Cocoa was the most precious gold of the Mayan Empire due to all its good properties. It is obtained from the seeds that are in the pods of the cacao tree; pods that are born from a flower similar to a wild orchid that leaves the trunk amazing grass reviews.
Today is considered without a doubt a great superfood for all the benefits it brings to health. Therefore, although it is the key ingredient of one of the most acclaimed gastronomic pleasures in history-chocolate-you have to differentiate these two foods very well.
The first is a superfood , a low-fat powder that is obtained by grinding cocoa nuts; the second is a mixture of ingredients, many of them refined, such as sugar, fats and dairy products.
6 benefits of raw cocoa for health
Raw cocoa is one of the foods with the highest concentration of antioxidants, with a score of 95,000 units of ORAC: 14 times more than red wine and 21 more than green tea.
In addition, it is rich in one of the minerals with more deficits, magnesium, and a small serving of 30 g more than covers the recommended iron per day. Other minerals, such as calcium, phosphorus, copper, manganese and, to a lesser extent, selenium, potassium and zinc, are also present.
The benefits of raw cocoa are multiple:
- Diabetes: helps improve insulin resistance and glucose metabolism. Its pro-anthocyanins prevent cataracts and are effective in the prevention and cure of nephrotoxicity due to diabetes.
- Blood pressure: its large flavonoid content makes it a good ally to regulate it; in turn stimulates the production of nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels.
- Obesity: helps to model the metabolism of lipids, reduces the synthesis of fatty acids and increases thermogenesis, the production of heat in adipose tissue.
- Brain: its flavonoids exert a neuroprotective role, since they improve the functions of memory and the capacity of learning. Epicatechin and catechin have been shown to have beneficial effects in the prevention of Alzheimer’s.
- Cardiovascular health: flavonoids such as procyanidins, catechins and epicatechins, with an antiplatelet effect on platelets, help prevent arteriosclerosis and thrombosis.
- Healthy skin: flavonoids increase the elasticity, hydration and density of the skin. In addition, epicatechin elevates oxygen saturation in hemoglobin, which stimulates skin circulation and contributes to endogenous photoprotection.