Is all chocolate made from fermented cacao beans, or only certain high end brands? page

[Misabi]

I found this article on a local NZ "health food" website (I found the site while searching for kelp noodles, they also have an interesting recipe for creaming soda....) but I don't know if it's just to push a particular brand of cacao that they sell that is labelled as fermented or if it is a rarity.

Not Fermenting this Superfood makes it Super Detrimental for your Health

On Raw Food Planet, in the search for the most natural and raw of foods, we can sometimes lose track of the real purpose behind this quest – our supreme good health and vitality.

Ancient cultures knew that certain foods were difficult if not impossible to digest in their completely raw and natural state and so implemented methods like fermentation in order to break these foods down so that they were able to digest them easily and obtain their nutrients. This is exactly the case with raw cacao beans.

Fermentation

Fermentation is a process that is highly beneficial to any food in increasing the enzyme activity of that food and increasing the nutrient availability. For cacao beans, the rules are no different and if anything, more essential to the digestibility and nutrient availability of this food than most others.

Cacao beans, still covered with pulp, are placed in large, shallow wooden boxes or are left in piles and covered with banana leaves to start their fermentation process

Cacao beans though called a bean are actually the seed pod of a fruit and, if unfermented, are difficult for the human digestive system to break down due to the beans having a high phytic acid level which inhibits the uptake of alkaline minerals such as magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc.

Phytic acid not only grabs on to or chelates important minerals, but also inhibits enzymes that we need to digest our food.

Once fermentation of the raw cacao beans begins, the sugar in the pulp is converted into acids that change the chemical composition of the beans. Fermentation activates enzymes that create the flavor precursors which are the beginning of chocolate as we know it.

Fermentation improves digestibility of the beans and increases nutrient availability while reducing bitterness.

“Raw unfermented cacao beans and normal cocoa powder are extremely high in phytates.

Through observation I have witnessed the powerful anti-nutritional effects of a diet high in phytate-rich grains on my family members, with many health problems as a result, including tooth decay, nutrient deficiencies, lack of appetite and digestive problems.” Ramiel Nagel , Wise Traditions (Weston Price Foundation)

Navitas Cacao beans are lightly fermented which renders them higher in health promoting antioxidant nutrients than fully fermented beans.

The fermentation process transforms the flavor to what we associate with cocoa and chocolate. Without the fermentation process there will not be any chocolate flavor.

Once extracted from the pod-like fruit, purified water is then used to cleanse the beans. These whole beans are unpeeled and do not contain sugar or any other additives.

http://livingfoodslifestyle.co.nz/no...r-your-health/

[Misabi]

Hmm, according to this site without fermentation we wouldn't have the flavour we know as chocolate or cocoa.

[DarthFriendly]

all chocolate is fermented the "sooper dooper" food schtick is all marketing hype bullshit.

never trust a hippie

[Chaohinon]

all chocolate is fermented the "sooper dooper" food schtick is all marketing hype bullshit.

never trust a hippie

You sound like you're not getting enough prana

[DarthFriendly]

You sound like you're not getting enough prana

I heard there's a lot of prana in soy, but the kind vegan goddess down at the granola mart won't give me no sexing no matter how much I compliment her armpit dreads...

...might as well drown my sorrows in kombucha...

[Misabi]

I heard there's a lot of prana in soy, but the kind vegan goddess down at the granola mart won't give me no sexing no matter how much I compliment her armpit dreads...

...might as well drown my sorrows in kombucha...

LOL

By the way, anyone know how they get the prana's into the soy without getting bitten?
Those little suckers have got wicked sharp teeth, especially if they're the 3d variety.

[Misabi]

all chocolate is fermented the "sooper dooper" food schtick is all marketing hype bullshit.

never trust a hippie

ha ha ha that's what I figured

[Misabi]

Although some of their info is off, that first site has some useful ideas on there; I'd never heard of coconut kefir before, but gonna give it a whirl now. And I just bought some kefir start the other day too
http://livingfoodslifestyle.co.nz/ho...coconut-kefir/

And they sell coconut crystals too.

I've added a couple of comments to the article about fermentation, but they're awaiting moderation, so it'll be interesting to see what comes up.

[DarthFriendly]

"living food life style"? livingfood=30 banana colonics a day... "It's not going in that end son."

Never. Trust. A. Hippie.

[Analog6]

Living Foods Lifestyle appears to just be a shop so therefore probably pushing their own barrow