Chocolate Wellness: Why You Should Eat Real Chocolate, and How To Identify It

by Valerie Beck, chocolate educator and speaker www.chicagochocolatetours.com/speaking

Is chocolate health food, or junk food?

That depends on the chocolate!

Chocolate is naturally healthy, unless we add junk to it. Chocolate is made from the cacao bean, which is the seed of the fruit of the cacao tree. Cacao is a superfood, because of it is rich in nutrients and benefits. For example:

• Cacao has more antioxidants than blueberries, green tea, or red wine.
• Cacao is the highest source of plant-based iron.
• Cacao is one of the highest sources of magnesium.
• Cacao has more calcium than milk.
• Cacao is a natural mood booster.

Of course, to receive these benefits, you want to eat artisan chocolate, not commercial chocolate. This is because commercial chocolate has been processed which removes nutrients, and because commercial chocolate usually contains added negatives such as pesticides, artificial ingredients, soy lecithin, and high amounts of sugar. In addition, commercial chocolate is often farmed in ways that harm the workers; abominations such as child slave labor are common on West African cocoa farms, which produce the bulk of the world’s commercial chocolate.

How can you make sure you’re eating chocolate that aligns with your health wishes and your moral code? Read the label! For example, you can look for chocolate bars with just 2 ingredients: cacao and sugar (plus any inclusions such as fruit or nuts). You can also look for chocolate bars with the country or estate of origin on the label, such as South American or other non-West African countries.

We go into more detail in my seminars, such as talking about:

• the #1 ingredient to avoid in chocolate,
• when to eat chocolate so that you maximize your health benefits,
• how to incorporate raw cocoa beans into delicious meals and snacks, and
• much more.

Click for info on and tickets for my next Chocolate Wellness seminar open to the public, at Kendall College in Chicago, on Saturday, February 7, at 11 am. Samples are included in all of my speaking engagements! Click here.

Or book a private seminar for your corporate, association, or other group. Again, samples are included! Click for details.

You can contact me at chocolateuplift@gmail.com anytime for more info.

And, here’s a sneak preview of my new still-under-construction site, which will also house info on my Chocolate Wellness seminars. The site is a mock-up and will ultimately be brought under the Chocolate Uplift domain, but here you go for now!

Meanwhile, keep eating (real) chocolate!

Your friend in chocolate,

Valerie