Who can say no to a chocolate treat? Chocolate is a significant weakness for anyone with a sweet tooth, but your preferred form could help or hurt your health. Raw cacao powder benefits can change how you indulge in desserts, drinks, and snacks.
Raw cacao powder can boost your health in many ways and is a wonderful way to treat yourself. Here’s what it can do for you.
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What is raw cacao powder?
Before you start drinking cacao every day, you might wonder where it comes from. Chocolate is everywhere, but many people don’t understand how it comes to be on their store shelves.
Companies produce it by harvesting beans from the cacao tree. It originates from the Amazon river basins and produces fruit every four years that contains cacao beans. The beans remain inside the pods until harvesting occurs and workers break the hard outer shells open.
When chocolate production companies grind cacao beans into a powder, they can become cacao or cocoa. Machines must grind cacao beans at 90-100 C to ferment them and create the classic chocolate flavor.
The beans remain cacao powder if the grinding process uses lower temperatures. Less heat provides more nutritional properties, and cacao can be an excellent addition to a plant-based diet.

What are raw cacao powder benefits?
Now that you know the difference between cacao and cocoa, it’s time to learn how raw cacao powder can benefit your health. It may support your existing treatment plans for current conditions or prevent possible future diagnoses.
1. It strengthens your enamel
During a cleaning, your dentist may notice your enamel breaking down or wearing away. It can leave reddened lines around your gums, causing inflammation and decay. You may experience these symptoms if you have genetically weakened gums or regularly consume acidic foods and drinks.
Your diet can support your enamel, so you don’t have to worry about your dental health. Strengthening your enamel is one of the best cacao powder benefits anyone can enjoy.
Raw organic cacao beans have more calcium than cow’s milk, so it’s an excellent supplement to your oral hygiene routine. Drinking it in smoothies or eating it in foods will protect your teeth and even prevent stains from foods and drinks that are part of your everyday diet. Next time you want to try a whitening treatment, cacao powder will keep your smile pearly white while fighting tooth decay.

2. It can reduce your cancer risk
Antioxidants are some of the most significant cacao powder benefits for people of all ages. The beans naturally have a high level of antioxidants in the form of fatty acids. When machines grind the beans at high temperatures, the heat burns the antioxidants away. Cacao powder retains those fatty acids, which reduce the risk of developing cancer.
Cancerous cells aren’t only weak to treatments like chemotherapy radiation. Antioxidants can also eliminate them at early stages by stopping the apoptosis process that makes cancerous masses grow.
3. It helps your gut
Everyone has bacteria in their gut that breaks food down into waste. When that bacteria becomes weakened by illnesses or antibiotic medication, you may need to spend a day or two eating easily digestible foods like soup. You can also experience symptoms like flatulence or cramping after eating.
When raw cacao powder reaches your gut, it promotes healthy bacterial growth to improve your digestive tract. It’s an excellent dietary addition while you’re recovering from a stomach virus or if you need to take a daily probiotic as recommended by your doctor.
4. It minimizes inflammation
Reduced inflammation is one of the cacao powder benefits that help your entire body. Research shows that individuals who ingest it exhibit anti-inflammatory properties because the antioxidants eliminate oxidative stress that affects your cells.
That’s a significant reason why cacao powder benefits for skin are so effective. Cellular inflammation can cause side effects like itching, redness, scaling, and burning. Although you should always get advice from your doctor about the best course of treatment, anti-inflammatory foods like cacao powder can provide additional cellular relief.
5. It stabilizes your blood sugar
Antioxidants in cacao powder serve many health functions. One of those is stabilizing your blood sugar. After absorbing into your bloodstream, cacao flavanols encourage greater insulin production, balancing your blood sugar during and after meals.
Some people are at greater risk of developing diabetes because their parents, grandparents, or other family members already have it. Keeping your blood sugar level as possible helps your body keep up with the insulin levels you need to regulate your health.
Cacao can also become a safer food for people with existing diabetes diagnoses. When consumed organically, it has less sugar than processed chocolate foods or drinks. You may be able to enjoy more chocolate in your diabetic or prediabetic diet because cacao is all-natural chocolate that’s easy on your blood sugar.

6. It improves your heart health
There are a few reasons why cacao powder is also great for your heart. First, it contains nitric oxide, making vasodilation easier for your body while your heart pumps blood. The process widens your blood vessels and allows your ticker to work more efficiently while maximizing your blood flow.
Your skin is a major organ that thrives with improved blood circulation. Healthy blood cells that reach your skin help it maintain moisture better and heal faster from abrasions. Many people don’t realize that circulation is also one of the cacao powder benefits for skin, and it’s an essential part of a well-rounded approach to improving your health.
[Read about these foods that improve blood flow and circulation].
7. It enhances your cognitive abilities
Add raw cacao powder to your next smoothie if your mind feels tired and sluggish. A recent Japanese study found that dark chocolate — naturally high in cacao — improves the brain’s cognitive abilities by blocking adenosine production.
Adenosine typically makes you sleepy because it’s part of the brain’s process to fall asleep. Cacao has theobromine, a psychostimulant that stops adenosine from affecting your mind. The Japanese study proved that theobromine counteracts adenosine, so cacao can help you remain awake and ready to problem-solve even when you’re not getting enough sleep.
How to pick your raw cacao
Although you might not have heard about cacao before, it’s easy to find if you want to add it to your diet. Start by trying some of the many brands that produce cacao powder online and in stores.
You can also get cacao’s health benefits by selecting dark chocolate with a high percentage. Chocolate bars, treats, and other forms retain more flavonoids when they’re less processed. Baking chocolate or powder with less than 50% on the label will have fewer health benefits and more sugar.
[Check out the latest prices for raw cacao powder at Walmart.]
Enjoy the raw cacao powder benefits
Start enjoying numerous cacao powder benefits by adding it to your diet. Work with your doctor to see how cacao can improve your blood sugar, help your heart, and even support your dental health.
No matter how you want your diet to serve your health concerns, cacao could be the next best way to strengthen your body and still enjoy the chocolate recipes that make your days brighter. Make the most of this delicious treat and reap the rewards.
For further reading on plant-based superfoods, check out my posts about sacha inchi oil, pili nuts, ashwagandha, golden berries, sea moss powder, and turmeric milk.
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate links. This means that if you make a purchase after clicking on one of these recommended service provider links, like an insurance broker, or a travel agent, I may earn a commission – at no extra cost to you. [For my full disclosure, please see my DISCLAIMER page]
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