What are cacao nibs?
So first of all cacao and cocoa, what's the difference? I was very much confused by the spellings BUT now I know and it was a pretty cool find (well for a natural ingredient nerd like me). Cacao nibs are cacao beans that have been roasted and separated from their husks to produce the small pieces. Due to much less processing cacao nibs have a dark chocolatey but more bitter in taste. Cocoa is the word used to describe the powder form of the cacao bean that has endured higher temperatures to get it to the powder form and therefore not as nutritious as cacao nibs but great for you non the less. (cocoa powder is the base ingredient used to make chocolate- but you all knew that right?)
Health Benefits?
Raw and organic: Cacao nibs are the best kind of chocolate you could consume and due to the minimal processing all the benefits and goodness is maintained.
A powerful natural antioxidant: a high level of dietary antioxidants can prevent many diseases and future age related diseases. It is also good for general health maintenance by cleaning out unhealthy electrically charged oxygen molecules called 'free radicals' from our bloodstream.
High source of minerals: Cacao nibs are high in magnesium, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc and copper which means those multivitamins can go out the window (lol, well not quite but it's a start)
How to add it to your diet?
Due to cacao nibs being in it's purest form, it's best to keep them in that way and not to apply heat to them. I purchased mine from my local Sainsbury for £3.00, a 100g packet and the brand was natural days. You can also buy them from Holland and Barrett which is a 300g packet for £7.99. The packets are quite small but a little really goes a long way with this product, due to the strong taste- think dark chocolate but much bitter so yes you really do not need that much!
I have been using them in my skincare and general well-being smoothie- first seen on Tia Ward's YouTube channel as mentioned before:
The ingredients useD in the smoothie- check out all that goodness:
NOTE: Be sure to check that your ingredients are raw, cold-pressed and organic where necessary
A hand full of Strawberries
A hand full of Raspberries
A hand full of Blueberries
Spoon full of avacodo oil
Spoonful of Flaxseed oil
A sprinkling of cinnamon powder
A sprinkling of nutmeg
A tiny tiny section of ginger (Ginger has a very strong taste, therefore a little really goes a long way. Don't make the mistake I did when I first started and use a huge chunk of ginger- much to my horror the ginger over powered the whole smoothie and it was just too much)
A sprinkling of cacao nibs
A sprinkling of cocoa powder
A sprinkling of chia seeds
Almond milk
Coconut water
A dollop of peanut butter
A dollop of honey
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| Same smoothie but with mango added to the mixture. |
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| Finished product of the smoothie with my mackerel omelette |
I have also seen cacao nibs been sprinkled on breakfast meals such as oats, cereals, it can be used as a substitute for chocolate chips in yoghurt, granola, pancakes, cookies and muffins- healthy ones off course!
Check out the instagram: naturalbeautejourney where I will be posting images of the different ways cacao nibs can be used.
Lots of Love xxx
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