Research suggests drinking the ancient South American brew of 100% pure Cacao can support mental health and wellbeing and reduce stress and anxiety.
The news comes as charities in the UK get ready to mark Mental Health Awareness Week 2021, which kicks off on 10 May.
The study involved a group of 52 people taking part in a 21-day challenge, which saw them drink 20gms of unsweetened ceremonial cacao every day before breakfast. Participants refrained from coffee and all other stimulants during this time, including alcohol and tobacco.
Participants’ stress levels were measured prior to the 21 days and were asked to record how they were feeling once a week for three weeks. The findings include:
- Before the 21 days, 60% felt nervous and stressed often. This fell to just 6% by the end of the final week.
- 58% of participants felt unable to control the important things in life, falling to just 8% by the end of the study.
- Nearly a third of people (29%) reported that their difficulties were piling up so high before the study began. This figure fell to just 2% after drinking cacao daily for three weeks.
Following the success of the study, people are being invited to take part in a public 21-Day Cacao Challenge which starts on 9 May.
Since the global pandemic began, Mental health and wellbeing have suffered during lockdowns. According to the UCL COVID-19 Social Study. Anxiety and depression levels are now consistently higher than pre-pandemic averages.
(UCL, COVID-19 Social Survey Week 46-47, 11 February 2021)
Cacao health benefits
Cacao has long been proven to have health benefits, thanks to its high levels of theobromine, which widens blood vessels, increases blood flow, and specifically stimulates the heart. A study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that eating dark chocolate with 70% cocoa or higher (which contains more polyphenols and flavonoids) can lower levels of cortisol.
The study was conducted by wellbeing company Ritual Cacao. Its Founder Rebekah Shaman said:
“In June 2020, noticing a rise in stress and anxiety since the pandemic, I decided to carry out a National Health Study, alongside the 21 Day Cacao Challenge “from Stress and Anxiety to Peace and Harmony”, to see if people who drank ceremonial grade cacao daily saw a significant reduction in their stress and anxiety levels.
Using a combination of drinking a daily cup of cacao, alongside a daily email that offers tips on mindfulness, meditation and connecting with nature, the results of the study provided significant evidence that regularly drinking ceremonial grade cacao not only helps to reduce stress and anxiety but also helps us feel calmer and more peaceful.”
“There seems to be a clear correlation between participants consuming ceremonial grade cacao and the reduction of their stress and anxiety levels.
Cacao polyphenols in commercial chocolate have been shown, in clinical trials, to reduce stress in both healthy and highly-stressed individuals, so we wanted to see if ceremonial grade cacao had the same – if not greater – impact on participants who drank it daily.
At Ritual Cacao, we promote the use of cacao as a powerful medicinal plant, and perfect well-being remedy for these trying times.”
The more Cacao is processed, the more of its goodness disappears. We sell cacao straight from the bean, and ground down into what is known as the ‘cacao liquor,’ which is historically renowned for its many health benefits that support physical and psychological well-being.
Ceremonial-grade Cacao is different from commercial chocolate, because it is pure and without any added milk, fats or sugars. It retains its healthy natural fats, and a host of powerful antioxidants that are lost in the heating and refining process that chocolate undergoes.”
What is Cacao?
Cacao is one of the highest plant-based sources of magnesium, sometimes known as the “sleep mineral”. Magnesium is a natural relaxant that helps deactivate adrenaline and is said to quiet nerves and calm sensitivity to pain. Cacao is also a source of tryptophan, an amino acid that gets turned into the neurotransmitter serotonin and then converted into the hormone melatonin. Serotonin is known as the “happy chemical”.
Rebekah hopes her upcoming Cacao Challenge will help to position Cacao in the mainstream as a natural wellbeing remedy to help combat stress.
“Our upcoming Cacao Challenge coincides with Mental Health Awareness Week because while we have been so focused on our physical health, we are neglecting our mental and emotional wellbeing.
This can have a negative impact on our energy levels, sleep patterns and relationships. Cacao is a heart-opening plant packed full of nutrients and minerals to boost our immune systems and help us feel more peace and calm. A wonderful remedy during these times of turbulence and change.”
The challenge will begin on 9th May with an online opening cacao ceremony. Find out more and join the 21 day Cacao challenge! We have a special offer for Wellbeing readers – 10% off 21 Day Cacao Challenge products with code WELLBEING2021
https://ritualcacao.co.uk/21-day-cacao-challenge-may-2021
About Rebekah Shaman
Rebekah Shaman BA (hons), Study of Religions, MSc Development Studies (SOAS University). Post-graduate psychology diploma in the Human Givens Approach.
https://livingshamanically.com/about
Instagram/Facebook: @rebekahshaman
Rebekah is an urban plant medicine shaman, working with plant medicines to inspire conscious change. With over twenty years’ experience working with plant medicines and using her experiences from both the Peruvian Amazon and the urban jungles, Rebekah enables people to start living ‘shamanically’ in a western world.
For the last nine years she has been working specifically with cacao and has offered cacao to 1000’s of people from all over the world in traditional plant medicine ceremonies. She is founder of Ritual Cacao, a wellbeing company offering workshops, retreats, ceremonies, apprenticeships and events using cacao as a natural remedy for stress and anxiety, and a thriving online shop selling ceremonial cacao and empowering indigenous communities from the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon.
Rebekah teaches modern shamanic wisdom and offers practical tools to help people living in the urban jungle see the synchronicity and magic in the ordinariness and reconnects them back to nature and the natural cycles and rhythms of life.
She focuses on reducing stress and anxiety, caused by our disconnection to nature, by facilitating individual and group cacao ceremonies, shamanic journeys, and new moon and full moons ceremonies. She also gives 1-2-1 Transformational Coaching, Shamanic Healings and Empowerment Sessions.
Background to our national health study
We carried out a study in June 2020, involving 52 people. Using the Wecudos Platform, a patient reported outcomes software, we asked participants to fill out Sheldon Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale questionnaire once a week for three weeks and record their stress levels. The weekly responses were then recorded and analysed to produce an overall result. We also asked participants to complete an initial PSS-10 test in Week 0 to give us an understanding of their stress levels prior to the 21 Day Cacao Challenge.
Participants were asked to adhere to the following guidelines:
- Refrain from drinking coffee and all other stimulants
- Only drink 20gms organic ceremonial grade cacao (no sweeteners)
- Refrain from consuming alcohol or taking drugs
- Drink the cacao around the same time each day
- Keep to the 20gms a day (i.e. don’t take more)
We asked anyone on SSRIs or antidepressants not to participate in the study, as it would have been too difficult to ascertain whether it was the cacao or their medication that was reducing stress and anxiety.
