Health Benefits of Chocolate Drinks

There is a new reason to enjoy hot cocoa on a cold winter's night in front of a cozy fire. Consider it a health drink. Despite its relatively high sugar and saturated fat content chocolate is a rich source of antioxidants.

Other than reduce oxidization of LDL they also prevent cancer, food scientists say.

The reason that cocoa leads the other drinks is its high content of compounds called phenolic phytochemicals, or flavonoids, indicating the presence of known antioxidants that can stave off cancer, cardiovascular disease and other ailments.

Cocoa contains the flavonoids epicatechin and catechins as well as the larger oligomeric flavanols procyanadins.

Apart from cocoa and chocolate, flavanols are also found in a number of other foods and drinks such as apricots, apples, tea and red wines.

Comparing the chemical anti-cancer activity in beverages known to contain antioxidants, they have found that cocoa has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine and up to three times those found in green tea.

The scientists discovered 611 milligrams of the phenolic compound gallic acid equivalents (GAE) and 564 milligrams of the flavonoid epicatechin equivalents (ECE) in a single serving of cocoa. Examining a glass of red wine, the researchers found 340 milligrams of GAE and 163 milligrams of ECE.

In a cup of green tea, they found 165 milligrams of GAE and 47 milligrams of ECE. When the scientist compared one serving of each beverage, the cocoa turned out to be the highest in antioxidant activity.

Phenols in milk chocolate are also higher than that in black and green tea.

A cup of hot chocolate can contain approximately 150 mg of phenolic compounds. And a piece of milk chocolate bar provides almost 200 mg.

Phenolic compounds protect plants against insects and pathogens, and they remain active even after food processing.

Some other nutrients in chocolate include magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, copper and manganese.

The Aztec and Mayans believed that their cocoa drink had a positive health benefit and there have been many documented uses of cocoa as a medicine over the centuries.

Chocolate was a popular as a drink before it was eaten as candy. In the mid 1600s - chocolate was a fashionable English beverage. Drinking chocolate was touted as being wholesome for body and mind, and it was often consumed for medicinal purposes.
Health Benefits of Chocolate Drinks

The origin of Chocolate*

The origin of Chocolate
Although chocolate may represent less than half of the weight of many confectionary products, it is nevertheless the key component that gives such products their special appeal.

Chocolate is unique in that – unlike most other foods, where there is always a degree of taste polarization – it is vary rare indeed to find anyone who claims to dislike it.

Cocoa was first discovered by Europeans in South America. The Aztecs traditionally itself the seeds of the Theobroma cacao to make a drink by extracting the seeds from the cocoa pod and fermenting, drying and grinding them; the powder was then mixed with water.

It was cocoa as a drink that was imported by the Spaniards into Europe in the seventeenth century.

Later, Van Houten developed a process for pressing a proportion of the fat from the dried powder in order to make it more palatable: at about 50% fat, the drink made from untreated cocoa must have been very heavy. Modern drinking cocoas, by contrast, contain only 20% or less of fat.

At first, the expressed cocoa butter must have been a troublesome by product with relatively low value. But by mixing the cocoa butter back with unpressed cocoa and sugar, it was possible to make an entirely new product, namely solid chocolate for eating.

Now it is the partially defatted cocoa for drinking and cooking that is the cheaper by product.

The very broad appeal of chocolate as a food is difficult to explain. Part of its attraction is related to the particular melting characteristics of cocoa butter with its very sharp melting point at just below body temperatures; this give a very clean residual impression on the palate at the end of mastication.

But added to this is the characteristics flavor of cocoa which, as well as being attractive in its own right, seems to further eliminate any sensation of fatty after taste.
The origin of Chocolate

Chocolate as an Aphrodisiac

Chocolate as an Aphrodisiac
We've all heard that chocolate, derived from the cacao bean and prized by Meso-American peoples, is also an aphrodisiac. However, to many of us, that claim seems suspect. Can eating chocolate really help you get in the mood? Here are some basic facts about chocolate to tell you whether its reputation as an aphrodisiac is just fluff, or the real thing.

Chocolate refers to raw and processed foods that come from cacao seeds. This tree is native to tropical South America, and has been cultivated for more than three thousand years. It is earliest documented use is around 1100 BCE. The Maya and Aztecs are most famous for using chocolate, but it was made into drinks by most peoples in Meso-America. The seeds are intensely bitter, and have to undergo fermentation to develop the flavor we think of as chocolate.

After they've been fermented, these beans are cleaned and dried, then roasted. The shell is removed, producing cacao nibs, which are then ground and liquefied. This produces pure liquid chocolate in the form of chocolate liquor. This is usually then processed into cocoa butter and cocoa solids. Completely unsweetened chocolate contains a variable percentage of cocoa solids and cocoa butter, depending on the type. However, most of us consume sweetened chocolate, combined with sugar.

There are a number of different types of delicious sweet chocolate. Milk chocolate adds condensed milk or milk powder into the confection. White chocolate also uses milk, sugar and cocoa butter, but there are no cocoa solids in it. That's why it's not usually considered a true chocolate. Real dark chocolate does not contain any milk at all.

There are alkaloids in chocolate - most notably phenethylamine and theobromine, both of which can have effects on human beings, and which are toxic to some animals such as dogs. These chemicals found in chocolate have been linked to levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is one of the chemicals linked with pleasure and good feelings in humans when stimulated.

There are also chemicals called unsaturated N-acylethanolamines in chocolate. They can result in euphoria and heightened sensitivity. However, the amounts of all these chemicals in a typical amount of chocolate are fairly small, so its real aphrodisiac affect probably comes from the fact that eating it is such a sensual pleasure.

It's fatty, sweet and delicious, which is why so many of us love it. There's no firm proof that chocolate can work as an aphrodisiac, but we often give this wonderful treat to someone we love, and almost everyone appreciates it. So, whether it's chemically an aphrodisiac or not, there are still excellent reasons to give chocolate.

Everyone is different and responds to things in their own way. We each need a certain level of anything to react with our own personal body chemistry. You will want to experiment to find your own answer to this question. The nice thing about this experiment is that chocolate is delicious and if you are right there is a bonus.
Chocolate as an Aphrodisiac
About author:
Chris enjoys writing about all kinds of food especially chocolates. For more information on finest gourmet chocolates visit http://www.ultimatechocolateshoppe.com
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