No, they are not the same thing!
What do you know about the nutritional and healing qualities of raw cacao?
Chocolate has been promoted by health experts for years as having health benefits. Studies conducted on people who consume chocolate vs. those who do not showed a much lower instance of illness for those who consumed chocolate regularly. In fact, a Dutch study indicated that the more chocolate eaten, the better for health. Now, consider the fact that when you process chocolate, you destroy much of the nutritional value that was originally within the unprocessed beans. Heating chocolate causes the omega 6 fatty acids present to go rancid and cause inflammation. If you eat raw unheated cacao, there are a scope of advantages over eating a processed chocolate bar. Bad associations with chocolate are due to health problems which are usually caused by other ingredients that are added to chocolate candy. Sugar, milk, and other fillers cause cavities and weigh gain. Raw cacao also has loads more antioxidant power than processed chocolate and helps regulate blood sugar which is a big plus for people who have diabetes. Dark chocolate antioxidants have been shown to even dissolve the plaque that is deposited on the inside of blood vessels which reverses heart disease and also lowers blood pressure.
