CACAO & HEART HEALTH

Cacao-Proof Your Heart

How Flavanol-Rich Cacao Supports Blood Pressure, Circulation, and Cardiovascular Health

If You Care About Your Heart, You Should Care About Cacao

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in the Western world. Not cancer. Not accidents. Not infections. Heart disease.


But here’s the part most people never hear: it is not inevitable.


Just as antibiotics transformed the fight against infections a century ago, the lifestyle choices we make today—our diet, activity, stress management, and daily habits—can dramatically influence the strength and resilience of our hearts.


Among these choices, one incerdible superfood stands out: 100% pure, minimally processed cacao. Not sugar-coated chocolate, not cocoa powder. Real cacao—the kind that cultures like the Kuna people of Panama have relied on daily for generations. This cacao is heart medicine.

What an Indigenous Population Can Teach Us About Heart Disease

The Kuna people of Panama live on small islands off the mainland. Their health profile is extraordinary:

  • Unlike people in Western societies, the Kuna do not show the typical age-related rise in blood pressure
  • Cardiovascular mortality is dramatically lower than that of genetically similar mainland populations

Cardiovascular Death Rates – Kuna Islands vs. Mainland Panama

Indigenous Kuna populations consuming large amounts of minimally processed cacao daily show dramatically lower cardiovascular mortality than genetically similar mainland populations.

Between 2000 and 2004, the contrast in cardiovascular death rates between these two populations was striking: mainland Panama recorded 119 deaths per 100,000 people from cardiovascular disease, while the Kuna Islands saw just 8 deaths per 100,000. That’s not a subtle gap; it’s massive. 

The major dietary difference? The Kuna consume cacao in its whole, minimally processed form—daily.

Why Cacao Works: Flavanols and Your Blood Vessels

The heart fails when blood vessels become stiff, inflamed, narrowed, or damaged. Good quality, minimally processed cacao is rich in flavanols, plant compounds that act directly on the endothelium (the inner lining of blood vessels).

Flavanols:

  • Increase nitric oxide production
  • Relax and widen blood vessels
  • Improve circulation
  • Protect vascular tissue from oxidative damage

Cacao Flavanols Improve Endothelial Function (FMD)

Flow-mediated dilation (FMD), a measure of endothelial function and cardiovascular health, improves significantly after daily intake of high-flavanol cacao compared to low-flavanol or placebo controls.

When blood vessels are flexible and open, the heart doesn’t have to fight resistance. It works more efficiently, with less strain. In simple terms: one cup of high-flavanol cacao makes your cardiovascular system easier to run—and Keith’s Cacao delivers a flavanol boost that science shows your heart can actually use.

Keith's Cacao delivers over 750 mg of flavanols in just one serving.

That’s up to 265% more than typical dark chocolate or cocoa powder. Lab-tested and soul-approved, it contains the highest flavanol levels of any cacao on the market, meaning science-backed benefits for your heart, brain, and beyond, confirmed by independent testing.


For context: while most dark chocolate contains about 10 mg of flavanols per gram, Keith's Cacao packs 27.1 mg/g. That means a single 28g (1 oz) serving delivers over 750 mg of flavanols, far exceeding the recommended daily amounts for cardiovascular and cognitive health. Unlike commercial chocolate, which often contains added sugar or dairy and comes from questionable sources, Keith's Cacao provides pure, potent, heart-supportive flavanols in every cup.

Coffee vs. Cacao: Two Very Different Strategies for Your Heart

Coffee runs on caffeine. Caffeine works by blocking adenosine, the chemical that signals rest and recovery in the nervous system. In many people, this leads to an acute rise in blood pressure and heart rate, along with vasoconstriction in certain blood vessels. The result? Your body feels alert, but your cardiovascular system is under more strain to get there.


For some, this shows up as jitters, palpitations, or a tight, wired feeling in the chest. For others, tolerance develops over time, yet the underlying mechanism is still the same: stimulation by override.


Cacao plays a different game entirely.

Cacao’s primary alkaloid is theobromine, not caffeine. And theobromine primarily acts on the cardiovascular system, not the brain. Instead of forcing alertness, it supports circulation. It gently relaxes blood vessels, improves blood flow, and enhances oxygen delivery to tissues—creating a steady, grounded sense of energy without pushing the heart into overdrive.

In other words: Coffee tells your heart to work harder. Cacao helps your heart work smarter.

Effect of Flavanol-Rich Cacao on Blood Pressure

Average reductions in systolic (~4.5 mmHg) and diastolic (~2.5 mmHg) blood pressure observed in randomized controlled trials of high-flavanol cacao versus low-flavanol or placebo controls.

Keith’s Cacao is intentionally crafted for this effect. Unlike many products labeled “ceremonial grade,” it is lab-tested to ensure low caffeine and high theobromine, preserving cacao’s natural cardiovascular profile. That means you get a gentle, heart-supportive lift—without the spikes, crashes, or nervous system strain associated with coffee.


Instead of borrowing energy from your nervous system, it improves your physiology. Better circulation. Better oxygenation. Better cardiovascular efficiency.

The energy from cacao doesn’t come from pressure. It comes from flow. Your heart can feel the difference.

Multi-Pathway Heart Support

Cacao supports your heart in ways that go far beyond mechanics. It works on mood, stress, circulation, and vascular health, creating a system-wide benefit that helps your heart work smarter, not harder.

  • Flavanols enhance nitric oxide production, relax blood vessels, lower blood pressure, and reduce cardiac strain.
  • Polyphenols protect your vessels by reducing oxidative stress and LDL oxidation.
  • Theobromine improves peripheral blood flow, increases oxygen delivery, and provides steady energy.
  • Minerals like magnesium, potassium, and iron support heart rhythm and muscle function, while neuroactive compounds such as anandamide, serotonin, and dopamine regulate mood and stress, further reducing strain on your cardiovascular system.

No, Store-bought Chocolate Is Not Cacao

Please remember! Not all chocolate can do this. Store-bought bars are ultra-processed, full of sugar and dairy, and stripped of their flavanols. 


Keith’s 100% Pure Ceremonial Cacao? Minimally processed, lab-tested, packed with flavanols and minerals, and designed to nourish circulation, cardiovascular health, and the nervous system. Same plant. A completely different effect on your heart.


So, yes, heart disease is common, but it is not inevitable. One cup of Keith's Cacao a day can be medicine. The Kuna didn’t wait for a pill. They drank their cacao. And their hearts show it.

references

  1. Grassi D, et al. Protective effects of flavanol-rich dark chocolate on endothelial function. PubMed
  2. Hollenberg NK, et al. Flavanols, the Kuna, Cocoa Consumption, and Nitric Oxide. PubMed
  3. Ried K, et al. Effect of cocoa on blood pressure: PubMed
  4. Hooper L, et al. Effects of chocolate, cocoa, and flavan-3-ols on cardiovascular health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. PubMed
  5. Khan N, et al. Cocoa Polyphenols and Inflammatory Markers of Cardiovascular Disease. MDPI

Shop Keith's Cacao

Our Ceremonial Cacao and hand-peeled Cacao Beans are the world's finest. We choose to rely on the amazing humans in our Guatemalan community and not on machines to produce our cacao. This minimal processing approach ensures you get the highest quality energy and nutrition cacao can deliver.