5 benefits of cocoa

Cacao, especially raw cocoa powder and extra dark chocolate, is rich in the mineral magnesium. Magnesium is not only important for muscle recovery and muscle relaxation, but also contributes to bone health and your mood. Especially when you experience a lot of stress, it is important to get enough magnesium, because when exposed to a lot of stress, your body uses more magnesium. Two tablespoons of raw cocoa powder (10 grams) already provides 19% of your daily magnesium requirement. In addition, raw cocoa powder is not as rich in calories as chocolate or cocoa nibs, contain 2 tablespoons only 38 calories and give a dish that delicious rich chocolate flavor!

Raw cocoa powder and dark chocolate are especially rich in fibers! Two tablespoons (10 grams) already provide 3.4 grams of fiber. Not bad when you consider that we should ideally consume 30 - 40 grams of fiber per day. Many people fail. Raw cocoa powder can make this just that little bit easier. Dark chocolate is also a good source of fiber, 5-6 cubes of dark chocolate also provide about 3 grams of fiber, but such a portion of dark chocolate contains a lot more calories than 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

Did you know that cocoa also contains caffeine? Besides caffeine, cocoa also contains theobromine, both substances have a stimulating effect. The amount of caffeine in dark chocolate and raw cocoa is less than the amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee. It is known that caffeine can also provide a slightly higher metabolism, you can burn up to about 300 extra calories when consuming caffeine. Watch out; Too much caffeine can make sleep worse (even if you don't lie awake after drinking coffee!) And this can cancel out that increase in metabolism. Therefore, try not to consume too much caffeine after noon, because the half-life of caffeine is around 6 hours.

We have not finished talking about cocoa, because did you know that cocoa also contains a relatively large amount of zinc and iron? Those 2 tablespoons of raw cocoa powder provide up to 7% of your daily iron requirement and 10% of your daily zinc requirement. Dark chocolate is also a good source of these minerals. Iron is particularly important for sufficient hemoglobin in the blood, and zinc is important for, among other things, the state of mind, skin and hair and bone health.

This whole blog is about raw cocoa powder and dark chocolate, but where are the cocoa nibs in this whole story? Cocoa nibs are chunks of cocoa bean and the source of cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Cocoa nibs are a lot higher in calories than raw cocoa powder, because they contain more fat than raw cocoa powder, which is actually what remains when cocoa butter is extracted from the cocoa nibs. For that reason, cocoa nibs (per 100 grams) are a lot less of all the above substances, up to half or even less than half of the above substances! If it's really just about nutritional value, then raw cocoa powder is the better choice. However, cocoa nibs give a delicious bite as a topping on your oatmeal or smoothie and cocoa nibs are certainly not unhealthy! However, some vitamins and minerals, extra dark chocolate also performed better than cocoa nibs.

Ultimately, of course, it is all about eating well in balance. Both raw cocoa powder and cocoa nibs contain many healthy micronutrients, although raw cocoa powder is the big winner in the test. Both are very tasty to use in baking, smoothies, oatmeal and much more! What do you prefer to use cocoa powder and cocoa nibs for? Let us know in the comments!