so ive recently been researching a bit about cacao and its history and effects. i came across someone known as the chocolate shaman online that apparently has high alk cacao thats been roasted and fermented the mayan way, so he says. im very interested in this cacao, as ive read that the mayans had a cacao god, cacao beans were used as currency, and as a wedding gift from the brides father to the groom (or something along those lines); so it was obviously important to the mayans
also, the genus of cacao is theobroma, translating to "the food of the gods"
ive read that cacao contains xanthines, b carbolines, anandamine, phenethylamine, and something about endorphins and dopamine. also cacao varies greatly with the amount and ratios of alkaloids it contains.
an interesting mayan myth/story goes some thing like this; when humans stray far enough from nature, the cacao brings the humans back to nature
i came across an interesting book called "chocolate: history, culture, and heritage". its an $85 ebook, yet i found the entire book online. it is quite informative.
http://books.google.com/...nepage&q&f=falsei hope true cacao makes the comeback it deserves
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