8 Things you should know before eating chocolate

While we live in a world where more than 7 million metric tons of chocolate are consumed annually, the majority of people still don’t know too much about this extremely popular sweet.

Chocolate is a global phenomenon. When you and your pals get together to indulge again, be sure to impress them with some of these fascinating chocolate facts.

FACT 1:

During the period of the Maya, cacao beans served as a form of currency and were valued at a higher rate than gold dust.

There were restrictions placed on the cultivation of cacao plants so that the price of cocoa beans could be maintained at a reasonable level.

If that hadn’t been the case, it would have been far too tempting to simply produce your own currency.

FACT 2:

Before 1847, chocolate was a luxury that was consumed in the form of a bitter liquid. After blending cocoa butter, sugar, and chocolate liquor, the British chocolate business Fry and Sons was the first to popularize the idea of “eating chocolate.”

Many people still liked it despite the fact that it had a more gritty texture than a smooth one.

FACT 3:

Daniel Peter, a Swiss chocolatier and businessman, toiled away for eight long years attempting to devise a recipe for milk chocolate that would be successful.

It wasn’t until the year 1875 that he came to the conclusion that condensed milk was the solution to all of his problems. We’re so thrilled Daniel never gave up!

FACT 4:

The production of just one pound of chocolate requires the use of 400 cacao beans. What that entails is as follows: Every year, a cocoa tree should yield somewhere between 30 and 60 pods.

About forty beans can be found inside each pod. Therefore, the annual yield of cocoa from each tree is only two to three pounds.

When you consider that cacao pods must be gathered by hand, you can begin to comprehend why high-quality chocolate is so prohibitively expensive.

FACT 5:

White chocolate is not really chocolate because it does not include any cacao solids or cacao liquid like regular chocolate does.

This delicious dessert is produced by combining cocoa butter, vanilla extract, and sugar together. However, don’t worry about us passing judgment on you if it continues to be one of your favorites because we won’t.

FACT 6:

Even just the aroma of chocolate can cause a change in brain wave patterns known as theta, which is associated with relaxation.

According to the findings of a study that was carried out at Hasselt University in Belgium, when the aroma of chocolate was dispersed throughout bookstores, sales of books soared.

This was especially true for sales of romance novels. Indeed, a time for relaxation!

Additionally, chocolate includes the amino acid tryptophan, which is required for the production of the feel-good hormone serotonin.

Serotonin is responsible for a general sense of well-being. Therefore, consuming chocolate truly does make you feel better about life.

FACT 7:

When chocolate chip cookies were originally discovered, it was utterly and completely by accident. In the year 1938, a woman by the name of Ruth Wakefield had the bright notion that she could produce chocolate cookies by including chocolate chunks into her cookie dough.

This led to the invention of the chocolate chip cookie. Instead, she baked what would become [the most popular cookie in the world through the serendipitous discovery of the recipe for what would become [the most popular cookie in the world.

In the end, Wakefield decided to part ways with the recipe and sell it to Nestle Toll House. In compensation for his sale, Nestle Toll House agreed to provide Wakefield with free chocolate for the rest of his life. The deal that Ruth obtained was fantastic!

FACT 8:

Chocolate has an antimicrobial impact on the mouth, as eating pure cocoa has been proved to prevent tooth decay. Which raises the question, why does no one create chocolate-flavored toothpaste?