Best 100% cocao products

Iwanttobetheoldme
Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi, I’m looking to switch from cocoa to COCAO due to the better health benefits/richer taste.

I love super bitter BUT I’m an overindulger so need it to be the lowest cal/carb available.

I currently eat Aldi 85% dark chocolate. It’s far too sweet. I also use cocoa powder for drinks, again too sweet, and not cocao.

Please recommend the best raw products that are low cal & carb!

Thanks

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,228 Member
    edited September 2019
    You might also consider "cacao nibs," available plain or chocolate coated. Many so-called "health food" stores sell them in bulk.
  • Hannahwalksfar
    Hannahwalksfar Posts: 572 Member
    I love cacao nibs in yoghurt or porridge
  • amandaeve
    amandaeve Posts: 723 Member
    @apullum how did you become such a cocoa expert??? I learned a lot reading your posts. I am also fond of the nibs.

    I read that chocolate is full of benefits, but in order to get them, you'd have to eat pounds of it....
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    amandaeve wrote: »
    @apullum how did you become such a cocoa expert??? I learned a lot reading your posts. I am also fond of the nibs.

    I read that chocolate is full of benefits, but in order to get them, you'd have to eat pounds of it....

    I’m a chocolate snob. Most of what I know about growing cacao and making chocolate is from visiting a couple different chocolate factories. Theo Chocolate in particular is very good about explaining all of it.

    We have a spreadsheet where my husband and I track the bars we’ve tried and our thoughts on them. It started because we just liked trying different chocolate and couldn’t remember which ones we had already tried, or which ones we didn’t love. Then it turned into a hobby of looking for new chocolate bars.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    Just sticking my two-cents in: consider looking for fair-trade or other certifications that indicate the beans weren't harvested by underpaid or unpaid children possibly kidnapped from their homes and families.
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
    @appulum

    I’m UK based and a lot of the companies here use Cocao as spelling. But I see it should be CACAO. So apologies for my spelling.

    I’ve found lots of brands on Amazon. But I’m looking for the lowest calorie/lowest carb & most don’t display the nutritions. They’re quite expensive so id like recommendations from people first who like the taste of dark bitter before I go and spend!

    I already eat 85% which is too sweet.

    jqv47jvdetvp.jpeg


    Cacao is much better health wise than Cocoa because it is cold pressed so retains all the goodness. Cocoa is when the beans have been roasted at high temperatures therefore destroying the goodness.

    So has anyone tried a few & know the strongest, lowest cal & carb products out there? Thanks!
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
    https://www.creativenaturesuperfoods.co.uk/cacao-vs-cocoa-whats-the-difference/
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    I like zint brand cacao powder. I put it in oatmeal, yogurt, basically anything I want to be chocolate flavored, as well as using it in savory sauces. Zint plus vanilla extract, almond butter, and raspberries in Greek yogurt is my favorite treat.
  • marierenicks1
    marierenicks1 Posts: 5 Member
    charl152526 wrote: »
    Hi, I’m looking to switch from cocoa to COCAO due to the better health benefits/richer taste.

    I love super bitter BUT I’m an overindulger so need it to be the lowest cal/carb available.

    I currently eat Aldi 85% dark chocolate. It’s far too sweet. I also use cocoa powder for drinks, again too sweet, and not cocao.

    Please recommend the best raw products that are low cal & carb!

    Thanks

    https://www.williescacao.com/ the best 100 % chocolate enjoy
  • jeffrey_ad
    jeffrey_ad Posts: 789 Member
    kayl79xgbwyd.jpeg
    v1o3sscnyut3.jpeg
    My fav
  • marierenicks1
    marierenicks1 Posts: 5 Member
    jeffrey_ad

    Where did you get :)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Just sticking my two-cents in: consider looking for fair-trade or other certifications that indicate the beans weren't harvested by underpaid or unpaid children possibly kidnapped from their homes and families.

    Two I know about:
    https://equalexchange.coop/about (can also buy some products on Amazon and some supermarkets carry the coffee)
    https://www.tazachocolate.com/pages/about-taza

    Taza is in the Boston area and has tours https://www.tazachocolate.com/pages/take-a-tour
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,228 Member
    When a site speaks in terms of "superfoods", that's usually a bad sign. Some foods are more nutrient-dense than others, for sure. And some taste better, or are produced in more sustainable or humane ways. That's worth considering when we make eating decisions, certainly.

    But picking out a small set of foods as "superfoods" is pseudoscience, or marketing hype, or both. OP, the site you linked is literally selling cacao powder: That alone might make one suspect that they're potentially providing unbalanced information.

    A PP above has helpful included a nutrition label from cacao powder.

    Here are the nutrition facts for regular commercial Hershey's Cocoa Powder, taken directly from Hershey's website today, as comparison (note that serving size is 15g for the cacao powder, 5g for the Hershey's, so you need to multiply Hershey's numbers by 3 to equate them).

    somft28d1fi3.png

    Personally, I'm underwhelmed by the nutritional differences.

    And cacao powder, including the Navitas brand whose label was in a PP, is readily available here in "health food" stores, plus some large grocery stores. I live in a mid-sized US city in a flyover state, so not that cosmpolitan a place. If you live somewhere more remote, or in a different country, it may be more difficult to find, but it's not rare here.
  • Luke_rabbit
    Luke_rabbit Posts: 1,031 Member
    It sounds like your best bet for lower calorie is to just use the powder (regardless of spelling).

    I like it mixed in steel cut oats with cinnamon and frozen wild blueberries. I don't find any sweetener required.

    The same idea would work in plain Greek yogurt with fresh berries, as mentioned above.

    Whisked into milk would make me reach for a yellow packet to add some sweet, though.

    I also add it to dishes I cook (with cinnamon usually) such as quinoa and black beans with bell peppers, onions, and avocado or chili.
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
    Sorry but even just googling cocoa vs cacao - there are literally thousands of sites explaining the difference. I just posted one of the first sites that popped up. It is roasted vs cold pressed. Cold pressing preserves more vitamins. We can agree to disagree though!

    I understand a calorie deficit is how to lose weight. Hence why I’m looking for low cal so I can have more of the treats I like but keeping within my limits. I love dark bitter chocolate so am looking for a way to incorporate it into my diet that’s all. And would like to reduce my Sugar intake :)

    Thank you to everyone for the suggestions, I’m going to order a few of those off Amazon (I don’t think there are as many available UK for some reason). 100g Bars are retailing around £3+ here. Obviously the big UK brand is Cadbury = lots of sugar & not many dark options!

    I like the idea of mixing with yoghurt thanks for that suggestion.

    Off to order from Amazon now :)
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    edited September 2019
    charl152526 wrote: »
    Sorry but even just googling cocoa vs cacao - there are literally thousands of sites explaining the difference. I just posted one of the first sites that popped up. It is roasted vs cold pressed. Cold pressing preserves more vitamins. We can agree to disagree though!

    I understand a calorie deficit is how to lose weight. Hence why I’m looking for low cal so I can have more of the treats I like but keeping within my limits. I love dark bitter chocolate so am looking for a way to incorporate it into my diet that’s all. And would like to reduce my Sugar intake :)

    There are thousands of sites on the internet that say that the earth is flat. Needless to say, they are wrong. That said, my favorite chocolate is from Zotter and you should have an easier time getting it in the UK than I have in the US.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,093 Member
    charl152526 wrote: »
    @appulum

    I’m UK based and a lot of the companies here use Cocao as spelling. But I see it should be CACAO. So apologies for my spelling.

    I’ve found lots of brands on Amazon. But I’m looking for the lowest calorie/lowest carb & most don’t display the nutritions. They’re quite expensive so id like recommendations from people first who like the taste of dark bitter before I go and spend!

    I already eat 85% which is too sweet.

    jqv47jvdetvp.jpeg


    Cacao is much better health wise than Cocoa because it is cold pressed so retains all the goodness. Cocoa is when the beans have been roasted at high temperatures therefore destroying the goodness.

    So has anyone tried a few & know the strongest, lowest cal & carb products out there? Thanks!

    If you're looking for something that is 100% single-ingredient cacao, there shouldn't be meaningful differences in calories and carbs for identical amounts of cacao. If you find significant variations, you should try to figure out which one actually is the product that matches your idea of cacao, because they wouldn't really be the same product.
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
    I hear you, so what exactly is the difference between the two?!
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    charl152526 wrote: »
    I hear you, so what exactly is the difference between the two?!

    Cocoa is another commonly used spelling for cacao. It also may refer to the drink "hot cocoa" aka "hot chocolate". Powder for that drink specifically will more than likely include things like sugar. That said you can also buy "cocoa powder" that is the exact same thing is cacao powder because it's just another spelling of the word. Here are two examples:
    https://www.hersheys.com/en_us/products/hersheys-natural-unsweetened-cocoa-8-oz-cans.html
    https://shop.dagobachocolate.com/DAGOBA-ORGANIC-Cacao-Powder/p/DAG-BBPOWDER&c=DagobaChocolate@Baking# (note the "what's inside" in this case is likely referring to the fact that it's processed in a facility with those allergens).
  • Iwanttobetheoldme
    Iwanttobetheoldme Posts: 53 Member
    So there’s literally no difference between the way it is formed from the bean? I really believed what I read!
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    charl152526 wrote: »
    So there’s literally no difference between the way it is formed from the bean? I really believed what I read!

    From Bon Appetit:
    Cacao powder is made by cold-pressing raw cacao beans, while cocoa powder is made from beans that have been roasted when processed. The difference is fairly minimal from a flavor perspective, and cacao powder can be substituted with a 1:1 ratio for cocoa powder.

    Note, in my google search of "cocoa vs cacao" this was the only link in the first three pages that I'd be willing to trust.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,228 Member
    apullum wrote: »
    charl152526 wrote: »
    I hear you, so what exactly is the difference between the two?!

    The use of “cocoa” vs “cacao” is often just marketing. Companies think that the term “cacao” has a different connotation to customers—that customers will think it is somehow healthier, more natural, etc. The “real” definition usually has something to do with which steps in the chocolate-making process the cacao beans have been through as @aokoye said.

    In reality, almost all of the products on the market are made from roasted, fermented cacao beans.

    The fermentation step in the cacao process is necessary. It helps kill off any bacteria naturally on the cacao bean, and it develops flavor. I have not personally tried an unfermented cacao bean, but I’ve talked to others who have. It didn’t sound like an amazing experience. I would be skeptical of anything claiming to be unfermented cacao.

    This fermentation process also causes the beans’ temperature to rise quite high, well above what many people consider “raw.” I would therefore be very skeptical of anything claiming to be “raw” chocolate, simply because many people associate the term with food that has not been heated over a particular temperature. The way the term is used in chocolate marketing does not match how it is used outside that context.

    The roasting process is standard, but some companies now skip it. This simply makes for a chocolate that tastes different. I’ve had unroasted chocolate; it’s interesting. When companies claim Chocolate is “raw,” they typically mean it is unroasted. I would not trust anything claiming that chocolate is healthier if it’s unfermented, unroasted, or “raw.”

    In general, claims that chocolate has numerous health benefits are exaggerated. Chocolate is lovely. It has some vitamins and minerals. Eaten in moderation, it is also not going to do anything special for your overall health. I would be very skeptical of anything claiming that chocolate, or any other food, has dramatic health benefits.

    There is a lot of bad information on the internet about chocolate as well as anything else. Be vigilant about evaluating the quality of your sources.

    All of that sensible assessment . . . and I endorse that as someone who put a big blop of organic, unsweetened cacao powder in her spicy black beans last night. Because yum. Maybe some beneficial phytochemicals, maybe not, but fully worth it for yum alone.
  • pancakerunner
    pancakerunner Posts: 6,137 Member
    9fw9g4gcl0js.jpeg
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    apullum wrote: »
    charl152526 wrote: »
    I hear you, so what exactly is the difference between the two?!

    The use of “cocoa” vs “cacao” is often just marketing. Companies think that the term “cacao” has a different connotation to customers—that customers will think it is somehow healthier, more natural, etc. The “real” definition usually has something to do with which steps in the chocolate-making process the cacao beans have been through as @aokoye said.

    In reality, almost all of the products on the market are made from roasted, fermented cacao beans.

    The fermentation step in the cacao process is necessary. It helps kill off any bacteria naturally on the cacao bean, and it develops flavor. I have not personally tried an unfermented cacao bean, but I’ve talked to others who have. It didn’t sound like an amazing experience. I would be skeptical of anything claiming to be unfermented cacao.

    This fermentation process also causes the beans’ temperature to rise quite high, well above what many people consider “raw.” I would therefore be very skeptical of anything claiming to be “raw” chocolate, simply because many people associate the term with food that has not been heated over a particular temperature. The way the term is used in chocolate marketing does not match how it is used outside that context.

    The roasting process is standard, but some companies now skip it. This simply makes for a chocolate that tastes different. I’ve had unroasted chocolate; it’s interesting. When companies claim Chocolate is “raw,” they typically mean it is unroasted. I would not trust anything claiming that chocolate is healthier if it’s unfermented, unroasted, or “raw.”

    In general, claims that chocolate has numerous health benefits are exaggerated. Chocolate is lovely. It has some vitamins and minerals. Eaten in moderation, it is also not going to do anything noticeable for your overall health. I would be very skeptical of anything claiming that chocolate, or any other food, has dramatic health benefits.

    There is a lot of bad information on the internet about chocolate as well as anything else. Be vigilant about evaluating the quality of your sources.

    I had unfermented cacao in Costa Rico in 2004 and have not tried to repeat the experience since :)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    pancakerunner wrote: »
    9fw9g4gcl0js.jpeg

    $1.97 at my Walmart.

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