How Epicatechin in Ceremonial Cacao Supports Skin Health (And Why Our Mexican Cacao Is So Potent
If you’re someone who cares about skin health, aging, or simply fueling your body with real plant nutrients, this is worth knowing…
A peer-reviewed study published in The Journal of Nutrition found that daily intake of cocoa flavanols, especially epicatechin, improved skin hydration, circulation, smoothness, and overall structure in participants.
📄 Read the study here:
https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/136/6/1565/4746701
But here’s the part most people will never hear:
The benefits only show up when cacao still contains its natural flavanols — and most supermarket cocoa powders have lost almost all of them.
Cocoa powder is usually made by:
- Removing the natural cacao oils
- Heating the paste at high temperatures
- Alkalising it (which destroys epicatechin)
- Turning it into a cheap, dry powder
This is why the majority of cocoa powder on shelves contains only a fraction of the beneficial compounds found in real cacao.
Why Our Mexican Ceremonial Cacao Is Different
Our Mexican ceremonial cacao from the Soconusco region — available to order here
👉 https://www.naturesjointcacao.com/collections/all/products/pre-order-mexican-ceremonial-cacao
Is processed in a completely different way.
A 15g serving contains:
- 115 mg Epicatechin
- 570 mg Polyphenols
- 34,980 µmol antioxidants
- 165 mg Theobromine
These numbers are extremely high because this cacao is:
Non-alkalised
Nothing is added, nothing is treated, nothing is destroyed.
The natural flavanols remain intact — exactly what the study above was referring to.
Grown in Agroforestry, Not Deforestation
This is cacao grown inside living rainforest ecosystems — alongside fruit trees, birds, insects, wildlife.
Healthy soil + shade-grown trees = cacao with a naturally higher nutrient density.
Stone-Ground, Minimal-Processed
The beans are dried, roasted lightly, peeled, and ground — that’s it.
No extraction. No emulsifiers. No fillers. No heat treatment that would damage the flavanols.
Genetically Pure Lineage
Soconusco cacao is known for preserving older cacao genetics and flavour profiles, closer to the varieties used traditionally in Mesoamerica.
The result?
A cacao that actually delivers the compounds used in the scientific studies — instead of a powder that has been stripped of them.
How This Relates to Skin, Aging & Environmental Stress
Epicatechin and other flavanols support your body’s natural ability to handle:
- Pollution damage
- Oxidative stress
- Inflammation
- Early signs of aging
- Skin dullness and texture issues
These compounds don’t work like a miracle cream — but they act like gentle supporters for your body’s own repair processes.
When you drink 15g of real ceremonial cacao a day, you’re feeding your body the same class of nutrients shown in research to support skin smoothness, hydration, microcirculation, and resilience.
And because our cacao hasn’t been stripped or altered, the flavanol content is naturally high enough to matter.
If You Want to Try the Same Cacao We Use in Our Videos…
Here it is again:
👉 Mexican Ceremonial Cacao — 450g Block
https://www.naturesjointcacao.com/collections/all/products/pre-order-mexican-ceremonial-cacao
Ethically sourced.
Lab tested.
No fillers.
No alkali processing.
Just real, whole cacao — the way it was meant to be consumed
