Chocolate and Happiness - What's the Connection?

There are hundreds of natural chemicals in chocolate, and they affect our brains, as they emit neurotransmitters. These can affect our feelings and make us feel happy. The raw, unprocessed beans from the cacao tree are one of a number of so-called 'superfoods', so they belong in the same category as the humble broccoli florets that many children hate.

Cacao beans contain potent antioxidants more than can be found in green tea or red wine. Antioxidants are, quite simply, compounds, either man-made, or in this case, natural, which work to prevent, or delay oxidization and so they help combat the aging process and free radicals in the body, which can cause cancer.

Researchers believe that the antioxidants found in cacao beans can help to lower the risks of a stroke, lower blood pressure and the risk of cardiovascular disease, as well as preventing, or at least delaying prostate cancer.

Dark chocolate rather than milk chocolate is better for our health because it contains more of the cocoa bean than white chocolate. Researchers believe that the flavanols present in dark chocolate stimulate the endothelium (the arteries lining), thus producing nitric oxide (NO3). This, in turn, transmits messages to the arteries, instructing them to relax, so reducing blood pressure.

A hundred gram bar of dark chocolate containing 70-85% of cocoa has various minerals in it, including selenium which is a proven mood enhancer. It has 98% of the recommended daily dose of manganese, 67% of the recommended dose of iron, 58% of the recommended dose of magnesium, 89% of the recommended dose of copper and a huge 98% of manganese. It also has zinc, phosphorus, and potassium it. In other words, dark chocolate is good for us! Another plus point is that it contains less sugar than milk chocolate.

Caffeine and theobromine are also to be found in dark chocolate, but the small amounts of these stimulants are extremely unlikely to keep you awake at night! You can't compare eating dark chocolate to drinking coffee with caffeine in it.

What's the connection between chocolate and happiness? Well, if you have never experienced the pleasurable feeling you get when you eat chocolate, perhaps you should try eating a small amount of dark chocolate. The smooth texture and delightful taste, coupled with the feeling of well-being you get will probably make you a complete chocolate fan!

To make you feel better when you are depressed, there's nothing better than chocolate!

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Fun Facts About Chocolate

There are so many weird and wonderful fun facts about chocolate, it's difficult to know which to include and which to omit because of space considerations.

First of all, the Mayans used cacao beans as currency as they believed that they were more valuable than gold dust. They controlled the production of beans so that their currency wouldn't depreciate in value.

White chocolate isn't strictly speaking chocolate. We have been labouring under a misapprehension for many years. Chocolate has to contain cocoa solids, but white chocolate doesn't have any in it. Instead, cocoa butter is used in the production of white chocolate.

Europeans are the biggest fans of chocolate, accounting for the consumption of nearly half of the chocolate that is produced globally.

Where was the biggest chocolate bar produced? In the UK; it was made by Thornton's for its centenary. It was a record breaker, weighing 5,792.50 kilograms.

Toblerone is so popular that if the number of bars sold each year were to be put end to end, they would stretch to 62,000km. That's more than the Earth's circumference.

Chocolate contains theobromine which s a very powerful stimulant. If you eat too much of it, it can prove fatal. However, you would have to eat around 22 pounds of the stuff in one sitting, which isn't really possible. Theobromine poisoning causes seizures, heart failure, dehydration, and acute kidney damage.

Chocolate chip cookies, adored by many around the world, came into being because of an accident which occurred in 1930. Ruth Wakefield ran out of cooking chocolate, but undeterred she used pieces of chocolate in her biscuit dough. The chocolate she used was Nestles, and she later sold her recipe to the firm in return for a lifetime's supply of chocolate.

A pound of chocolate contains 400 cocoa beans and a cacao tree will produce around 2,500 beans. The beans are the seeds of the cacao tree. These trees are delicate and cocoa farmers lose about 30 percent of their crop every year.

Most of the world's cocoa comes from West Africa, with Cote d'Ivoire accounting for around 40 percent of the world's cacao supply.

Ancient people fermented the pods of the cacao beans to make drinks other than chocolate.

Montezuma, the Aztec emperor used to drink 50 cups of chocolate a day. These were served to him in a golden chalice.

Every November in Germany, people celebrate Saint Martin's Day with sweets and mugs of steaming hot chocolate.

How many of these fun facts did you already know? Comments are welcomed.

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Can White Chocolate Really Be Called Chocolate?

So white chocolate isn't actually chocolate as it mainly consists of milk. rather than cocoa solids. Often it contains palm oil or other 'fillers' and lots of sweeteners. Cocoa butter gives white chocolate its creamy texture and colour.

So who first produced this white bar? It seems that it was Nestle. The company began producing the new bars commercially in Switzerland in 1936. The story goes that it was originally made in order to use up the excess milk powder that had been made during the First World War. At the end of the war, it was no longer in demand, so making the new white bars was one way of using up the surplus. This also uses up the cocoa butter that is extracted from the cacao bean when cocoa powder is produced. Cocoa butter is not only used in making white chocolate, but it can also be found in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

The cost of cocoa butter increased dramatically between 2005 and 2015, which led to many chocolate manufacturers using less of it and adding fillers such as vegetable oil to their chocolate.

Manufacturers of these white bars of our favorite confectionary are experimenting with new flavours. These include flavouring it with turmeric and pomegranate, mango, chilli and lime, rosemary and sea salt, and even Thai curry shrimp. Now white chocolate can be made with non-dairy milk as well as goat's milk. You can also get a superior chocolate which has lemon oil and lemon salt in it. One German manufacturer puts kale and mustard in his, as well as combining it with broccoli and Sicilian almonds. Other producers add roasted blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. This kind of white confectionary lends itself to enhancement. You can even buy bars that are flavoured with black sesame seeds, vanilla, and matcha, but this is grey rather than white in colour. Other combinations include za'atar (a spice blend from the Middle East) candied orange and pistachios.

If your chocolate bar is very bright white, it has been bleached, (cocoa butter is yellow, not white) and most likely deodorized. Read the label before you buy. You are recommended to buy bars of the stuff which contain just cocoa butter, sugar, milk powder or milk solids and perhaps vanilla and lecithin.

Obviously, it is best to buy your bar from a speciality or craft chocolate shop, or a specialty grocers emporium.

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Godiva Chocolates - Are They the Best in the World?

Godiva chocolates are marketed well. They are sold in the US as well as Europe and can be ordered online. That. of course, means that they are easily accessible for those with credit and debit cards. They are now available in Asia, and can be purchased in China, Hong Kong, and Japan. They are also available in Turkey.

Godiva began producing its quality chocolate, both bars and boxes of the delicious confectionery, in 1926. Cadbury's chocolate has a longer history as it was first produced commercially in 1831. However, this was drinking chocolate, not bars of the stuff which are poplar with children and adults alike.The first bar was produced by Fry and Son, a company which operated in Bristol, England. The company closed in 2011, although its rival, Cadbury's, is still going strong.

There's a world of difference between Belgian chocolate and the British kind, in my opinion. After all each company caters to the tastes of the people in the country it operates in.

People from different countries have different tastes, and that means that each nationality will have a favourite type of chocolate. Who can say that what appeals to one nationality will appeal to all? That being so, no one can categorically assert that one type of chocolate is the best in the world.

Godiva's products are certainly among the best of their kind, but not everyone wants to eat a strawberry covered in chocolate, which is one of the individual chocolates on offer. They do, however, produce milk, dark and white chocolate and you can buy hampers of these products as well as individual items. If you are ordering online, of course, it makes sense to order way more than one bar. If you purchase more than $60 of the products, then you get free shipping.

Certainly these quality chocolates make ideal presents for Christmas, Eid, and other holidays. They are especially welcomed when they are given as birthday presents and, naturally, they make the perfect Valentine's Day presents when accompanied by a red rose, or a dozen of them.

If you have never had this brand of chocolate, perhaps you should try a bar to find out what everyone else is raving about.

If you visit the Godiva website you will find discounted offers, although the items are not much cheaper than usual.

If you are a self-confessed chocoholic, it's highly probable that you will love these gourmet delights. If you are lucky, you will get some as a present, but if you are not, you can treat yourself and find out why they are so popular. They might not be the best in the world, but they are very good.

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What in Chocolate Makes It an Aphrodisiac?

As far as we know, the first European to be served with a hot chocolate drink was the Spanish explorer, Hernando Cortez (1485 - 1547). When he first tasted this spicy drink, he was in the court of the Aztec emperor, Montezuma II. This drink was a far cry from the ubiquitous hot drinking chocolate we have today. It was made with ground cocoa beans, chilli peppers, vanilla, cinnamon, and black pepper. As there was no sugar cane at that time in Central America, it may have been sweetened, (if it was), with honey. Sugar cane was not introduced into the South American continent until the mid-16th century.

Montezuma is reputed to have had a prodigious sexual appetite, and it is thought that the Aztecs believed that this could be attributed to the cacao bean and the drink. It is said that the emperor drank many goblets of hot chocolate, thus fueling the belief that it was an aphrodisiac. The evidence for the link between chocolate and enhanced sexual performance is therefore purely anecdotal.

So, that's where the belief that chocolate is an aphrodisiac has its origins. But is there any scientific proof for this claim?

Scientists say that there are two substances in chocolate and the cocoa bean which may increase sexual desire; one is tryptophan, a precursor to the feel-good chemical serotonin. The second substance is phenylethylamine, which is a stimulant akin to amphetamine. The latter substance, phenylethylamine is released into the brain when people fall in love.

These substances are present in chocolate of all kinds in small doses, so it is very unlikely that chocolate actually has any aphrodisiac qualities. Dark chocolate has marginally more of them that milk and white chocolate, apparently. Scientists have investigated the claims, but have found no evidence to substantiate them.

That being said, though, most people wouldn't deny that eating chocolate, and letting it melt in your mouth, is a very pleasurable sensation. When we feel good, and are cozy and comfortable, we are probably open to the possibilities of arousal. If you are not comfortable and warm, you probably aren't in the mood for any kind of dalliance. Think about all the films you have seen when a couple lie in front of a log fire on a sheepskin rug and end up in each other's embrace.

Chocolate is not an aphrodisiac according scientists, but as it makes us feel good and relaxed, there is some circumstantial evidence to suggest, however erroneously, that chocolate is an aphrodisiac.

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