Cacao is not recommended for ex-drug users

Cacao is a popular ‘superfood’.

It is one of those substances which have higher levels of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals or other health-boosting, anti-ageing, or disease-fighting properties.

It is said to act as a mood-elevator, an anti-depressant or even an aphrodisiac. Unsurprisingly it is very popular plus it adds a great chocolatey taste to cooking.

But in my experience, cacao is not necessarily beneficial for ex-drug users. Drug use creates Yin and Yang imbalances and these manifest in symptoms including emotional instability – like flying off the handle at the slightest thing.

Cacao is a stimulant and it builds ‘heat’, or as we say in Chinese medicine ‘it rises the Yang’. So for ex-drug users cacao can create, or increase agitation, and emotional reactivity or even generate symptoms like shaky hands – a condition associated with Yang rising called ‘Internal Wind’.

I’ve only just discovered these effects of cacao so if you are following my ‘mysterious dark chi porridge’ recipe, replace cacao with carob.

Carob has health benefits, it has analgesic and antibacterial properties, but it is also an antioxidant and high in potassium and magnesium and contains iron, manganese, barium, copper and nickel. And it tastes great!