Chocolate: Food of the Gods?

If you are still delighting in your Valentine’s chocolate, not only should you not feel guilty about it, you should be grateful.

At the Sacred Chocolate Factory in San Rafael, founder ‘Sacred Steve’ Adler refers to the cocoa bean as nothing less than a life force. “Cacao in its natural state is the highest whole food antioxidant on the planet – period,” says Adler, who as an ordained minister prays over every batch.

While the cocoa bean has been celebrated and consumed since 1500 B.C., Marin still manages to find its own unique twist on the ancient phenomenon.

Adler’s raw chocolate bars and truffles are made with "much love and gratitude" in a custom-designed, certified organic, vegan, kosher, halal, barbon-balanced factory, where workers chant to raise the chocolate’s vibration and in turn its customers' "sacred heart frequency and consciousness."

Mill Valley nutrition educator and Edible Goddess founder Bethanne Wanamaker produces raw confections named Naked Love, Cherry Seduction and Bedroom Candy, with ingredients like wild blue green algae, astragulus, wildcrafted goji berries, and Sacha Jergon, an Amazonian root used for liver support and rejuvenation. The company dedicates itself to empowerment, longevity, human potential and self discovery, among other ambrosial delights.

In San Anselmo, NewTree chocolates offer such enticements as energizing Sexy Bars, containing ginger and pink peppercorns; a fiber-laden dark cocoa Pleasure Bar; and Alpha Bars with flax seeds and chili pepper (purported to mediate everything from cancer and heart ailments to rheumatism, arthritis and flatulence).

What is in a piece of chocolate?  

While Forrest Gump famously said that life is like a box of chocolate, Adler might say that chocolate is life itself. “Cacao was always found in the medicine basket of ancient shamans,” he says, “because it’s the ultimate delivery mechanism.” 

The cocoa bean’s botanical name Theobroma cacao, literally means “food of the gods,” says Adler, who also holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master's degree in aerospace engineering from Stanford University (his first career was as a thermosciences engineer working on the design of Space Station Freedom). 

Theobromine is a caffeine-like substance, explains Adler, but milder and with the opposite effect. “While caffeine is a vasoconstrictor, theobromine is a vasodilator – it actually expands blood vessels, allowing more nutrients and oxygen to get into the cells.” Adler claims that at the turn of the century the substance was commonly injected into the bloodstream of heart attack victims to relieve symptoms, and that today a theobromine-related asthma medication is being developed. Additionally, “chocolate is the highest plant-based source for the mineral magnesium; and many people are deficient in magnesium, which is the predominant mineral found in heart tissue.”

For Larkspur nutritionist Sheila Wagner, chocolates benefits are “all about flavanoids.” These are powerful, plant-derived antioxidents – compounds that maintain normal, healthy cell function and prevent cell aging or death.

Wagner lists a tongue twister-worthy group of antioxidents called Polyphenols: catichens, phenolic acid, isoflavons and flavanoids, which are also found in such foods as tea, berries, apples, pomegranates, beans, nearly all vegetables and red wine. This “polyphenolic, flavanoid world” is full of benefits, says Wagner, namely anti-inflammatory properties, lowered plaque buildup and clot prevention as well as reduced blood pressure.

A host of other compounds, including phenylethylamine, anandamide, tryptophan, dopamine and theobromine, which is molecularly similar to marijuana, are responsible for chocolate’s ability to reduce pain and impart feelings of well being, giddiness and even sexual pleasure.

For San Rafael chocolatier Guy Gandolph, who artistically renders airy confections with such ingredients as salted caramel, hazelnuts and cranberries, chocolate’s benefits come in the form of the best ingredients he can find. “The cream enhances the tasteability of the chocolate, which increases its intensity.”  The shelf life is short, he says. “So, it’s about joy.”

But what type of joy is best? And how much is a good thing? 

The darker the better, says Wagner, as this type of chocolate has more flavonoids. Milk chocolate is higher in cholesterol-elevating saturated fats and often higher in sugar. (NewTree, however, sells aBelgian milk chocolate bar complete with Omega-3 rich flax seeds and “30% less sugar than similar chocolate.”)

Even the Mars company, creator of multi-hued M&M’s and no end of gooey treats, seems to be catching on. Wagner says to look out for Mars’ Cocoa pro, the company’s proprietary method for processing the cocoa to save as many flavanols as possible.

For Adler, the chocolate has to be raw. “The way to keep those antioxidants intact is to use a low temperature process, because antioxidants are very heat sensitive,” he explains, outlining temperature control systems worthy of a NASA liftoff.  “The chocolate is ground slowly, over many days.”  

Milk chocolate has become popular, says Adler, “because in roasting you eliminate some of the undesirable flavor notes … but then other negative flavors come up, and you end up adding a lot of milk.”

But what does raw chocolate taste like? “If you chomp on the bean itself, you won’t get any chocolate taste,” says Adler. “What creates the flavor is the fermentation process – it’s a delicate balance and dance.” He adds that the company just won The Best of Raw for the third straight year. 

A few words about dosing

Even with all of its superfood benefits, Wagner warns that some people should avoid chocolate altogether. “Chocolate contains a substance called Tyromine, which can be a migraine trigger in those who are prone,” she says. And “if you are suffering from chronic fatigue or exhaustion (and many chocolate lovers seem to fall into this category), chocolate can be exactly the wrong thing to eat.” For those who overuse chocolate, she advises instead rest, nourishment and rebuilding. Wagner reminds that chocolate’s antioxidant benefits are about the flavanoids in the chocolate. “We can also choose things like flavanoid-rich berries and vegetables that don’t have the potential to exhaust the brain.”

For the overwhelming majority of us who want our flavanoids and our chocolate too, the best advise seems to savor it. 

“I see people throwing a whole truffle into their mouth,” says Gandolph sounding a little forlorn. “You’re supposed to take a bite, stop and enjoy,” he says patiently. “Then take another bite.”  

Gandolph, who taught himself how to make chocolate after he bowed out of the banking industry over ten years ago, now sells his creations to long lines of smiling customers at the Sunday Farmer’s Market in San Rafael. “No one at Merril Lynch ever smiled when I came to see them,” he says. “Chocolate is total psychological reinforcement.”

Resources:

Sheila Wagner, PT, CN, Larkspur

Sacred Chocolate: buy at Good Earth, Fairfax, Whole Foods in Mill Valley and San Rafael, Comforts in San Anselmo and online

NewTree Chocolate: buy at Whole Foods, Andronico’s and Mollie Stone’s and online 

Gandolf’s Fine Chocolate: buy at the Sunday Farmer’s Market in San Rafael and online

Edible Goddess raw chocolate: buy online