Theobromine in cacao, the benefits and… a warning

1 October 2021

Theobromine is probably the utmost famous molecule in cacao. It is directly linked to the Latin name of the cacao tree: Theobroma Cacao. Theo means ‘God’ and Broma means ‘food’. Literally ‘food of the gods’. Famous for a reason, so it seems!

Do you know how much theobromine there is in cacao?
We have sent our cacao to a lab to get it tested on a number of things. One of them is the Theobromine content. And good news: with one ceremonial dose of Wild Child Cacao you get 48,4mg of Theobromine in your system! It is more than 10x the amount of a very strong commercial hot chocolate!

Theobromine is what cacao gives it’s bitter taste. It is found in chocolate and to a lesser extent in some teas and the kola nut. Let’s focus on the health benefits of Theobromine and what research suggests about it:

Grounded energy
The alkaloid is a family member of caffeine but with a different effect. It increases your energy in a mild and long-lasting way instead of the high peak that caffeine gives. (More about the difference between theobromine and caffeine here.)

Cacao is more effective than codeine against the cough!

LUNG HEALTH
Theobromine is useful in the treatment of asthma and other respiratory tract problems. Even proven more effective than codeine against the cough!

HAPPY HEART
This famous molecule increases HDL and decreases LDL cholesterol plasma levels and it lowers your blood pressure. Overall it helps to strengthen and smoothen your blood flow.

GREAT SMILE
Cacao strengthens your teeth by protecting them from tooth enamel. In a chocolate bar this effect is nihilated by the sugar content of course, but great news for the Wild Child Cacao pure drinkers!

OVERAL BODILY HEALTH
Theobromine has anti-inflammatory potential. Next to that, it is able to reduce cell toxicity! More research is going on about this because the effects could even work very positively in cancer treatment.

WARNING – Keep your cacao away from dogs
There is one side-effect of theobromine that is important for all animal lovers: never feed your cacao to dogs. Theobromine and your pet are no friends! Also cats, horses and parrots cannot metabolize theobromine and caffeine as well as people can. As Malou has a dog herself, she is constantly watching him, since appartently he loves cacao.