Cocoa is not SCD/GAPS ‘legal’. However, we are aware that a number of people are curious about this item and that several have tried it. So, while not recommending it, we would like to gather an accurate representation of its effects in those needing SCD and GAPS.
While on SCD and/or GAPS, have you completed an accurate test of pure, organic cocoa and noted your results? Please note: An accurate test would involve:
- having been in a state of wellness for at least a week
- the cocoa being the only new item you have added in the past week
- the item being pure, organic cocoa (ie. not cocoa with chemicals, cocoa plus cane syrup, cocoa with milk, cocoa + flour, a chocolate bar, etc)
If so, was it fine in your (or your child’s) body or did you (or your child) react to it?
Please tell us here, so that we can provide informative results for other SCDers:
To add a comment to my vote, I had no problem at all with pure organic cocoa (tried 4-5 times, sprinkled onto banana, etc) so I wondered if Green and Black’s organic 85% dark chocolate bar would also be okay. The ingredients are just organic chocolate liquor, organic cocoa butter, organic fat-reduced cocoa powder, organic raw cane sugar, organic vanilla extract (and their website says there could be traces of milk due to a shared production line).
I know I’m fine with vanilla, I assumed if I was fine with cocoa, I would be fine with the first three ingredients and even though cane syrup is SCD illegal, I thought if I was fine with honey (which I am) I should be fine with with cane sugar. Anyway, I took two small bites of the bar, then felt not okay. Somehow, even though I eat a lot of fat, it immediately felt “too rich”. I threw away the third bite that I’d planned on having.
I felt kind of sick and drank lots of water. I developed a headache. In the evening I felt sort of like an old heartburn feeling I used to have, which today I’m thinking of as being an “over acid” sensation. At bedtime, I felt overstimulated (like I always used to before I started GAPS) and couldn’t sleep.
Twenty hours later, I still feel rotten: “over acidy” and angry. I’m not sure what aspect of the bar got me, but something sure did.
My family of six started the diet on Jan 1.
On the first of July (6 months!!) four of us celebrated by trying some organic cocoa powder with coconut oil and honey.
I’m happy to report that no one had any reaction to it.
)
We just tried- in macaroons. We’ll see how it goes! Unfortunately she also got a banana that wasn’t ripe enough today too, so I won’t know for sure unless she doesn’t react to either.
I have tried cocoa powder a couple times since on GAPS since I love chocolate and had a hard time accepting I couldn’t eat it. But both times I had it, I had symptoms return which made me realize that I shouldn’t eat it.
This past weekend my son went to a b-day party where the mom made GAPS friendly cupcakes only they had cocoa in them. I said he could have some because I wanted to see if he would react.
I would say yes he reacted – he resisted his nap today and was also kicking and biting me. He is finally asleep, but compared to how he was doing before the cupcake, I would say no chocolate for us.
thanks for the survey
sarah
To add to my vote.. the cocoa powder seems to keep me up if I eat a lot of it at night. But, I didn’t get any digestive problems or any other noticeable symptoms. If I eat a bunch of it in during the day, I’m fine. I usually mix cocoa powder with coconut oil and honey to make a ‘fudge’.
We’ve been moving over to SCD from a GF CF diet for my son who has an ASD. I made chocolate from cocoa, raw coconut oil and honey. It was lovely,but my son had the biggest, most agressive melt-down that he has had for weeks, since going over to SCD.
He has been hyper and non-compliant for the past 3 days. Only today – 4 days after the offending ingredient was ingested are we more or less back to normal again.
I’ve made some SCD legal white chocolate with cocoa butter instead!