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and chocolates regularly live for almost a year
longer than those men who never, or only
occasionally eat them.
This new evidence comes from a study of
approximately eight thousand American men over
a period of eighty years. The longest living men
were those who ate chocolate between once and
three times a month. They cut their risk of death
by a third. Men who ate chocolate and sweets
once or twice a week cut their risks by a quarter.
Even those men who ate chocolate more than
three times a week lived longer than those who
never or rarely ate sweets or chocolate.
It is believed that the answer to these findings
lies in the antioxidant effect of phenols which are
found in chocolate. A small piece of chocolate
contains the same number of phenols as a glass
of red wine. Phenols have been found to help to
reduce cholesterol and may help to protect
against forms of cancer.
longer than those men who never, or only
occasionally eat them.
This new evidence comes from a study of
approximately eight thousand American men over
a period of eighty years. The longest living men
were those who ate chocolate between once and
three times a month. They cut their risk of death
by a third. Men who ate chocolate and sweets
once or twice a week cut their risks by a quarter.
Even those men who ate chocolate more than
three times a week lived longer than those who
never or rarely ate sweets or chocolate.
It is believed that the answer to these findings
lies in the antioxidant effect of phenols which are
found in chocolate. A small piece of chocolate
contains the same number of phenols as a glass
of red wine. Phenols have been found to help to
reduce cholesterol and may help to protect
against forms of cancer.
Longevity specialist, Dr. Michael Roizen states"Eat chocolate! Only chocolate with real cocoa
(dark chocolate) will do, but if you eat one ounce every day, you increase the level of healthy
fat in your diet. "
Researchers found eating 100g of dark chocolate each day for 15 days lowered blood pressure
in the 15 person-study. The University of L'Aquila team also found the body's ability to
metabolise sugar - a problem for people with diabetes - was improved. The team said an
antioxidant called flavanol was responsible for the effect because it neutralised potentially cell-
damaging substances known as oxygen free radicals, the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition reported.
Cholesterol - Studies show that cocoa butter has a neutral effect on blood cholesterol levels
because of the high level of stearic acid. studies are showing that antioxidants in chocolate --
dark chocolate and cocoa powder -- may increase "good" (HDL) cholesterol levels by as much
as 10 percent. In the studies, subjects ate 22 grams of cocoa powder and 16 grams of dark
chocolate every day (one Hershey bar contains 45 grams of cocoa powder). The result: Their
"bad" (LDL) cholesterol was less susceptible to oxidation, a process that normally leads to
artery-clogging plaques. While many people take vitamins and other antioxidants to help
prevent plaque development, the study shows that cocoa could do the trick.
Chocolate may be endowed with more than just antioxidants. Previous research by Kris-
Etherton published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 1997 showed that one of
the fats in chocolate, called stearic acid, can boost HDL levels. Also, when people ate milk
chocolate regularly, their levels of LDL didn't increase as might have been expected from fat
consumption.
HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE
For many cacao grew in the under-story of the tropical rain forest of the northern Amazon basin.
Together with the plethora of plants, animals, and insects of the rain forest, it thrived in the shade on
the forest floor and lived on the nutrients and water passed down from the canopy above.
that the seeds of wild cacao trees were gathered. Initially a few cacao trees would be planted just
inside the heavy rain forest,, mixed with both wild and cultivated under-story plants. Eventually that
grew to more specific plots of cacao, still under the canopy and within the rain forest.
South America, where the tree is native. It is thought that they created cacao as we know it. The Olmec
Civilization (3,500 to 2,500 years ago) consumed the beverage and it was used to fortify soldiers during
marches and in battle.
Cacao was highly valued by these people and they spread it northward through trade with their
neighbors. It was probably the Maya, over 1,500 years ago, who brought cacao to Yucatan in what is
now Mexico. Maya urns were often decorated with images of cacao pods. The Aztecs obtained cacao
from the Maya, and used it in a variety of ways. One common way was as a bitter spice in food (such
as today's Molé sauce). The common people often used cacao as a spice, and possibly also as a base
for pasta or bread.
The most well known way that cacao was used (and the way that made the deepest impression on the
European conquerors) was as a drink. The beans were toasted, ground up, put in hot water and often a
bit of maize, vanilla, or chilies were added to create the beverage of the Emperor. The water had to be
extremely hot for the mixture to work, and from that came the phrase, still used in Mexico, "Like Water
for Chocolate", to mean as hot as anything you can imagine. It seems likely that consumption of this
drink was limited to nobility, priesthood, and ritual occasions.
Cacao seeds were valued so highly throughout Mesoamerica that they were used for centuries as
currency.
The word cacao comes from the Mayan plant "Cacau". Because of a spelling error, these beans
became known as cocoa plant "Cacau". These beans became known as cocoa beans.
When Europeans first made contact with the Aztec civilization, cacao was being cultivated and used
extensively. The Spanish Conquistadors quickly noticed the benefits of chocolate and used it to keep
their armies marching long distances with little food. From the Aztecs the Spanish took it to Europe --
where it became part of the then European-wide Imperial quest for more drugs for the polite high
society, competing with the British tea and opium, the catholic countries' coffee and the young USA's
tobacco.
There is a great deal of differing information about the arrival of Cacao in Europe. Some sources say
that Columbus himself brought the first beans. Others say it was Cortes, and a whole list of others
have their supporters. Although almost every country claims to have been the first in Europe to utilize
chocolate, the Spanish seem to have been the first. There has been the suggestion that Spain kept it a
secret for 100 years.
Initially (in the 1500s), Europeans, primarily the Spanish, were put off by the drinks' traditional spicy
bitter flavor, so they began adding European (and recent American import) flavorings to chocolate,
such as vanilla, cinnamon, black pepper, and cane sugar.
Chocolate was widely used in Catholic countries after 1569 when Pope Pius V declared that chocolate
(the drink) did not break the fast -- despite the hearty nutritional aspects of Chocolate. Every Pope for
190 years after him, from Gregory XIII to Benedict XIV affirmed this decision -- the Popes loved
Chocolate. It became a popular way to nourish oneself on the many religious fast days. This may have
reached it's climax when Pope Clement XIV was killed with a cup of poisoned Chocolate in 1774.
By the middle of the 1600s, chocolate houses had opened in Europe; this is before coffee houses
started up. Chocolate houses became social clubs, meeting places for the elite, places to visit and to
talk politics. It was trendy and extremely expensive. Coffee was much cheaper and therefore, not for
the elite, but for the masses. Coffee houses inherited the popularity, the community and the political
atmosphere from chocolate houses when the invention of the Dutch press removed the narcotic effect.
The coffee house culture went on to incubate the democratic political movements of the 18th & 19th
centuries.
As Chocolate spread out of Spain, Hapsburg possessions remained at the forefront of Chocolate
manufacturing and use. This included Austria and the Spanish Netherlands (which are today Holland
and, the world center for chocolate, Belgium). Hapsburg Emperor, Charles VI, transferred his court
from Madrid to Vienna in 1711, which advanced the use of chocolate in Austria. However, in 1810 one
third of the world's entire cacao production was consumed by Spain. Venezuela had 50% of world
production. Germany surpassed Spain for the world lead in chocolate consumption only in 1900.
At this time the way they made the chocolate drink was to grind the whole bean and add sugar and hot
water. In 1828 the Dutch developed a press to force about 50%, and with improvements, 98% of the fat
out of cacao paste -- producing the powder which we are familiar with today. The powder was then
mixed with milk, instead of water, to add a little fat, but not nearly as much as was removed (3% vs.
54%). The pressing process also produced a major commercially viable by-product, cocoa butter.
Twenty years later at the Joseph Fry factory, they discovered a way to mix melted cocoa butter back
into Dutch powder to create a gooey mass which could be molded, hence, the first bar chocolate. In
1875 two Swiss men, Daniel Peter and Henri Nestlé, used the sweetened condensed milk they had
developed for concentrated infant food formula in to create milk-chocolate. The low water content of
the milk made it possible to mix it with the chocolate into a bar that did not spoil quickly. Rudolphe
Lindt developed the conching process in Switzerland in 1879, producing for the first time, smooth
creamy chocolate bars like we are familiar with today.
The New World, Mexico and Costa Rica, but primarily Venezuela, was the main supplier of cacao until
the start of the 20th century when the center of cultivation moved first to the Caribbean and then to
Africa (with some also in Asia). In the late 19th century major companies started growing cacao on
large plantations, generally clearing rainf forests to provide open land. It was at this time that the
extremely low pollination rate of cacao (1 in 3000) was noticed, but no one paid any attention to it.
Scientific sources suggest this was a natural phenomenon, when in fact, moving Cacao from the rain
forest to plantations took it farther away from it's pollinating midges' habitat.
Many of the companies that started making chocolate in the late 19th century, including Hersheys &
Cadbury, were based on religious ideals of abstaining from alcohol -- Chocolate was seen as an
acceptable substitute.
There are various suggestions of when Chocolate was introduced into the USA, ranging from the early
1700s to the late 1800s. It is suspected to be earlier, rather than later, due to the proximity to the
plantations. In 1900 Milton Snavely Hershey, a Mennonite from Pennsylvania, began producing milk-
chocolate bars and "kisses" with great success. In less than ten years he was able to buy two entire
towns and name them after himself. The empire grew even larger during World War I, when it is said
that Milton Hershey encouraged the US Army to add four Hershey bars to each soldiers daily ration.
Chocolate remained popular in Europe, and after World War II many Belgian and French chocolatiers
specialized making fine, high grade chocolate. Eventually, in 1994, the chocolate war established
standards and started the huge wave of pure chocolate bars made of 70% or more cacao.