Irresistible Chocolate

It is almost irresistible to keep your hands away from chocolate when it’s in front of you. Chocolate is loved by every age group and gives us a feeling from good to best of pleasure when consumed. It’s delicious on its own and is also used in many recipes. But do you know that it’s not easy to make chocolate? Let’s find out how chocolate is made together with some chocolatey facts! 

Cacao or cocoa beans are used to make chocolate, which is produced by tropical cacao trees. But they do not magically transform into sweet treats since they have a very bitter flavour. Instead, they need to be roasted, cracked, and winnowed before being processed to create sweet chocolate. That is some hard work to produce small bars of chocolate!

Raw cocoa beans do not taste anything like chocolate and contain pathogens that can be dangerous to humans. When cocoa beans are roasted, they undergo a chemical process, and adequate roasting is essential for producing flavorful chocolates.

Chocolates are indirectly related to vegetables! The cacao tree is a member of the Malvaceae family which includes cotton and okra. Isn’t that interesting?

There are reportedly more than 500 different flavours of chocolate! How many have you tasted?

Ever wondered why chocolate is expensive? It’s because 400 cacao beans are required to produce one pound of chocolate. One cacao tree yields 30 to 60 pods annually with each pod containing almost 40 beans! Furthermore, each tree produces only 2 to 3 pounds of chocolate every year. And these beans are gathered by hand! Now you can understand why these sweets are pricey.

The cacao beans were once valued higher than even gold dust and were used as currency during Mayan times! And to keep everyone from growing their own currency, the cultivation of cacao trees was limited to maintain the value of cacao beans.

Beware of feeding chocolates to pets! Chocolates are not meant for pets as they contain theobromine which is toxic for animals but humans can easily digest it. So next time do think before feeding your pets chocolate!

Ever wondered why you feel relaxed with just the scent of chocolate? This is because theta brain waves are enhanced by smelling chocolate which causes a sense of relaxation. Additionally, chocolate includes tryptophan, which is utilized by the brain to make serotonin, a hormone that elevates mood. Now you know why you get happy when you eat chocolate!

If you are a book lover who also loves chocolate then you need to read Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” which takes you on a sweet journey through the chocolate factory!

Did you know that a real chocolate river was created for the film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory using chocolate, cream, and water!

Chocolate was not always in bar form; it was enjoyed in liquid form in the Aztec and Mexican cultures however, it was not the same as the hot chocolate we enjoy today. It was primarily a bitter beverage that was frequently consumed at weddings and other special events.

The concept of “eating chocolate” was introduced by a British company Fry and Sons which combined cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, and sugar to produce a grainy concoction.

It took eight long years to develop the recipe for milk chocolate by a Swiss chocolatier, Daniel Peter!

White chocolate is not really chocolate. The main ingredient for chocolate is cacao beans but white chocolates do not contain any cacao solids, instead, they are made from cream, cocoa butter, vanilla, and sugar!

With these tasty facts who can keep themselves away from chocolate however, there are some myths regarding chocolates that make people concerned about their health while eating chocolates. Let us see what these myths are and in reality, how chocolates are good for your health!

It is a common myth that chocolates do not contain health benefits. But this is not true! Chocolate contains several antioxidants, magnesium, and zinc. Additionally, it has protein, calcium, and phosphate, all of which aid to lower insulin resistance. 

People think that eating chocolates can make them obese, however, chocolate is not the culprit in weight gaining! Although chocolate does contain fat and calories, but these are the good fats that help your body! Dark chocolate contains saturated fats which help in maintaining blood cholesterol levels and sometimes even lower cholesterol levels in the blood. Dark chocolates are significantly healthier in contrast to milk-based chocolates since milk increases the number of saturated fats in chocolate. But this doesn’t mean that you should start gorging on chocolates! Eat everything in moderation so they don’t cause any health issues.

Consumption of moderate amounts of dark chocolate can lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol levels in the blood. As the cholesterol level reduces, the risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke also reduces. This is because the cholesterol doesn’t get accumulated in the arteries which narrows the arteries and increases the chances of a heart attack.

Dark chocolate contains a high quantity of magnesium which can help in lowering blood pressure. According to research, consuming dark chocolate increases the quantity of nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide is a chemical that occurs naturally in the body and works on tiny receptors in blood vessels to widen them, which lowers blood pressure in general.

Chocolates are thought to cause tooth decay but this is not entirely correct! When bacteria in your mouth convert sugar into acids and continue to eat away at the tooth’s surface, tooth decay develops, and cavities result. Here chocolate can be beneficial as it contains antibacterial agents from the cacao beans which help in preventing tooth decay! However, this does not mean that you consume chocolate on a daily basis.

Eating dark chocolate enhances brain function! Eating a small piece of dark chocolate before work can improve your concentration and enhance your memory.  It can also prevent your brain from aging. Moreover, researchers at the University of Nottingham discovered in 2012 that consuming dark chocolate increases blood flow to certain crucial parts of the brain for at least a few hours, which directly contributes to improved task performance and general attentiveness.

You will be surprised to know that chocolate is beneficial for your skin! Although chocolate is thought to cause acne, this is not the case in reality. As said by Dr. Anju, “Chocolate may cause acne due to the presence of fat content in it but not always, as a lot depends upon your skin type.” According to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public, dark chocolate is packed with vitamins and minerals such as copper, magnesium, manganese, and iron. These minerals and vitamins help in keeping our skin healthy. For instance, manganese promotes the formation of collagen, a protein that helps maintain healthy and youthful-looking skin.

These were some of the chocolatey facts which you would’ve surely enjoyed! And now you will know that myths are not always true and you can eat chocolates but do eat them in moderation as an excess of anything can be harmful!