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I'm a certified chocoholic with a weight problem. I had heard that cacao nibs had all the health benefits of dark chocolate (way more, actually) without the sugar and junk food aspects. They are loaded with antioxidants and have those powerful endorphin releasing stimulants. They are also quite high in fiber (but also in saturated fats).
I got my big pile of Navitas Naturals nibs and dug right in. Well - these are a bit of an acquired taste; but once acquired, they really satisfy. Cacao nibs are broken pieces of raw whole cacao beans that have been fermented and dried (and that's it). They are brown, with a dark cocoa smell, and a seductive texture that's partly like a coffee bean (crunchy and hard), and partly like a piece of chocolate (buttery with a crisp and then melting fat). The flavor initially gives you a cocoa hit and then a winey fermented flavor that is hard to describe. The aftertaste is bitter like baking chocolate. Like a coffee bean, there's some fibrous grit with the aftertaste after the creamy fats have dissolved on your tongue. My first impressions was "phew - that's disgusting". The winey flavor was off-putting and the bitterness in the aftertaste was hard to take. That didn't prevent me from immediately having more, however - as the crisp rich creamy quality made me want more. After a few pinches (maybe 3/4s of a tablespoon) I was flying! I mean, these things are POTENT. They really are loaded with all those endorphin releasing stimulants - and man they wake you up and then make you feel loved. Over the next few days I kept a big baggie of these in my pack and ate them whenever I wanted a cup of coffee. The stimulant effect is totally as strong as coffee - and more. To go with the speed, there's a feeling of well being and intellectual stimulation that's seductive in the extreme. I began to almost enjoy the odd powerful flavor. My only concerns at this point are whether these are addictive! About 1/2 way through my bag I have yet to hit a stem or a stone or an inedible piece (unlike what I've heard with some other brands). The flavor and texture is pretty consistent as I work my way through too - pretty good for a totally raw organic product.
I found that I could grind them up into powder in the blender and use the powder to "cocoa" up various foods (especially ones bearing some sweetness). For example, after my workout I'd put a tablespoon of nibs and a tablespoon of chia seeds in the blender and grind nice and fine and then toss in a fist full of frozen blueberries, a glug of Walden Farms zero calorie chocolate sauce, 8 oz water and two scoops of whey protein powder (chocolate flavor, of course) and then blend. It all whips up into a rich chocolatey blueberry shake that packs the nutritional wallop of a steak dinner with omega 3 oils, TONS of antioxidants, and a wicked emotional and blood sugar pick-me-up. You can buy the powder pre-ground, but I imagine the goodies keep better in this coarsely cracked version.
All in all - I think of cacao nibs as much as a drug like coffee as I do a food. People who eat ultra-dark chocolate for the health aspects should absolutely check nibs out because my body tells me they have WAY MORE of the chemical goodies of chocolate with far less sugar and fat. They also are brimming with a rich raw cocoa flavor that's weird and wonderful and hard to describe. If you are bent in this way - this stuff is wonderful.
| 151 servings per container | |
| Serving size | 1 tsp (3g) |
| Amount per serving | |
| Calories | 20 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| *The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
