HEALTHY VEGETABLE FLAVOR

Is chocolate the Elixir of Love? A brief look at chocolate through the ages and an examination of its chemical components offers some insight into the associations between chocolate and love.

Valentine's Day is almost synonymous with chocolate and those heart shape boxes of mystery that appear a few weeks before February 14th. The relationship between chocolate, love and courtship has its roots in ancient Mexico the birthplace of cacao. Montezuma had quite a reputation as a chocolate drinker with some accounts saying he drank up to 50 cups of chocolate a day before visiting his harem. In Mayan and Aztec society chocolate was known as yollotl eztli, which translates to heart blood.

The early marketing of chocolate in Europe often centered around its reputed benefits as an aphrodisiac and a medicine. Whether this marketing strategy was based on intuitive understanding, empirical evidence or the exotic nature of this new food is hard to know but they were on to something. Another interesting note, chocolate is often combined with vanilla which is known to increase penile blood flow.

Chocolate is one of the most chemically complex foods on the planet. It is loved by millions and craved by millions more, researcher Alan Hirsch has discovered it is the most craved food of all.
Our love affair with this food is not all myth a deeper look reveals a chemical basis for our love affair with chocolate.

There are a few compounds in chocolate that relate almost directly to the heart, two are minerals magnesium and iron, the third is an alkaloid called phenylethylamine.

Magnesium, is vital for the proper functioning of the heart muscle, it is concentrated in the heart at up 18 times higher than in the blood. Magnesium increase the vigor of the heart, lowers blood pressure and decreases blood coagulation. And chocolate is a superior source of magnesium containing the highest concentration of this mineral than any other food. Being most Americans are magnesium deficient is it any wonder we love this food especially on Valentine's Day a day for the heart. Magnesium also acts as a muscle relaxer which can help women while menstruating and serves to explain craving for chocolate during menstruation.

Iron while not as heart related as magnesium is vital for well oxygenated blood and well oxygenated blood improves the overall functioning of the heart and body. Chocolate is a superior source of easily assimilable plant based iron.

The third component is a rare alkaloid called Phenylethylamine (PEA), it is found in only two foods on the planet chocolate and blue green algae. PEA is an amphetamine compound which has been branded the "love chemical" by researchers who have discovered that PEA levels in the blood increase when we fall in love, during sexual arousal and peak during orgasm. Chocolate contains 2.2% PEA, so when you indulge in chocolate you are feeding your brain the same chemical it releases when in love. PEA also has a direct affect on the neurotransmitter dopamine, keeping it elevated in the blood stream longer. Elevated dopamine levels in the brain also increase our attention span and overall feelings happiness. This direct chemical link between chocolate and love are quite interesting, illustrating that the myth of chocolate as an aphrodisiac and its associations with love are based in part on chemistry.

Now lets have a review of Chocolove's 61% cacao content organic dark chocolate bar.

The bar is crafted in Colorado from imported Belgium chocolate which is sourced from the Caribbean. It has a soft fruity flavor which is nice, not too intense, its smoothness and lack of up front bitterness make it easily approachable. There is a certain milky quality, yet no milk. Soon after the taste is finished a chocolately bitterness comes forward, its nice and balanced with the butteriness that lingers in the mouth. This contrast of fruitiness, sweetness, butteriness and bitterness almost urges you to have another bite and experience the taste roller coaster one more time.

The approachable quality of this bar make it a good choice for milk chocolate lovers who want something deeper but don't want to sacrifice smoothness. Dark chocolate lover's will find this easy to eat but lacking in depth and bitterness.