Raw cacao nibs — the unprocessed cacao bean in its most nutritionally intact form. Maximum flavanol content, maximum magnesium and iron, minimal sugar. The ancestral form of West Africa's most economically significant crop.
Cacao nibs represent the most direct connection to the cacao crop that West African farmers produce. Using cacao nibs in cooking is using the closest thing to what the land produces — before the supply chain transforms it into a product unrecognizable to the people who grew it.
Raw cacao nibs retain more epicatechin (the primary cardiovascular flavanol) than processed dark chocolate — the roasting and alkalization ('Dutch processing') used in chocolate manufacturing destroys 60-90% of flavanols. Cacao nibs provide essentially the full flavanol content of the cacao bean. The magnesium content (272mg/100g) is among the highest of any food — directly relevant to the Weathering Hypothesis pathway (cortisol depletion of magnesium → sodium-sensitive hypertension in Black American populations). The iron (13.9mg/100g) makes cacao nibs one of the most iron-dense plant foods available.
Add to smoothies (1-2 tbsp). Sprinkle over yogurt, oatmeal, or porridge. Mix into trail mix with nuts and dried fruit. Blend into a cacao nib paste for traditional-style chocolate beverages. Available at health food stores and increasingly at mainstream grocery stores.
Free, no account needed to ask.