When we think of chocolate, most would not think of bean, right? Well, chocolate actually comes from the cacao bean produced from trees all over the world, each destination producing a differently flavored bean. The earliest documentation of the discovery of chocolate was in 1100 BC from Central America and Mexico. The actual bean was not used right away. However, the white pulp surrounding the beans was used as a source of fermented sugar for alcoholic beverages.
The Aztecs coined the word “chocolate” when they would make a drink with the beans that they called xocolatl, or “bitter water”. The seeds are quite bitter before being fermented but once they are, they are dried, roasted, shelled, and liquified into the substance we would now identify as chocolate.
The Aztecs associated chocolate with the Goddess of fertility, or Xochiquetzal.
Most of the chocolate consumed today is not pure, but is sweet chocolate that is combined with sugar. When looking at a label, the higher percent cacao it is, the more pure the chocolate is.
There are four types of chocolate usually sold and bought for consumption:
Dark chocolate: The most pure of the chocolate with the most benefits. Often thought to taste bitter in comparison to others since it is so pure and the cacao bean is naturally bitter.
Milk Chocolate: Unsually contains a type of milk poder or condensed milk
semi-sweet chocolate: Unsually coupled with a high amount of sugar to make it sweet
White Chocolate: Actually does not contain any cacao beans whatsoever. Is made of cocoa butter, sugar and milk.
Health Benefits
Chocolate contains alkaloids, such as theobromine and phenethylamine which are shown to have physicological effects on the body. Chocolate is also directly related to the release of seretonin in the brain that produces a feeling of happiness or content. It is also claimed that chocolate, eaten in moderate proportions, can lower blood pressure. Becuase dark chocolate is the purest of all those on the market, it is claimed to contain many antioxidants which help to fight off free radicals, or toxins that continuously try to attack your body.