Chocolate
Food of the Gods

Health Benefits
Source: www.annamariavolpi.com/chocolate01.html

• One study found that a substance in cocoa helps the body process nitric oxide (NO), a compound critical for healthy blood flow and blood pressure.
• Cacao, the source of chocolate, contains antibacterial agents that fight tooth decay. Of course this is counteracted by the high sugar content of milk chocolate.
• The smell of chocolate may increase theta brain waves, resulting in relaxation.
• Men who eat chocolate live a year longer than those who don't.
• The carbohydrates in chocolate raise serotonin levels in the brain, resulting in a sense of well-being.

Factoids
Source: www.candyfavorites.com/shop/chocolate-trivia.php

• Cacao was named Theobroma by Linnaeus.

  Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778)
  

  Carl Linnaeus, also known as Carl von Linné or Carolus Linnaeus, is often called the Father of Taxonomy. His system for naming, ranking, and classifying organisms is still in wide use today (with many changes). His ideas on classification have influenced generations of biologists during and after his own lifetime, even those opposed to the philosophical and theological roots of his work.

  Source: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/linnaeus.html

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  The word Theobroma means 'food of the gods.' Mexicans named the pounded cacao seeds 'Chocolate.'
• Cacao is a tree, native to South America, whose seeds are the source of cocoa and chocolate.
• Cacao beans were so valuable in ancient Mexico that the Maya and subsequent Aztec and Toltec civilizations used them as a means of currency to pay for commodities and taxes.
• The Aztecs, and other ancient indigenous cultures, believed chocolate to be an aphrodisiac. Although this is not exactly true, chocolate does contain phenyl ethylamine (PEA) which creates a chemical reaction in the brain similar to that of falling in love.
• Chocolate was such as a prestigious luxury that the French Ruler, Louis XIV, also known as the “Sun King”, established a court position entitled Royal Chocolate Maker to the King.
• As of 2006, consumers spent more than $7,000,000 a year on chocolate related products.
• In 1960, chocolate syrup was used to simulate blood in the famous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, “Psycho”. The scene, featuring Janet Leigh, took over seven (7) days to shoot.