Dear Somalovers,

Some background: Alistair’s grandpa died of heart failure (admittedly aged 93). Two of his otherwise-healthy uncles have had bypass surgery, and his other uncle had to have a stent put in on his way to the world rowing championships. Alistair’s dad, who is scrupulous about diet and exercise, nevertheless has his heart checked every couple of years.

The long and short of it is that we have pre-booked cardiologist appointments for Alistair all through the 2050s, and will be shipping him off for scans as soon as he is of age.

But we’re not the type to sit on our hands and wait for miracle medication. It seems that a healthy heart is both a pillar of good health, and also a hallmark of it. Besides the obvious eating well, sleeping well, moving often, and regulating the rhythm of our days, we’re curious about what other things can help keep Alistair’s heart beating strongly.

There are interesting studies into the effect of saunas on heart health, as well as the effect of  time spent in nature, sunlight, pets (eg Snowbell), gardening, and certain types of breathing. The HeartMath Institute has done amazing research into the effect of emotional states on heart health.

Many of you will remember our newsletter about the Kuna people of the San Blas Islands in Panama, who have the highest daily cacao consumption of any population in the world (about 5 cups per person per day - if Australians drank as much, we would not be flying economy class this Christmas!), and are also the only population in the world with no recorded congenital heart disease.

This is of course anecdotal, and we can hear the faint hum of all the scientists in the room brandishing their clipboards at us, but there is also an awful lot of excellent science to back this up.

A 2022 COSMOS study involving more than 20,000 people showed that those who drank 500mg of cacao Flavanols daily (two to two and a half cups of Soma) were 27% less likely to die of a cardiovascular event. A 2025 study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology indicated the Flavanols in cacao reduced systolic blood pressure by 2.8mmHg, reduced diastolic blood pressure by 2.0mmHg, improved 24-hour blood pressure, and improved endothelial function (the ability of the lining of your blood vessels to maintain healthy blood circulation). A study published this year in the Journal of Nutritional Health and Ageing showed daily cacao consumption reduced blood pressure, and improved flow-mediated dilation by 1.31% (flow-mediated dilation measures the ability of a blood vessel to expand in response to increased blood flow. Below 3% is considered an impaired response, while 5% is better than average - so a difference of 1.31% is significant).

A brief tangent - we have a few competitors in the Australian ceremonial cacao market. However, since ceremonial cacao is such a new product, we don’t really think of these companies as our rivals. When we see ads for other cacao companies (we get a lot because Instagram has profiled us) it seems that their marketing is helping new customers discover cacao and thereby discover Soma, and ours is no doubt doing the same for them (though - and now we’re being catty - our data tells us that a lot of customers migrate from other cacao companies to Soma, but not many go the other way). Whatever the case, a rising tide lifts all boats, all publicity is good publicity, and so on.

Anyway, one of our competitors recently posted a long story, written by AI (the cat strikes again!), about how someone’s cardiologist was simply gobsmacked that they turned down medication, drank cacao instead, and achieved the same results! Besides the fact that this company’s prices would give most people a heart attack (Snowbell is writing this part), we don’t love seeing cacao sold as a miracle drug. It seems to us that good health is more about sustained balance than drastic corrections of course using intense interventions. But the evidence does suggest that, alongside clean eating, a happy home, sunlight, laughter, fresh air and movement, your daily cup of Soma Cacao is doing wonderful things for your heart.

I, Doctor Rose, hereby prescribe Alistair a daily Soma, drunk with Snowbell and me in the morning, every morning for the rest of his long life!

With cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger,

Rose, Alistair, Snowbell, and the team at Soma Cacao