Chocolate facts (Theobroma cacao) - Planet Botanic Canada

Chocolate

Scientific Name: Theobroma cacao

Native to: Central & Latin America

Part Used: Fermented bean

Uses: Depression, Exhaustion, Weight Gain, Poor sex drive

When people think of chocolate, they usually think of the candy shop and high calorie chocolate bars. It may come as a surprise that chocolate was originally used as a medicine and is still being used as a medicine today.

Native to Central and Latin America, the fruits of the chocolate tree have been used by indigenous people to treat depression, fatigue, weight gain, and poor sex drive for thousands of years. Indeed, when the Europeans first arrived in the Americas looking a little worse for the wear, they were presented with a tonic beverage made out of chocolate beans.

In ancient Latin America, using Chocolate as a medicine was the pleasure of royalty, dignitaries, and high standing members of Aztec society. Considered a highly valuable item, chocolate beans were used as money. Colonial records indicate that when the Spanish explorers arrived, a slave cost 100 chocolate beans and a rabbit cost 6 chocolate beans.

Fascinatingly, high ranking Aztec and Incan officials used chocolate to help them keep up with their demanding posts. They used it as a stress tonic prior to the invention of the word stress! What are symptoms of stress? Exhaustion, depression, weight gain, poor sex drive! Though the Spanish invaders wiped out much of the Aztec and Incan civilizations, Latin Americans still use chocolate beans to undermine the symptoms of stress.

Tryptophan, an amino acid found in chocolate beans, has been shown to increase the body’s production of serotonin.

Is using chocolate as a medicine a strange idea? Maybe not. When do people eat chocolate? When they are depressed, frustrated, angry, and irritated. Does it work? If it did not, people in the UK would not consume millions of pounds of chocolate each year! Chocolate works. But what does the scientific community have to say about chocolate. Is there anything to it? Let's look at its different potential uses, one at a time.

Depression

A lot of people eat chocolate when they are feeling a little blue and it would seem that this is not a bad idea. Chocolate beans contain amino acids, many of which have been shown to have an antidepressant activity. The list of anti-depressant amino acids includes tryptophan, phenylalanine, and tyrosine. Fascinatingly, tryptophan has been shown to increase the body’s production of serotonin. Serotonin is our bodies self produced antidepressant.

Exhaustion

People that are tired all of the time often reach for a chocolate bar, seemingly with good reason. Chocolate has been shown to act as a gentle stimulant. Firstly, it contains the

stimulant theobromine, a substance related to caffeine. Research has shown that like caffeine, theobromine stimulates nerve function but it does not have the negative side effects associated with caffeine. Could theobromine make a person jittery? Probably not. Chocolate also contains the relaxant valeric acid and the anti-anxiety compound glutamic acid which counter balances the stimulant effect of theobromine!

Weight Gain

Research has shown that when you eat your brain releases happy chemicals and you feel happier. For this reason some people over eat when they are feeling down. The problem being if you are depressed and you put on weight, you get even more depressed.

Can chocolate help those people who eat to make themselves feel better? Maybe. First of all, it contains a list of anti-depressant compounds that address the fundamental problem with comfort eaters. Beyond this, theobromine, the stimulant found in chocolate, has been determined to act as an "anorexic". Anorexics are substances that make you less hungry! Chocolate acts as an appetite suppressant and antidepressant all in one. It also contains compounds that speed the metabolism, which means you burn more fat while using it.

Sex

Chocolate has long been used as an aphrodisiac in Latin America. What does a suitor bring a date? A box of chocolates. What does a husband bring a wife when he has been behaving badly? A box of chocolates. Chocolate and love go hand in hand.

Is there anything to this? To begin with, chocolate contains valeric acid, a sedative and tranquilizer. Indeed, it is termed an "anti-hysteric". It also contains the neurotransmitter dopamine, which acts as a relaxant. Chocolate relaxes and love tends to flourish in a relaxed setting.

Moreover, chocolate contains phytosterols that may, in some way, mimic human sex hormones. Research into the hormone side of chocolate is in its infancy, but women will tell you they crave chocolate at certain times of the month. This may be because it provides them with something they need. Some researchers feel chocolate's activity may go beyond hormonal and approach the pheromonal level. Pheromones are the compounds our bodies produce which make us attractive to other members of the species.

Practitioners’ Advice

The exciting news is that one can take advantage of the healthful elements of chocolate without all the calories and garbage chocolate bars pack. There is nothing wrong with chocolate, only the dairy fat and sugar it usually comes with. Chocolate tincture, made out of pure chocolate beans and nothing else, can be used to great effect without any guilt. Here are a few examples:

Firstly, for those people with a chocolate addiction, Chocolate Tincture can be used to wean oneself off the chocolate bar. One teaspoon three times a day should keep your cravings under control. However, if one is eating chocolate bars to fill a desperately unhappy life with happiness, one will need more than chocolate tincture. Always address the underlying problem and then all its symptoms go away. If you are unhappy and are using chocolate to fill in the gaps, think about getting a qualified counselor and working through your unhappiness.

This raises another use of Chocolate Tincture. Dieting. Dieting is a horrible experience because it involves reducing food intake. Food gives us pleasure and therefore reducing our food means reducing pleasure. Humans do not like to give up pleasure! So, when approaching dieting, one has to brace oneself for a reduction in pleasure. Chocolate tincture can be used to put one in the best possible mood for this undertaking. Taken three times a day, Chocolate tincture can give that gentle boost that is required to give up that extra helping at dinner time. However, like with chocolate bar addiction, if your over eating is a symptom of an underlying unhappiness, find a counselor that can help you get out from underneath the real problem.

Keeping a sex life exciting can be a challenge when one is married or partnered. Same person, same bed can lead to bedroom boredom. Indeed, keeping a sex life fulfilling is all about experimentation. The world of herbal medicine offers a host of aphrodisiacs that can be used in an experimentation regime. Get a hold of five different aphrodisiacs and try them on for size. Make it a project. Chocolate is one aphrodisiac that appears high on the list of aphrodisiacs worth a try. Try some Chocolate tincture and see if it makes a difference. It is used by millions for this purpose, even if they do not know it! Get playful with your sex life and use aphrodisiacs to do it.

QUICK REVIEW

History: Used by Central Americans for depression

Science: Contains chemicals that increase sense of well being

Practitioners opinion: Useful in dieting, depression, and chocolate bingeing

Directions: Tincture (1:5, 25% alcohol): 2.5 ml 3 times daily