During stressful times with huge amounts of work and unexpected changes, it is easy to get hooked in drinking two, three, or more cups of coffee a day. This is the constant rush in our lives and the push for staying alert and productive. It then turns into the new normal: many cups of coffee throughout the day to “stay alive.” In this article, I want to show you how chocolate can beat those cups of coffee and push you towards a healthier way of being energized and active. If it sounds like you, keep reading.

Potential Side Effects

The excessive and frequent consumption of caffeine can lead to some side effects. Insomnia, tremors, sweating, increased heart rate, anxiety, and stomach irritation are common symptoms of too much coffee. Then there could be some grade of dependency, either psychological or physical. 

The Alternative

Cacao beans (the main ingredient of craft chocolate) have numerous chemical compounds that work as antioxidants and are highly beneficial to our health. Among them, there’s theobromine, a substance similar to caffeine that has been enthusiastically studied lately. Research shows it can provide many of the benefits attributed to caffeine but with fewer side effects.

Though theobromine can be found in nature, in the leaves of tea plants or guarana, the plant Theobroma Cacao, and its seeds have a high concentration. As a result, high cacao % craft chocolate bars will have enough theobromine to boost your energy. 

Also, it is important to note that cacao beans have a moderate amount of caffeine. Though this is much less than the amount found in a cup of coffee. 

The Dark Chocolate Benefits

Science suggests that the combination of both theobromine and caffeine in dark chocolate benefits people’s health. It has the perfect amount of each compound, letting our body take the best out of both without an “overdose” that could cause unpleasant side effects.

Both compounds have a direct effect on the central nervous system. While the theobromine provokes no significant reactions, a small quantity of dark chocolate allows us to take advantage of the numerous benefits.

Some of those benefits are:

• Improving your mood
• Anti-inflammatory potential: having positive effects on asthma, cough, lung, and other respiratory tract problems.
• Hearth protection: decreasing blood pressure. 
• Enhance dental health: protecting the enamel surface of human molars.
• Increasing your visual acuity

The effects and benefits of theobromine in the human body mentioned above come from different studies. This research on healthy subjects investigated specific doses of caffeine, placebo, or theobromine in capsules to observe their effects. The results of those studies were reviewed and analyzed to create this article. If you’d like to further investigate this subject, you can access the studies here, here, here, and here.

Is coffee bad?

With all the previous facts, I’m not trying to make you stop drinking coffee but encourage you to consider an alternative. There is plenty of research out there about the benefits of coffee. However, some of you might be more sensitive and feel undesired effects while consuming excessive amounts of it.

What do we do?

I invite you to adopt healthier habits while enjoying the things you love, like coffee and dark chocolate. In the right dose, they could even be combined to obtain a unique level of energy. Do you want to see how? 

Well, I’m going to share how I make my everyday morning coffee putting together my favorite ingredients. 

First, I make my coffee using sustainably-produced coffee beans. Then I warm plant-based milk with high protein content. I mix the milk with cacao powder and make foam with a hand frother (HERE) or a manual one (HERE).

In a large cup or bowl, I pour the freshly made coffee, and then the milk-cacao mix. Then I top that off with ground bean-to-bar chocolate to obtain all its benefits.

 

Voilà.....

You can ground any of your favorite chocolates, I prefer the ones in this collection. If for an unknown reason you left some chocolates to expire, or you did not follow or “how to keep your chocolate suggestion” (HERE - second row, 1st icon) and it’s untempered, you can repurpose those chocolates for this 😉

After reading my take on a home-made “mochaccino” to enjoy the benefits of chocolate and coffee, I want to hear from you. How do you prevent excessive coffee intake, but have enough energy for your day?

If you liked this article, share it with your friends by email, social media, or read it together. In this way, more people can start enjoying #TheGoodnessOfLife and understand some dark chocolate benefits. It might also help you choose your best energy booster, caffeine, or theobromine.

 

Ramón