All the benefits of dark chocolate without sugar, fat, caffeine or calories. Transcript available at nutrition-diva.Simplecast.com
All the benefits of dark chocolate without sugar, fat, caffeine or calories. Transcript available at Simplecast.com
Nutrition Diva listener Lindsay recently asked me to look in to a new superfood she'd heard about.
"After listening to your podcast for quite some time, I know to be skeptical of any new superfood. But I'm really curious about brewed cacao. Is it as good as it claims to be in terms of antioxidants and theobromine? How does it compare to a square of dark chocolate? I'm wondering if this is a drink to embrace or avoid."
I hadn't heard about brewed cacao before Lindsay brought it to my attention but boy am I glad she did! Brewed cacao is a delicious way to enjoy the health benefits of chocolate without the sugar, fat, or calories that usually come along with it. It's also a low-caffeine alternative to coffee.
I have nothing against caffeine, per se. Regular caffeine consumption appears to confer several benefits, including protection against Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. Coffee (which is the main source of caffeine in most people's diets) also has health benefits above and beyond the caffeine, such as reducing the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Coffee is also the #1 source of antioxidants in the American diet!
Nonetheless, coffee doesn't agree with everyone—and some people prefer to avoid caffeine. Even those of us who do enjoy coffee often choose not to consume it after a certain point in the day so that it doesn't mess with our sleep.
And that's where brewed cacao comes in.
First enjoyed by the ancient Incans, brewed cacao is like coffee made with cacao beans instead of coffee beans. The cacao beans are dried and lightly fermented and then roasted. The roasted beans are then ground and used to brew a hot beverage that has a pronounced chocolate aroma and flavor but no sugar, fat, and virtually no calories.
Sounds delicious, doesn’t it? (It is.) But what about these "superfood" claims Lindsay mentions?
Cacao is a rich source of flavanoids, antioxidant compounds that promote cardiovascular health and appear to protect against Type 2 diabetes and cognitive decline. Cacao also contains chemicals that can enhance your mood.
Of course, most people consume cacao in the form of chocolate, which also tends to contain a fair amount of sugar, fat, and calories. Brewed cacao, on the other hand, delivers all of these beneficial compounds without any sugar or fat and virtually no calories (about 10 calories per cup).
The following table shows how brewed cacao compares to unsweetened cocoa powder and dark chocolate in terms of some of the more important flavonoids. As you can see, brewed cacao is significantly more potent than either form of chocolate.
Brewed cacao (8 fl oz): 10 calories, 27 mg epicatechen, 34 mg catechin, 1.3 mg quercetin, 325 mg theobromine.
Cocoa powder (1 Tbsp): 12 calories, 11 mg epicatechen, 3.5 mg catechin, 0.5 mg quercetin, 111 mg theobromine.
Dark chocolate (1 oz): 170 calories, 23 mg epicatechen, 6.7 mg catechin, Quercetin not tested, 140 mg theobromine.
Sources: USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference; USDA Database for the Flavonoid Content of Selected Foods; Lab Analysis provided by Crio Bru.
Brewed cacao contains very little caffeine, about 15 mg per cup. However it is quite rich in a related compound called theobromine. Chocolate is the primary source of theobromine in our diets. Like caffeine, theobromine stimulates the central nervous system. However, theobromine is more slowly absorbed into the blood stream and its effects are milder.
Some people describe feeling focused but calm when they ingest theobromine—but these are very subjective experiences and have so far been difficult to verify in scientific trials. The evidence that theobromine acts as an appetite suppressant appears to be similarly anecdotal.
As much as I enjoyed brewed cacao and appreciated having a lower-caffeine option to drink late in the day, I must admit I did not feel a difference in my ability to focus—or my appetite. You might. (And even if you’re just imagining things, who gets hurt there?)
A cup of brewed cacao contains about 300 mg of theobromine and that's about twice what you'd get from an ounce of dark chocolate, a tablespoon of cocoa powder, or a cup of hot cocoa.
As with just about anything else, it is possible to overdo it with theobromine. High intakes of theobromine might make you feel jittery, irritable, nauseous, or give you a headache. Because the theobromine levels in brewed cacao are quite high and the chemical stays in your blood stream for some time, I’d suggest enjoying no more than 3 cups a day.
Just like coffee, cacao beans are available from different regions and in a variety of roasts. I sampled a French Roast from Ghana and a Light roast from Ecuador. You can make it in a regular drip coffee maker or in a French press coffee pot (which is what I would recommend). To extract maximum flavor, use boiling water instead of the slightly cooler water that you would use to make coffee. You can also make cold brew and iced beverages.
You can combine ground coffee and ground cacao for a reduced-caffeine mocha-type beverage. As much as I liked the idea of this, I didn't actually enjoy it that much. I found that the coffee overwhelmed the flavor of the cacao, resulting in a slightly muddy tasting brew. You might like it, though.
There are a few brands out there. If you do an internet search for brewed cacao, you'll quickly see your options. The above information on the antioxidant content of brewed cacao is for the brand called Crio Bru, who kindly shared the results of their lab analyses with me. Gourmet coffee drinkers may also be pleasantly surprised by the price: High-quality fair-trade roasted cacao is not as expensive as high quality fair trade coffee beans.