 Chocolate is similar to coffee because both of these foods are made from the seed of a fruit. Therefore they require extensive processing and fermentation in order to be fit for human consumption. All seeds are high in anti-nutrients such as phytates and oxalates. These combine to minerals and take them out of the body. Think about it. The goal of a seed is to survive the digestive system of the animal that eats the fruit. And as with all plant foods we have to be mindful that they were used for caloric energy, not actual nutrition, as the true forms of vitamins, minerals, elements and fatty acids are only contained in animal foods. Chocolate production is almost identical to coffee except there aren't as many variations. Where coffee has different processes to yield different types of coffee, chocolate for the most part across the board is all made in the same way. The seed of the cacao pod has a white fleshy fruit that is left on during the fermentation. And as you can see here we have the cacao pod, here we have the cacao seeds. So on the outside of these seeds is this white fruit that is three to four times the size of the seed. Oddly enough this fruit doesn't actually taste like chocolate but if I smell this chocolate I can really smell like citrus and floral notes. I would imagine that during the fermentation process those flavors of the fruit imparted in these seeds to some degree. After the beans have fermented between three and five days they are dried out in the sun and then the beans are usually roasted, the outer shell being removed. And that's what we have here. So this is essentially cacao in its raw state. It's really just you know a bunch of brown nibs, nothing exciting to look at. But this product is chocolate in the most natural state that we consume it. However it's not exactly raw because during that fermentation process the chocolate gets very hot from the bacteria. This raw cacao will be further processed into other types of chocolate usually being melted and then various things such as dairy, sugar or vegetable oils are added to make the chocolate that we know and love today. This process is drastically different from where chocolate originated thousands of years ago. The Mayans and the Aztecs used to ferment the entire fruit of the cacao tree into an alcoholic drink and then they would add a variety of things to it just like we do. Chili pepper, allspice, vanilla and honey. But why do so many people love and crave chocolate? Simply because there are substances in chocolate that stimulate your brain to release dopamine. Now we could look at sugar, possibly dairy content of the chocolate, as well as fat content, magnesium content, maybe even caffeine and speculate that the person is craving one of these things. But that's less likely once we actually look at these. People crave dark chocolate even without sugar or dairy added. The fat content of certain chocolates can be very low and the magnesium is inhibited by anti-nutrients. So a little boost from dopamine, maybe even the caffeine, makes a lot of sense. So is chocolate healthy? As we said, there are anti-nutrients in chocolate but those aren't too significant especially considering it is a fermented food and fermentation lowers the anti-nutrient content and these anti-nutrients are more of an issue when you're not consuming animal foods. Seeing as chocolate is fermented it has a high histamine content which are compounds involved in inflammatory responses in the body. So if you have a histamine intolerance, chocolate is definitely something to be avoided. It also has caffeine and people have different tolerances to caffeine but the amount of caffeine is like less than 10% of what a cup of coffee has. If you eat chocolate and your heart feels like it's going to explode or you feel like you can run through some drywall then you might want to avoid chocolate in general. On its own I don't think ruck-a-cow or chocolate that doesn't have additives is bad for you in small amounts but once you start adding sugar, processed dairy powders, vegetable oils, we run into issues that can be addressed in every single one of these additives. We want to keep the food quality high and that generally means spending more time and money sourcing a quality chocolate product not just going into the supermarket and buying some dark chocolate. If you have reached your health and wellness goals and don't have any issues with chocolate, by all means I don't think you should avoid it. However, don't compromise your sleep or daily activities because of a chocolate craving and this ties back to overall nutrient density and how your diet is. If you're consuming quality animal foods, getting everything your body needs, then any plant foods that you add to your diet shouldn't really cause too many issues because your body has what it needs to deal with any hypothetical inflammatory response. That being said, with a lot of things in our modern life, from air pollution to lower food quality to stress, lack of sleep, EMF radiation, all of these things can make the addition of something like chocolate to your diet detrimental. Modern factors compound and create issues that the Aztecs and the Mayans did not have to worry about. Thank you guys for joining me today. If you could please like the video, subscribe, hit that bell icon and share the video if you can. If you guys would like to support me further, please check out Frankie's Free Range Meat, providing you guys with high quality nutrient-dense animal foods at an affordable price. We have recently added 100% grass-fed Wagyu. Go to frankiesfreerangemeat.com to check it out. I've also launched Frankie's Naturals, minimal ingredients, minimally processed hygiene and cosmetic products. So if you want teeth like Frankie Boy, go to frankies naturals.com. If you guys do want to reach out to me for one-on-one consultations, you can shoot me an email, frankatifanoatgmail.com. Thanks again guys and enjoy the rest of your day.