More than 3000 years ago, the Mayans and Aztecs of the Americas consumed chocolate.
These
people drank cacao, or the chocolate bean, which was ground into hot water,
like the hot chocolate we drink today. However, their cacao was rather bitter
and had chilies in it. For those of us who hoard our chocolate candies,
it is easy to understand why the Mayans and Aztecs used cacao beans as currency.
Imagine using M&Ms instead of coins!
-
How
did chocolate spread around the world? In 1502, on his fourth and last
voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus came upon a canoe that
was transporting agricultural products, including cacao beans. He seized
the contents of the canoe and brought cacao back to Spain. Chocolate
did not become popular for many years in Europe, but decades later,
the Spaniards added sugar to the cacao, and the rest, as they say, is
history. Chocolate soon became the preferred drink of the royal courts
in Europe. The belief was that chocolate could cure any illness.
Have
you ever seen a cacao bean, (or, as it is more commonly known, a cocoa
bean)? These beans grow on a tree called Cacao theobroma. The
cacao tree is pollinated by insects called midges and by bats and is
grown only within 10-20 degrees latitude of the Equator. These regions
include West Africa, Central America, parts of South America, and the
Caribbean Islands. The beans, which grow in the fruit pods of the tree,
are generally harvested twice a year. Each pod is about the size of
a hand and contains 20-50 beans. The pods turn bright yellow, orange,
or red when ripe. The beans are dried, and then the center part is removed
by hand and allowed to ferment. After the beans dry again, they are
sold. The chocolate manufacturer must separate the beans from any debris,
remove the hard outer shell, and grind the center part of the bean.
Chocolate candy bars, after-dinner mints, brownies, truffles, doughnuts,
chocolate milk-if it has chocolate in it, we eat it. Hot, cold, solid,
liquid, over ice cream...even over meat?! Yes, a Mexican sauce called
"mole" uses unsweetened chocolate in a sauce that is served
over meat. It's a versatile flavor, chocolate. Chocolate has been blamed
for acne and tooth decay, but research has found that it is innocent
of these evils. That must have made lots of people worldwide sigh in
relief: the chocolate industry sells five billion dollars worth of chocolate
each year in the U.S. alone. The U.S. is only the eighth largest consumer
of chocolate. Switzerland, whose citizens eat more than 21 pounds per
person each year, leads the world in chocolate consumption.
else will do. There's even a name for someone who craves
chocolate: a chocoholic. It's almost an uncontrollable urge.
Adam
Drewnowski at the University of Michigan researched whether chocolate
triggers the production of opioids. Opioids are chemicals, such as those
found in opium, that produce a feeling of well-being (euphoria). Drewnowski
found that eating chocolate causes the brain to produce natural opiates,
which dulI pain and increase a feeling of well-being. If the receptors
in the brain that signal the presence of opioids were blocked, chocolate
bingeing decreased. It was not shown, however, if this was caused by
the high fat or sugar content of chocolate candy.
Chocolate
also contains phenylethylamine, a chemical related to amphetamines.
Like amphetamines, this chemical causes blood pressure and blood-sugar
levels to rise, resulting in a feeling of alertness and contentment.
Phenylethylamine has been called the "love-drug" because it
quickens your pulse, as if you are in love. Caffeine in chocolate may
also cause feelings of alertness and a pounding heart. Other stimulants
in chocolate include theobromine and methylxanthines. These caffeine-relatives
are weaker than caffeine-you'd have to eat more than 12 Hershey bars
to get as much caffeine as there is in one cup of coffee. All of these
stimulants increase the activity of neurotransmitters in the brain.