“The dose makes the poison.” - Paracelsus, circa 1525

As of February, 2013, we have yet to establish applicable standards for human sugar daily intake.  Check out your nearest Nutrition Facts panel on any food item and you’ll notice that we have no “% Daily Value (%DV)” for sugar. The FDA is commonly recognized as the authority on health standards, recommending percentages for Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Carbohydrates, and Vitamins. What about sugar?

Europeans were the first to introduce sugar to drinking chocolate in the year 1585*. Before that, the indigenous Central and South Americans would mainly infuse chili pepper for a spicy and bitter power-packed energy drink. The European evolution of chocolate has given us 3 common products enjoyed by humans internationally.

The photo above is one of my favorite visual depictions of the 3 main chocolate bars offered to the mainstream food world. Notice the breakdown:

WHITE CHOCOLATE (left)

25% Cocoa Butter

50% Sugar

25% Milk

MILK CHOCOLATE (center)

40% Cocoa Product

40% Sugar

20% Milk

DARK CHOCOLATE (right)

70% Cocoa Product

30% Sugar

Here’s the situation:

We’re told that dark chocolate is great for you.  There are even studies showing a lowering of blood pressure, improved metabolism, increase in cognitive ability, effective digestion of fats, and several other benefits that are in clinical trials as I type. The hinderance to all of these touted benefits is the addition of refined sugar, especially the bleached and high-heat processed crack that gets by as “sugar” these days. Don’t be fooled! Claim your right to the good stuff!

As you get wiser and demand healthier options, the market shifts and opportunities arise to bless your body, mind, and spirit. Anytime I’m at Whole Foods or health food stores and they ask at the register, “Did you find everything you were looking for?” I respond with, “I wish you had delicious chocolate bars without refined sugar. What can we do about this?” The inquiry is great for the cashier and lets the store know that the customers continue to want better and ever-evolving products. 

Yes CaCao chooses to use Cold-Pressed Chocolate, which is rich in flavor profile and full of nutritional density. Instead of adding refined sugar to mask the bitter notes of chocolate, we compliment the existing depth by adding ingredients that bring your palette to life. We also use all low glycemic sweeteners that are minimally processed and friendly (in both bioavailability and amount) to the liver, kidneys, and blood.

Yes CaCao Sweeteners

Coconut Palm Sugar - natural sap from coconut palm trees. Low glycemic and dehydrated at low temperatures, this sweetener is full of amino acids and minerals. The taste is not as sweet as traditional sugar, and has maple, caramel, and butterscotch notes.

Sun Dried Crystal Cane - highly mineralized cane sugar, grown in soil that has full spectrum minerals and vitamins transfered into the cane. When a food is grown with benevolent intention and respect to it’s ecosystem, it becomes a superfood and a medicine. We are excited for this sugar to become more widespread and available!

Stevia - a plant leaf with zero glycemic index. The leaves provide a front note of pleasing sweetness, but too much and the back note is un-nerving. The dosing is very sensitive, with a single bar requiring only 1/10 of a drop.

Yacon - a South American tuber with very low glycemic index and a smooth malty texture.

Yes CaCao Bar Breakdowns

Customers ask Yes CaCao what percentage cacao are the bars… to this we respond that our context is a bit different, as herbs*, superfoods*, tinctures*, spagyrics*, extracts*, medicinal mushrooms*, and teas* are infused and occupy the wholeness of the bars. Below are the percentages for Cacao, Sugar, and Medicine*

DIRTY CHOCOLATE

60% Cacao

18% Sugar (unrefined, low-glycemic, organic)

22% Medicine

KARMA MELLOWL GOLDEN CHOCOLATE

41% Cacao Butter

24% Sugar (unrefined, low-glycemic, organic)

35% Medicine

GABA BABA

68% Cacao

15% Sugar (unrefined, low-glycemic, organic)

17% Medicine

OM MAMA

46% Cacao

15% Sugar (unrefined, low-glycemic, organic)

40% Medicine

MONKEY

74% Cacao

13% Sugar (unrefined, low-glycemic, organic)

13% Medicine

We are REALLY looking out for you here at Yes CaCao! Only organic ingredients and wild harvested goodness, and beyond that sugars that give delight to your palette without taxing your digestive, circulatory, nervous, and endocrine systems.

Guru Singh (a very wise and funny man) says, “Don’t sacrifice 6ft. of human for two inches of tongue.” Meaning, don’t eat junk that tastes good while harming your body. NOW you get delicious chocolate from Yes CaCao without compromise!

Order Chocolate Today and Taste The Difference: www.YesCaCao.com

*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate