Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate

There are many kinds of chocolate — milk, dark, dutch, gourmet, decadent, processed, bittersweet, semi-sweet, molded, unsweetened, bitter, and my favorite kind, eating chocolate.

Lets not forget — chocolate truffles, chocolate hearts, chocolate fudge, chocolate cake, chocolate eggs, chocolate ice cream, chocolate rabbits, chocolate covered almost anything, chocolate fountains, chocolate bars, chocolate chip cookies, or the chocolate chips themselves, chocolate donuts, chocolate brownies, and chocolate butter cream frosting.

Everyone needs to eat more chocolate. Think of the endorphins and everyone loving everyone else. Eat more chocolate — what ever kind is to your liking, it will put a smile on your face.

Chocolate A “Cure” for Acne?

Chocolate has long been thought as the enemy of clear skin. But in the UK they are claiming that eating chocolate could prove more effective than beauty products for banishing spots.

The "Acne Care" chocolate bars are said to deliver antioxidants and miro-nutrients that help clear the skin.

The chocolate bar takes beauty foods to another level – by tackling acne care in an ingestible form; and using the food (chocolate) that in the past had claimed to have been associated with causing acne.

Supposedly the chocolate will support the body’s defenses and clarify the skin from within. (Only time will tell on this one, if it catches on and if it works.) I am for anything that allows anyone to eat more chocolate.

Chocolate Facts

Chocolate contains some caffeine, antioxidants and also some high levels of chemicals known as phenolic compounds, which may help combat coronary disease.

Chocolate does not promote or cause acne.

Chocolate is poisonous to dogs. They are extremely allergic to theobromine, a stimulant compound in cacao. It could be fatal.

Chocolate has more iron than beef liver.

Chocolate has more antioxidants than red wine or green tea.

Chocolate is one of the highest sources of phosphorus.

Nutritionists and doctors agree that the rule of thumb with chocolate is the darker it is the better it is for you. Enjoy!!

Strange Candies and Sweets

When Americans eat gummy bears – we assume that the bear is not an ingredient. Not so with, Percy Pigs in Great Britain – the candy has a smiling pig face and pork gelatin in the candy.

Americans like things sweeter than some other countries. Like beans in Asian sweets. Flowers are used in Madrid, and chili powder in Mexico. Japan has available the Kit Kat bar in flavors like melon, green tea and grilled corn. Scandinavia inserts a morsel of salmiakki (salt licorce) into a champagne truffle.

Some chocolatiers in the U.S. have been adding insects, larvae and scorpions. Americans are enjoying darker chocolate as opposed to regular milk chocolate but most do not indulge in the wilder or strange sweets.

Chocolate What a Story

-Stories of chocolate dates back at least 4000 years.

-Cacao trees provide us with oxygen and lots of chocolate.

-With candy, cosmetics and drinks in North America, we consume over $16 billion in chocolate products.

-Slimy flavorsome seeds come from inside the cacao trees’ bean pods, better known as chocolate.

-Christopher Columbus took the cacao seeds to Spain in 1502. But they were not liked until sugar, cinnamon and vanilla was added.

-In 1828 Van Houten invented a process of removing about half of the fat to produce a fine cocoa powder.

-Around 1849 the first sweet edible solid chocolate was made.

-By adding cocoa into powdered milk Henri Nestle invented chocolate milk in 1867.

-West Africa produces about 40% of the worlds’ cocoa.

Chocolate has a rich wonderful taste and has mood-affecting chemicals, including endorphins, serotonin and phenyl ethylamine, which are the same as the body releases in response to romance.

Cacao Tree History

Originating in Central America more than 4,000 years ago the cacao tree has been cultivated by man for more that 1,000 years. Believing that the seeds were a heavenly gift from paradise the Mayans and Aztecs were very fond of the tree. They both used cacao as currency (100 beans had a value of one slave.) Also the cacao was used in commerce and religion.

Chocolate was one of the earliest American exports. Early in the 16th century, Cortez brought cacao beans to Spain. The Spaniards were known to have added cinnamon and sugar to the bitter drink.

The cacao trees are now grown in equatorial regions of Asia and Africa as well as the Americas.

Cocoa Butter and Chocolate

Cocoa butter tends to be bitter and is dark and rich. Confectioners and chocolatiers process the cocoa butter m ore to increase the appeal. Sugar is added to make chocolate sweeter (which adds calories.) Milk solids are added to make milk chocolate (which includes saturated fats.)

American milk chocolate can contain as little as 10% cocoa, according to U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards. The FDA is debating a proposal to let candy makers substitute vegetable oil for cocoa butter. (In my opinion this would ruin chocolate as we know it.)

End Result: Processing could make some chocolates taste sweeter and look lighter. But in the process it removes healthy ingredients and adds harmful ones.

Chocolate May Benefit Those With Chronic Fatigue

Those with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) have found that regularly consuming chocolate could be beneficial. When consuming high cocoa content, the people that suffer with the illness found that they had more energy. CFS is an sickness that has a limitless range of various symptoms; the main one being exhaustion.

Patients are advised, by most chronic fatigue specialists to avoid chocolate because of the caffeine and sugar it contains. But, some patients said they felt much better after consuming dark chocolate with a high cocoa solid content. Dark chocolate is high in polyphenols, which may reduce blood pressure. Moreover, high polyphenols seem to improve levels of serotonin in the brain, which has been associated with chronic fatigue syndrome.

With many different causes chronic fatigue is a very complex illness. There is no single cure all that works for everyone, most patients require quite a few lifestyle changes along with nutrients, herbs and detoxing. Because of this, some chronic fatigue specialists discourage against the belief that eating chocolate daily is going to solve the problems.

Chocolate Melts in This Economy

American’s love for chocolate is very wide-spread and well-known. 96.7% of households repeatedly bought chocolate during the year. In a 12 month period, Americans bought chocolate candy on almost 19 times.

But even this wonderful sweet treat doesn’t seem to be superior to current down economic conditions.