Addictive Wellness’s Adaptogen Chocolate ACTUALLY Boosts Your Moods In a Powerful Way

What could be better than chocolate packed with ingredients designed to boost your moods?

While I'm no stranger to chocolate treats of all varieties, I was completely unfamiliar with adaptogens, or herbal medicine said to help stabilize the processes of our minds and bodies. So when Addictive Wellness—a brand that blends the two together to make self-care chocolates—reached out asking me to try their products out, I couldn't pass them up on the opportunity. And I have to say I was completely surprised by the results.

The Products

Even before you get into the adaptogen aspects of Addictive Wellness, their chocolates are pretty impressive. They're totally sugar-free, GMO-free, keto and paleo, and they use raw ingredients to maintain the integrity of every part of the bar. The chocolate is 83% heirloom Arriba Nacional cacao, which is ethically sourced from Ecuador, where it's grown in high elevation volcanic soil.

But while the chocolate is important, it's really the adaptogens that are the star of the show. These chocolates include high-nutrient, ancient herb ingredients like cordyceps, mucuna and cistanche, combining South American superfoods with Ayurvedic and Taoist tonic superherbs for great results in a wellness-focused treat.

Each 1.7 oz. Addictive Wellness box contains a bar of chocolate that can be broken into four squares, with each serving consisting of two squares. These sell for $7.75 each, while six-box variety packs can be purchased for $44, and a dozen of your choice is available for $84.95.

 

The Experience

Energy

I started my experiment with Addictive Wellness on a Monday morning, and was feeling pretty drained after getting a not-so-great night's sleep, so I opted to try the Energy bar first. When I cracked the box open, I noticed the adorable unicorn shape of each piece of chocolate. I hoped I was in for a treat, but knew that the high-cacao, sugar-free, raw, adaptogen-packed chocolate might not be as sweet and scrumptious as it smelled.

To my great surprise, rather than being bitter and unpleasant to eat, it was actually delicious. It was sweeter than I'd expected, with a smooth, nutty and almost milky flavor. It was also rich enough that nibbling on it here and there throughout the day totally satisfied my sweet tooth.

And perhaps it was all in my head, but after just a minute, I felt like I was extra alert and ready to take on my day—as if I'd had caffeine, but with less of an edge. I was focused and in the zone and more able to stay on one project for extended periods of time, but never edgy or jumpy, like I am with caffeine. It was a great experience that I wanted to extend for as long as possible, and though one serving is two squares, just one did the trick for me for the entire day.

While I don't know much about the ingredients—cordyceps, astragalus, mucuna and ashwagandha, I do know that the last is an ingredient that's been recommended to me as a daily supplement, so there might be some science to these chocolates, after all.

 

Focus

On Tuesday, I had even more to get done during the day, so I opted to try the Focus bar. I'm not sure why, but after the first flavor, I expected all of these chocolates to taste the same, and I only had to try two to find out that this absolutely wasn't the case. The Focus was less sweet, with a slightly more bitter and earthy flavor, though the texture was just as smooth. But while it wasn't as tasty as the one that had come before it, it had just as much of an effect on me.

One single bite and I felt honed in. Again, I didn't feel buzzy or tense—just in tune with my work and all of the tiny moving parts I had to get running together in order to make it all work. This was especially impressive because I had some big distractions that day, as the room I use as my office was having some DIY projects done at the time. Again, I can't really say if it was the bar's lion's mane mushroom, lucuma, Siberian ginseng, cordyceps and ashwagandha I could thank, or just the fact I thought it was working—but it definitely did the trick.

 

Recharge

I had the day off that Wednesday, and wondered which of the remaining four chocolates I should go for next, but after feeling a little weak and light-headed in the morning after a too-hot shower, I hydrated and decided to try the Recharge. This one also had a sweet but more neutral dark chocolate flavor and I was shocked to discover that after just three little nibbles, I was feeling like myself again.

This bar's ingredients include lucuma, he shou wu, cordyceps, distance, eucommia, morinda and rehmannia. Again, I know little about any of them, but if they worked for me, they can likely work for anybody.

 

Beauty

I was working again on Thursday, and feeling like I mostly had a grasp on things at work, so I decided to go for one of the more unusual Addictive Wellness varieties, Beauty. I wasn't even sure what to expect with a feeling of enhanced beauty, so I was curious to see how I'd feel after biting into this chocolate.

Flavor-wise, it was probably the sweetest of the bunch, with a floral and almost berry-like aftertaste that surprised me after trying three other flavors. And like I expected, it was harder to quantify what I felt after eating a few bites. After spending most of the day on my own, I wasn't sure if I was feeling extra confident in the looks department, although I was pretty happy with myself when I looked back at myself in the mirror.

When I got off work, my husband also complimented me a few times, but he always does. However, because I was looking out for it more, I did pay more attention to the compliments, and I think they meant a little more because of that. All in all, that's a good thing. The ingredients in this one included mucuna, tremella mushroom, chaga mushroom and blue butterfly pea powder.

 

Tranquility

I had a pretty hectic Friday the following day, with lots and lots to get down, so I thought it would be interesting to give the Tranquility a shot. Of all six Addictive Wellness flavors, I thought this one tasted the most like a traditional dark chocolate bar, with just the right balance of sweetness and bitterness.

The result was that, even though I knew I had work to do, I wasn't too worried about it. I let myself take breaks when I needed to, grabbing snacks and going to the bathroom without continually putting those things off to get my work done, and even though certain tasks were taking me longer than expected, I knew it'd be fine. In fact, relaxing actually helped me get everything done faster. I thought that was a pretty valuable lesson, thanks to ingredients lucuma, reishi mushroom, he shou wu, mucuna and ashwagandha.

 

Love

Last but not least, I decided to save the Love chocolate for the weekend, because I knew I'd be spending the whole time with my husband and family, and thought that would be a great vibe to harness for the weekend. This chocolate had a warmer, spicier flavor than the others, and was one of my favorites to munch on.

Effects-wise, I wouldn't say that the Love chocolate was about passion and romance. Instead, I thought I felt more compassionate and generous and friendly after eating it, which led to having a really warm and loving day of fun that was less about makeouts than it was cuddles and enjoying time together—but perhaps your results will vary.

The ingredients in this chocolate also include a couple of items not found elsewhere on the list, including lucuma, maca, cistanche, mucuna, he shou wu, reishi mushroom and black ginger, which may lend its unique properties.

 

Bottom Line

I don't exactly know how to explain it, but (at least in my experience) Addictive Wellness chocolates do everything they set out to do, and more. Perhaps it's all placebo effect, but eating each of the six varieties made me feel exactly what I was supposed to, and if you keep an open mind, I bet they'll work for you, too.

I'm a big fan of the fact that there are so many types to try, depending on your needs, and that they all include different ingredients to get you there. Because each box contains four chocolate squares, you can also mix and match to get exactly the results you need for the day, which has worked very well for me in the weeks since my initial test.

Of course, they won't be for everyone. If you hate dark chocolate, even the delicious sweetening isn't going to make these your favorites. They should also be avoided by people with mushroom allergies. And at almost $2 per individual square, they're not the most budget-friendly treats around, either. Regardless, I'm shocked at how well they work, and plan to keep some around for energy emergencies, when I really need them most.

 

Love all things dark chocolate? Click HERE to discover JoJo's, the sugar-free bar that's changing the chocolate game.