Chocolate Myths: Healthy Eating?
The Aztecs had taught the Spanish colonials that chocolate was healthy, and the drink was esteemed as a medicinal remedy when it reached Europe. Phillip II of Spain’s personal physician, Fancisco Hernadez, recommended chocolate to cure fevers, cool the body in hot weather, and relive stomach pains. People started to use it to aid digestion and in 1650 when the drink reached England, it was advertised as ‘curing and preserving the body of many diseases.’ Obviously, back then medicine wasn’t quite the science it is today, but there beliefs about the benefits of chocolate had some firm truths.
In 1866 chocolate entered the French pharmacopeia and apothecaries developed chocolate lozenges which they sold for their mood-enhancing or digestive properties. These were available in two flavours: plain, or with ingredients such as vanilla, pepper and cloves (which had their own medicinal qualities).
Today, chocolate is being heavily promoted as a health food – for its antioxidants and brain stimulants. But it won’t be too long for before Doctor’s are prescribing a bar of chocolate for a host of other maladies as well, for the principle goodness of chocolate is that it promotes well being, and with a healthy happier mind, one is far more resilient to ailments that you may encounter in everyday life.
Below are a list of common concerns we've tried to answer:
