Cacao Wellness: Unlocking the Health Benefits of Chocolate in Nicaragua
While candy bars are high in sugar and saturated fats, their alma matter, cacao, is labelled a superfood. It contains all the food groups – carbs, proteins, fat, and fiber- in one little pod.
The Olmecs, Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas all used chocolate for ceremonial purposes, and as medicine. An old Mayan medicine manual describes prescribing five ground cacao seeds for diarrhea, amongst other such cures. Modern research has shown that the polyphenols in chocolate help support heart health.
In Granada, Nicaragua, people are still enjoying the health benefits of chocolate today. In Bate Bate Chocolate, supplied by a farm in the north of the country, you can learn about the history of chocolate and dance the ancient dance of the chocolate grinders. Both in this shop and at the nearby Choco Museo, you can take a chocolate-making workshop. You’ll follow how chocolate is made from plant to bar and get to sample it at every step of the process. You might eat enough chocolate to experience the slight high from the mix of caffeine and other substances found in chocolate, not too different from a very mild strain of marijuana. It’s described as similar to the effects of coffee but without the jitters and crash afterward.
Both places also offer chocolate massages, using melted cacao in lieu of massage oil. Called Chocotherapy, the staff at Bate Bate say that the chocolate massages are good for both body and mind. Our reporter who tried it may have only fallen prey to the marketing scheme, but she did report her skin feeling smooth and a clearer mind.
For the more adventurous, wander the busy street of the Granada market, searching for chocolate vendors selling slabs of 100% cacao, which you can mix with hot water and spices to make your own Mayan or Aztec blend and enjoy the mental focus and clarity the ancient brew can bring.
