Here is a picture of me admiring chocolate at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in the Medicine Hat mall. In the background is Jody Jesse, assistant manager.
There are two food groups: chocolate and fruit.
If it is fruit, it should be dipped in chocolate.
-from Chocolate Humour website
March was nutrition month. It has come and gone. Now what? Now it’s April and time for Easter eggs. Those yummy eggs full of nice tasting chocolate.
I like chocolate and once in a while I give in to dark chocolate. This happens more often when I am looking for instant energy. You may catch me eating chocolate on a ski hill, on a golf course or when I am travelling. But I do not look for a chocolate when I am busy at work.
Chocolate is made from roasted cacao beans. Hot chocolate drink has been around since Christopher Columbus and others brought cacao beans to Spain in 1521. In 1643, a Spanish princess took solid chocolate to France and chocolate became very popular all over Europe.
An average North American consumes about five to six kilograms of chocolate a year. Did you know 40 per cent of world’s almonds, 20 per cent of world’s peanuts and eight per cent of world’s sugar is used by chocolate manufacturers? No wonder too much chocolate is fattening.
There are three varieties of chocolates: dark, milk and white chocolate. Chocolate liquor is the main ingredient in dark and milk chocolate and white chocolate has no chocolate liquor.
Is chocolate good for us? Many studies have suggested moderate intake of chocolate (especially dark chocolate) is good for our heart and vascular system. This is surprising because chocolate contains about 30 per cent saturated fat. Saturated fat is known to raise bad cholesterol level. But chocolate has saturated fat which is poorly absorbed in the intestine. That is good news for chocolate lovers. Chocolate also improves blood flow and reduces blood pressure.
Besides being fattening, chocolate can cause dental caries. What about chocolate addiction, chocolate acne and chocolate migraine? There isnt much scientific evidence to prove any of that. So once in awhile you can enjoy your chocolate.
Here are some trivia questions from the Internet:
-How do you get two kilograms of chocolate home from the store in a hot car? Answer: Eat it in the parking lot.
-If you eat equal amounts of dark chocolate and white chocolate, is that a balanced diet? Answer: I don’t know.
-Is it true that researchers have discovered chocolate produces some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana? Answer: The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two, but can’t remember what they are…
Well, you will have to excuse me now, my heart needs a piece of dark heart shaped chocolate. Yummy…
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