Wall Street Journal Health Article Features Navitas Naturals Organic Cacao Nibs

Due to a steady stream of news about research that demonstrates the many health benefits of dark chocolate, more and more consumers are seeking out darker chocolate products that contain the most cacao. The latest health and business buzz is "Heart Health Chocolate: Dark and Bitter Treat, in the March 20, 2012 edition of the Wall Street Journal.

In the WSJ article, Washington D.C. nutritionist Joy Dubost, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, states "The higher the percentage of cocoa, the higher the flavanol content, the higher the antioxidant content and thus we believe the greater positive benefit." The article highlights three scientific analyses published in the past six months that pooled results of smaller studies to conclude that cocoa is good for the heart.

The Wall Street Journal article highlights five dark chocolate products on the market today. Referring to Navitas Naturals organic raw cacao nibs, which are 100% dark chocolate, the article states, "Or take your chocolate straight and chomp on raw cacao beans, sold by Navitas Naturals. To maintain maximum nutrients, the nibs aren't roasted."

Although the most well-known health benefit associated with dark chocolate pertains to heart health, new research is also showing it may have a beneficial role in addressing a wide variety of other health issues, including skin and brain health. The most recent study, in Molecular Nutrition & Food Research states that eating cacao could also help prevent intestinal disease. "Our findings provide the first in vivo evidence that a cocoa rich diet may inhibit the early stage of colon carcinogenesis," the researchers stated.

Other research published over the past year includes headlines such as:

"Dark Chocolate may combat exercise-induced oxidative stress." (European Journal of Nutrition)
"Cocoa Extracts may benefit cholesterol levels." (Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases)
"Chocolate can reduce heart disease risk by a third." (British Medical Journal)
"Antioxidant-rich cacao shows short-term heart benefits: Harvard Review." (Journal of Nutrition)
"Dark chocolate/cocoa effective for cholesterol improvements." (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition)

"Finding a premium source for cacao grown in lush soils, and then minimally processing it is very important for insuring the optimal nutritional, and therefore, potential health benefit value," says Navitas Naturals founder and CEO Zach Adelman. "That's why Navitas Naturals takes special care during the sourcing, harvesting, handling and processing of our cacao."

First, Navitas Naturals cacao beans are extracted from the pod-like fruit and partially fermented to reduce bitterness. "Our partners in Peru hand-select the best cacao beans, cleanse them with purified water, and then process them into nibs, paste, powder and butter," says Adelman.

Navitas cacao products are processed only at low temperatures. Food safety is also very important to the company. That is why each shipment from Peru is independently tested for micro-contaminants to ensure the cacao is the cleanest and safest available. Navitas Naturals cacao sourcing video.

Navitas offers expert culinary tips and a wide variety of delicious cacao recipes on their website. You can also view a bunch of fun and informative cacao recipe videos by chef Julie Morris on the Navitas Naturals TV channel on YouTube.


About Navitas Naturals
The mission of Navitas Naturals is to provide the finest organic superfoods that increase energy and enhance health. All of their products are certified organic and use methods such as freeze-drying and low temperature processing to ensure maxi