose health and digestion weren’t as efficient as his started to experience issues with the cacao. That was the first sign that lead him to bean to study the negative effects of cacao.

I myself have a similar experience. I consumed cacao in small amounts as well, but unlike Jeremy, I felt the difference every time I tried it. It didn’t make me feel good. A good friend of mine, doctor Fred Bisic a raw foodists for about 40 years also confirmed what Jeremy and I suspected, Cacao is Toxic!

Jeremy’s findings were as follows:

*No animal in nature will eat it unless tricked into it with milk or sugar.

*If you can convince an animal to eat it then it greatly shortens their life span if it doesn’t kill them immediately.

*The native people who ate it only ate the fruit of the theobroma (which contains all the benefits and none of the detriments) and only used the cacao seed as an addition to their psychedelic brew ahyuwasca and as a medicine in emergences.

*Native people did not eat it as a food nor as a supplement, only for sacred use.

*When Native people did eat it, they only at the fruit which contained the benefits without the detriments.

*The seeds were only an addition to their psychedelic brew ahyuwasca and as a medicine in emergencies.

*Cacao is one of the most addictive substances known

*Cacao is super toxic to the liver

*It acts as a stimulant and agitates the kidneys and adrenal glands this can cause: insomnia, nightmares, waking up in the middle of the night, shakes, and extreme energy shifts

*It is extremely clogging due to the toxins carried in the oils contained within. Plus the fat chains are highly complex and require tons of work to break down.

* The result of long term use is a high level of liver and blood toxicity which can cause extreme: mood swings, angry outbursts, violence, depression, paranoia, & dizziness.

*In some cases of long term use there are also pschycological effects that range from addictive tendencies, sexual dysfunction, violent outbursts, lack of reasoning, and decreased will.

*At mega does of 40 plus beans it acts as a hallucinogen and can cause many effects attributed to LSD or Hashish

Jeremy concludes that his personal study of him (it took 1.5 years of him eating it to see extreme negative effects) and his friends showed him clearly the negative effects of cacao.

From my study it seems that the people using cooked cacao powder had less toxic effects than those using roasted cacao beans whole and far far less than those using whole raw cacao beans.

There are a good amount of people who have experienced the same negative affect of cacao and have changed their opinion about it being such a super food. I personal can’t see anyone taking it for a long time not feeling the negative effects on some level. A big problem is, at that point so many people are already addicted to it and can’t stop even if they wanted to. Very similar to the addiction people have to cooked food. They just can’t except that it’s not healthy for them so they make excuses to keep consuming it.

Jeremy and I both feel the sadness that raw food promoters, command so much public attention and use it to sell anything they can. It should be information not products that people seek out.

The bottom line is no matter what someone feels, or believes Cacao is toxic! Science will confirm it. You may be the drug Cacao and not have yet felt any negative affects, but in time you will. Please do not wait to experience the negative affects and get off this drugs as soon as you can.

For those of you who say, I am always knocking someone else’s glory or product, I can just reply by saying I am looking out for personally renunciation, I am looking out for the person’s health. That is the most important thing to me. I know what it is like to live with disease and I want to help as many people as possible avoid it. I am so blessed to know people like Jeremy who have an open mind and continue to share the same mission with me of bringing the truth to the surface and helping others.

Jeremy and I acknowledge there are many toxic things that people do everyday from using a computer to, driving a car, from drinking coffee to smoking to all sorts of wild practices and toxic substances and experiences. Each one must make a choice and it’s our hope that people with power use it responsibly.

Jeremy wanted me to share with my readers a warning to always study and research before promoting or selling anything. He learned the hard way. Years ago he promoted the use of coconuts because he lived in the tropics and knew the benefits well. The down side was people wanting coconuts and not realizing that the answer was to go where they grow. Instead they found a way to engage in exploitation and buy toxic famaldhyde dipped bleached nuts wrapped in plastic irradiated from Thailand. He went back and tried to dissuade people from eating the toxic nuts but they didn’t seem to care. Cacao seems the same, those who want to engage with it will toxic or not. (Once again after recently getting tons of coconuts right off the trees in Florida, I feel such a difference from the Thai coconuts)

Jeremy’s final stand on Cacao is it is for medicinal, sacred and entertainment usage only, it is not a health food! My personal final stand is, we should only consume foods for nutritional needs, anything will lead to disease, especially the way we overuse it!