About Chocolates

Chocolate contains high level of phenylethylamine, a naturally occurring chemical in the brain that promotes feelings of rapture, associated with being in love.

In the past…
--- Chocolate is old-school Viagra. Montezuma, the Aztec Emperor, reputedly drowned a cup of chocolate before entering his harem. It was a drink meant for only royalty and his male court members.
--- Casanova, renowned for seducing many women, called chocolate the “elixir of love” and drank it instead of champagne.
--- French doctors prescribed chocolate to women patients for a broken heart. Scientifically, chocolate is known to have anti-depressant qualities, which is linked to the small quantity of serotonin found in chocolates. Serotonin is a substance, which is found naturally in the brain and affects our mood.
--- Nuns, at one time, were forbidden to eat it because of its sexual reputation.

Presently…
--- On average, $750 million worth of chocolates are sold in United States on Valentine's Day.

We all know chocolate tastes good, but did you know it has emotional and physical benefits as well?
Recently there have been many studies on the effects of chocolate and it has been shown that by liberating endorphins, chocolate can provide us with a sense of well being as well as energy and pleasure. Its no wonder that some women surveyed stated that they preferred chocolate to sex!

Now Im not talking about the junky chocolate bars you find in the candy counter. In order to get the benefits of chocolate you need to eat the good stuff - the kind that has at least 71 percent real cocoa. This is the gourmet chocolate that you probably never buy for yourself. But now that you know its good for you feel free to indulge, the extra money you spend will be well worth the health benefits and taste!

The rich texture and taste of this high quality chocolate acts as a pleasure for the senses. It can be an aphrodisiac and also can help energize you as it contains caffeine as well as serotonin which can lift your mood.

Even better than that, though is that eating chocolate also can benefit your health!

Dark chocolate contains phenols which promotes cardiovascular health. According to the British Medical Journal eating 100 grams of dark chocolate reduces blood pressure as well as cardiovascular incidents by 21 percent. And phenols are also loaded with antioxidants which help to battle free radicals that can cause disease.

The cocoa butter in chocolate has been used topically to heal scars and burns and chocolate is a good source of magnesium which is a mineral many of us do not get enough of. With all these things going for it, its no wonder there is ongoing researching using chocolate in the development of medicines that can fight diseases like cancer and osteoporosis.

But as well all know, chocolate is fattening. Your best bet is to eat the dark chocolate which has less sugar and also more phenols. Of course, you should eat it in moderation - scarfing down 3 chocolate bars in one sitting probably wont have 3 times the health benefits and the extra sugar and fat can have a detrimental effect on your health.

It shouldnt be too hard to find the type of chocolate that is good for your, however you may not be able to just pop down to the local grocery to pick it up. A trip to my local supermarket in search of chocolate with 71% cocoa was a bust. The closest I could find was an organic bar that had 70% cocoa. You may need to take a trip to an organic or chocolate specialty store. If you go with organic chocolate, you can be assured that they dont contain organochlorine pesticides which are typically used in treating cocoa crops and are harmful to your health.

So take a trip down to your local organic food stores and pick up some great dark chocolate - it will be worth the trip and the expense to enjoy this healthy food guilt free!

You slowly unwrap a chocolate bar. Your mouth starts watering in anticipation. You place the piece of chocolate on your tongue as your eyes close. It begins to melt, giving your mind and body a wonderful sensation. Chocolate has the power to captivate like no other food.
Chocolate cravers need not fear death by chocolate. Chocolate cravers and chocoholics will be pleased to learn that there is a place for it in healthy eating patterns.

Chocolates scientific name is Theobroma cacao ~ food of the gods. Studies show that Americans consumed over 3 billion pounds of chocolate which totaled $15 billion in sales last year. Americans spent $1.09 billion on chocolate this Valentines Day. More than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate were sold this year for Valentines Day.

*71% of North American chocolate eaters prefer milk chocolate.
*22% of all chocolate consumption takes place between 8 pm and midnight.
*More chocolate is consumed in the winter than any other season.
*Today, Americans eat an average of 12 pounds of chocolate per person per year.

Recent studies have shown that cocoa or dark chocolate has potent health benefits for people. Dark chocolate is full of flavonoids and garlic acid, which are antioxidants that help protect blood vessels, promote cardiac health, and prevent cancer. It also has been effectively demonstrated to counteract mild hypertension. In fact, dark chocolate has more flavonoids than any other antioxidant-rich food such as red wine, green and black teas and blueberries.

This great news does not give us a license to consume as much dark chocolate as wed like. Chocolate is also a calorie-rich food, with a high content of saturated fat, so daily intake of chocolate also requires reducing caloric intake of other foods. There is currently no established serving size of chocolate to reap the benefits. However, what is known is that you no longer need to feel guilty while enjoying a little bit of heaven.

How easily it seduces. How readily we succumb. A glimpse, a sniff, a flash of pleasures past, and all resistance melts ... we reach for another piece of chocolate.