Things You Didn't Know About Chocolate

The word chocolate brings to mind tasteful satisfaction,pleasure(Yummy). It is known worldwide for this property, but few people know of its intriguing history(which i just related to you),its characteristics,uses benefits and even its disadvantages. basically chocolate is underrated and so i am here to enlighten you on this topic.

Chocolate is made from the cocoa plant (which is grown mainly in West Africa,South America and the Caribbean) and contains cocoa solids and fat. There are two many jobs assorted with making chocolate. First there is the chocolate makers who use coca beans to produce gourmet chocolate and second chocolatires who make candy bars. There are two main processes involved in chocolate manufacturing : Conching and tempering. In temping cocoa butter is turned into crystals this aids in making the chocolate smooth and shine while conching entails blending and refining chocolate which is then kept in a liquid state until final processes. Thats thats now lets move on to the delicious stuff!

There are There types of chocolate: dark chocolate, white chocolate and milk chocolate. They contain some of the same main ingredients the only difference is that as the name suggest milk chocolate and white chocolate contain milk and vanilla. There is also chocolate liquor or bitter chocolate which is used for baking, there is also coca powder which is used to make heavenly tasting hot or cold beverage. With the different types There comes different flavors: minty,earthy,vanilla coffee orange and strawberry . Ingredients such as peanuts nuts fruits and caramel are often placed in chocolate to alter flavor. It is great to know also that the flavors are made by scientific experiments as well as varying time and temperature when testing cocoa beans.

Maybe you know or don't know that chocolate has heath benefits and a million uses but there are also some huge disadvantages to consuming chocolate and I will begin with the bad news. First there is the risk of obesity if to much chocolate is consumed without routine exercise to burn calories( this only happens with some individuals). Chocolate causes or aggravates acne so individuals suffering from this should limit chocolate eating or stay entirely away from it. Unknown to many some brands of chocolate contain small amounts of lead sometimes from contamination during production and this ha been reported to cause mild lead poisoning. A main ingredient in chocolate : theobromie makes it toxic to animals such as dogs, cats, horses,parrots and small rodents. These animals are unable to metabolize or break down this ingredient so if they should eat it and it stays in their system for up to 20 hours, the animal will experience seizures,heart attacks,internal bleeding and eventually death. So now you no no matter how much they may pine for it never give your pet chocolate.

On a lighter note this same ingredient stimulates mellowness in humans and has been credited for chocolates pleasurable taste also it is also the reason why many people see chocolate as an aphrodisiac,interesting isn't it. Many early Europeans used chocolate as medicine. They used it to help them sleep,purify the blood aid in digestion and many ,more. Today chocolate is still known for its heath properties. First on the list is its benefit to the circulatory system, studies have shown that dark chocolate reduces blood pressure and lowers cholesterol levels and aids in minimizing the risk of heart attacks this is done by eating a chocolate diet which entails eating relatively small amounts of dark chocolate daily without mixing it with other types of chocolate. Secondly chocolate is anti carcinogenic(it contains no cancer causing substances.) Researchers at Harvard and The University of California have found that ingredients in cocoa molecules used to make chocolate could be used to treat illnesses such as diabetes, dementia(craziness/mental illness) as well as other diseases. Another study has shown that chocolate prevents persistent coughing, because theobromine is more than one thirds stronger than Codeine the leading cough medicine, it seems that the chocolate soothes the throat. Flavonids in chocolate prevent the development of diahorrea.

There is no doubt that there are a million and one uses for this amazing product. Special holidays such as valentines day, Easter ,Christmas ,birthdays and so on are not complete without a gift of chocolate. Many successful books and films have chocolate at their foundation, for example in1964 Roald Dahl published a children's novel called Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which is about a poor boy who got the chance to visit the worlds greatest chocolate factory. There have been numerous films about the book but non as successful as the one made in 2005 it earned US $ 470,000,000 worldwide and was recognized at the 78^th Academy Awards.

So here we have it ladies and gentlemen boys and girls,chocolate is not just a 'normal' food it is grand and spectacular and it its high time that we give due credit to this phenomenal product of nature.