A Mystic Mixture: Chocolate
September 3, 2008 – 11:49 pm
Who does not like the good taste of chocolate melting in the mouth? Imagine a store full of chocolate, even the charming smell of different chocolates makes the human dizzy. Is it true that chocolate gives happiness or not? Here the story and some specific features of this mystic mixture, chocolate.
Chocolate Types
There are some types of chocolate. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate and praline are major chocolate types. These differ from each other with the ingredient and amount of the ingredient they consist. In addition to that, different chocolate types can be produced by adding other flavors.
Production Progress of Chocolate
Cacao is provided from cacao tree. Most of the cacao is produced in West Africa, West Indian Islands and South America in the world. A cacao tree gives fruit only four year after its plantation. Cacao trees give fruit twice in a year. In a fruit, there are 20 – 40 cacao seeds. After cropping, these seeds are left for fermentation. After that, they are dried under sun and they are ready for factory progress. In the factory, the seeds are dried and ground. The mixture is used for the production of chocolate. In addition to that, from this mixture, cacao and cacao butter can be produced.
Dried cacao parts are mixed with sugar. This mixture is softened with cacao butter. It is processed in order to clear off the particles in the mixture. Now the mixture is liquid. It is shaped as bars.
Aphrodisiac Effect and Chocolate: Does Chocolate Really Give Happiness?
You feel happy after eating a piece of chocolate, don’t you? Every second it melts in your mouth, it makes you feel better. What is the secret of this? What makes chocolate so effective? It is a common thought that chocolate has aphrodisiac effect. It is not only a thought, the researches proved it. Chocolate’s mysterious ingredient increases serotonin level. It means serotonin affects pleasure level. That is the scientific reason why chocolate gives pleasure.
Health Benefits of Chocolate
Regular consumption of chocolate has some health benefits. In addition to aphrodisiac effect and its benefit for psychology, chocolate also has other essential health benefits. Especially dark chocolate types are recommended due to their effective ingredient. First of all, chocolate consuming has impact on circulation system. That means it affects nearly the entire body. With antioxidant action, it reduces blood pressure. Regular consumption reduces heart attack risk. It is a fact that chocolate does not any negative effect on cholesterol. The fat it consists does not have such an undesired effect.
There are also other benefits which were not proven scientifically. It is believed that chocolate has good effect on some cancer types. Another little effect of chocolate is that it prevents couching. Keep that in mind some of these are only general beliefs, not scientific rules. However, no matter what effect it has, chocolate is delicious and nearly everybody loves eating it.