Secret source of health – the black gold from ancient cultures

‚Let food be thy medicine‘ – Hippocrates

It’s not restriction that indicates a healthy lifestyle but balance. While chocolate is often categorically banned in diet advisors, its actual miraculous character is totally unnoticed. 

Of course adding billions of refined sugars (all hiding behind encrypted labels – of course), saturated fats and artificial flavors would turn any food into an unhealthy product. No discussion.

But what is the original food behind this controversial product chocolate?

Recent studies clearly feature the beneficial health effects of the cacao bean. Not only it is beneficial for the cardiovascular system but it also helps to reduce the risk of high blood pressure and might even lower the risk of cancer. Thus, back to the roots! ;)

It’s a shame that on average milk chocolate – the most popular variant of chocolate – contains only around 30% of cacao and the added ingredients ruin its beneficial properties. 

Consequently, yes, chocolate in this form is not health promoting. 

But luckily food choice is still up to us even though it becomes more and more challenging to distinguish between healthy foods and those just pretending to be healthy.

Anyway, you can’t go wrong choosing raw chocolate powder and plant milk for this recipe. 

I am still a great fan of homemade cashew milk, it’s not surprising that I use it for this recipe as well but any plant milk will work wonderfully here. The spiciness of chili adds some more excitement and – bonus! – Vitamin A (often an issue for vegetarians).

Slice vanilla bean lengthwise. Bring cashew milk, cinnamon and sliced vanilla bean to the boil. Add chili (be careful dosing!) and cacao powder and stir well. Serve in a glass, top with milk foam, sprinkle with cacao nibs and powder.

Enjoy the pure delight of cacao…