A cacao bean is the dried and fully fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree. At one time it was entirely endemic to the tropical Mesoamerican region, but since then it has become a popular food all over the world. Both cocoa solids and cocoa butter are extracted from the bean and can be made into sweetened, sugary chocolate after processing. In spite of this, the evidence suggests that pure cacao beans are good for promoting weight loss.
Weight Loss
Weight loss is a matter of creating a calorie deficit, which can be calculated by subtracting the number of calories burned from the number of calories consumed. Excess calories will be stored as fat, but creating a calorie deficit will instead galvanize your body to oxidize fat. That is why it's important to consume low-calorie foods.
Calories
The amount of calories present in cacao depends upon how it is made. Low-fat cacao, for example, only has 60 calories. By contrast, high-fat cacao contains 90 calories; and chocolate, whether sweetened or unsweetened, has approximately 150 calories. For the purpose of weight loss, low-fat cacao is the most useful form.
Significance
Food requires energy to metabolize. This is due to the fact that the body needs to work in order to break down, construct or otherwise chemically alter molecules. Certain low-calorie foods, such as cacao beans, contain so few calories that that the body actually extracts less energy than the amount required to oxidize the food. Therefore, cacao technically has a negative calorie value.
Serotonin
Cacao contains chemicals that increase serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates things such as mood and sleep; it also suppresses the appetite. This is due to the fact that some of the amino acids and enzyme inhibitors within cacao decrease the body's ability to break down serotonin, creating a feeling of fullness for longer stretches of time.
Considerations
Raw cacao lacks the hydrogenated oil and sugar --- usually sucrose --- found in processed chocolate and will not therefore cause insulin spikes that are sometimes cited as a cause of overeating and weight gain. Many healthy components such as the immunologically-boosting flavonoids are also lost during the cooking and processing of chocolate. Even unsweetened chocolate isn't quite as healthy as cacao that has been minimally processed.
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