Chocolate, believe it or not, does not start out its life as the ooey-gooey deliciousness we love to consume. There’s a lot that goes on from cacao pod with white, bitter, slimy seeds to get to a smooth, decadent chocolate dessert.
For starters, the appearance of chocolate beans before they are fermented (a process that renders many foods even better for us than when left in their non-fermented state) is actually kind of…off-putting.
Thankfully for us, microorganisms get cracking on the bean and over the course of 
several days, transform it to something much more recognizable as the chocolate we know and love. But not before the microorganisms that are responsible for fermenting the beans commit a homicide. Yep, that’s right. The cacao beans get killed.
The amazing thing about fermentation, though, this act of death, is that it affords us the ability to experience life after death:
“Without this death of the original cacao bean, the heaven of its afterlife would not be accessible to us.”
What an important metaphor. All around us and in us are microorganisms at work helping to decompose (kill) matter we no longer need in that particular form in order to create some other component necessary for life. We’d truly be up sh*t creek without these microorganisms 🙂
So, take a moment to thank the microbes that make up your body and the body of those you love. “After all, 9 out of 10 cells in the human body are microbe cells.”
We are definitely in the minority. Take a moment to appreciate the life, and life after death, your chocolate dessert has undergone for your enjoyment. Then, enjoy it!!
Happy, Happy Valentine’s Day
(A day that offers us an excuse to eat a good bit of chocolate…whether that is enjoying alone time at home, at dinner with a friend, or celebrating your relationship with a partner.)
Love,
Leila-Scott
Grow Deep – Grow Tall – Grow With Us!
P.S. We highly recommend learning more by watching Michael Pollen’s Netflix series by the name of Cooked. The food therapy information we share with patients is highly aligned with what is shared in this series. Great info!