This month, we are zeroing in on the food ways to help you through #stress. Let's add another delicious item to your grocery list.
CACAO.
Cacao. Yea yea yea. I’m on team YOU, friend.
I’ll tell you three reasons why, especially when it comes to supporting you through stress.
BECAUSE MAGNESIUM
Cacao, especially cacao butter, is loaded with magnesium, a VIM (Very Important Mineral) in your body’s stress response. Magnesium is needed to mount the stress response, as it helps regulate your neurotransmitters which make those telephone calls in the body to trigger things to happen. Magnesium is also known as the calming mineral, the original chill pill if you will - which helps quiet nerve impusles and calm the mind. It also helps enhance the production of GABA - a critical chemical in helping you to calm down.
**n.b.: cacao butter is the only cacao product that is low histamine, so if you know you struggle with histamine issues, opt to use cacao butter instead of other products.
BECAUSE ANTIOXIDANTS
There is mounting evidence that mood disturbances are a signifier that the delicate balance between your body’s antioxidant defense team and the mounting oxidative stress is off. Where does oxidative stress come from, then? Low grade chronic inflammation. Toxins. Stress both outside the body and inside the body. What helps rev up that antioxidant defense team? Antioxidants! And cacao products are absolutely loaded with them. Like, uber-loaded. Coles Notes: eating cacao products help protect your brain, helping reduce those negative impacts on your brain, neurotransmitter + hormonal health so as to protect against stress.
(Read more on the benefits of adding in antioxidant rich foods to your diet here. Translation: eat. real. food.)
BECAUSE MOOD LOVE
Friends. If I hadn’t yet convinced you, then this is the reason why. Cacao products contain many key chemical compounds that can, in all of their different ways, support an improved function of the hormonal pieces that regulate mood. What does this mean? In a study where they looked at the impact of adding in raw cacao, they saw an increase in dopamine activity in those who received the cacao powder. (1) Dopamine is associated to the feel good feeling - and is a key player in setting your mood. It’s quite complicated, but there are stress-blocking compounds found in cacao that help reduce the stress response in our brain. Sign me up! (1, 2)
BEST PURCHASING TIPS: it’s a question of good / better / best when it comes to chocolate products. If you are currently experiencing higher stress levels, might I recommend you reach for CACAO products as opposed to COCOA products. Cacao is processed at a lower temperature, and hence it is better able to retain those heat-sensitive chemicals name-checked above.
Whether it be cacao nibs, paste, powder, butter, beans, or straight up chocolate bars (made with cacao products!), I encourage you to EAT THE CHOCOLATE. Daily, if stress seems a heavy thing these days, be it internal stress (inflammation!) or external (being a human in 2020).
Struggle with stress, dear one? Get in touch. Let’s meet up to start drawing up your road map to help you better be able to meet life’s stressors.