A Passion for Chocolate

What is the first thing a woman craves when she is feeling the least bit down? Why do you suppose people buy billions of pounds of chocolate for Valentine's Day, Christmas, Mothers Day, birthdays and the like? Chocolate is not just for Valentine's Day any more. The grand champion of all comfort foods and known for its richness in antioxidants, chocolate is the number one turn-to food for feeling good. To me chocolate is the only food worth savoring and has more value than its weight in gold.

Discovered by the Aztecs 2000 years ago, then hailed as an aphrodisiac for men, chocolate soon became the most sought after confection by Royalty throughout Europe, thanks to a visit to Emperor Montezuma in the 1400's, by Hernando Cortez who introduced chocolate to Spain. It was not until the 1700's when Christopher Columbus brought it to America did we get enjoy the sumptuous sensation. They are my heroes.

What makes chocolate so alluring and pleasurable? For starters, chocolate contains more than 300 known chemicals that affect the feel good receptors of the brain. Besides stimulants like Caffeine and Theobromine, according to studies done at the Neurosciences Institute of San Diego, California, an amphetamine like stimulant, Phenylethylamine, serves not only to increase alertness, but contributes to a lasting sense of well being. Additionally dark chocolate contains four times more catechins, or antioxidants, than in red wine and black tea making it that much more appealing. According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association studies have shown people with high blood levels of theses antioxidant flavinols have lower risk of heart disease, lung cancer, prostate cancer, asthma, and type 2 diabetes.

There are hundreds of ways to enjoy chocolate, whether sweet, white, milk, or dark, liquor, unsweetened, bittersweet, semisweet, baking, drinking or plain, used in cookies, cake and confections, chilis, soups, and stews, the list goes on and on.

Tired, weak, happy or sad, I say go for the gold. Reach for a piece of dark chocolate for better health and well-being. There is always a reason to have a passion for chocolate.

It is orgasmic.

Learn more about this author, Susan Hicks.
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