Chocolate and Valentine's Day - Watt Works Nutrition

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Have you ever wondered why chocolates and Valentine’s Day go together like milk and cookies? Besides, of course, the fact that chocolate is just plain tasty and fills your sweets cravings.

According to Hungry History™, “The first mention of St. Valentine’s Day as a romantic holiday appeared in the writings of Chaucer in 1382. With the medieval period came a new focus on illicit but chaste courtly love…Knights would give roses to their maidens and celebrate their beauty in songs from afar.”[1] However, sugar was still an expensive commodity, so no candy treats yet. By the 1840s, St. Valentine’s Day became a working holiday to celebrate romantic love. The prudish Victorian era upheld courtly love, which soon meant lavishing gifts and cards on their romantic suitors. During this romanticized time of courting and love, Cadbury began making chocolate candy from its excess cocoa butter from the processing drinking chocolate. Then they added beautifully decorated heart-shaped keepsake boxes. “Cadbury marketed the boxes as having a dual purpose: When the chocolates had all been eaten, the box itself was so pretty that it could be used again and again to store mementos, from locks of hair to love letters,” says Stephanie Butler in her Hungry History™ blog post. [2] Although our modern commercialized Valentine’s Day is resplendent with its cupids, hearts, chocolates and cards, that was not the case once World War II hit the world. With sugar being rationed during WWII, chocolates became a treat.

Progressively since the end of WWII, Valentine’s chocolates once again become symbols of love, romance and gifts for Valentine’s Day. Furthermore, chocolate symbolizes affection, attraction, deep love, luxury, passion and sensuality. So, it is not surprising that chocolate is thought to be an aphrodisiac. In WebMD’s article, “Aphrodisiacs: Fact or Fiction,” they state that the small amounts of a chemical called phenylethylamine (PEA), a.k.a. the “love drug,” found in chocolate has been linked to the regulation of physical energy, mood, and attention.[3] However, the small amount of PEA found in foods like chocolate don’t appear to increase PEA in the brain. PEA is released by the brain during moments of emotional euphoria, elevating blood pressure and heart rate. Subsequently, researchers and chocolate lovers stand on either side of the fence about the aphrodisiac nature of chocolate.

Chocolate increases your desire (maybe, maybe not) and your energy levels (caffeine may contribute here), which are likely due to the nutrients contained with in the cacao bean. In addition, endorphins are also released. And as Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods said in Legally Blonde (2001) said, “Endorphins make you happy.” Yes, chocolate makes lovers happy and anyone else who enjoys a morsel of delicious handcrafted chocolate. By the way, I strongly recommend you make an excursion to The Light Cellar and enjoy their chocolate truffles and other raw cacao delights.

Tweetable: Is chocolate superfood or junk food?

Chocolate — Superfood or Junk Food

Superfoods are both a food and a medicine. In other words, these foods nourish your body to build health. Whereas junk food — well, its name is self explanatory — food that doesn’t provide nutrients to nourish your body. According to David Wolfe, author of Superfoods, “Eating superfoods is a way to guarantee that you will get the nutrients you require to be healthy all the years of your life.” [4]

All chocolate is made from cacao beans (also known as cocoa beans). Chocolate, which is cacao, consists of only one ingredient — cacao. Cacao beans contain many superstar nutrients that make them a superfood, but only when they are in their natural state. Beware of milk chocolate, white chocolate or chocolate with less than 70 percent cacao. The deleterious sugar content of these products far outweighs the benefits of their minimal cacao content. To learn more about cacao’s superfood benefits, check out this blog post — “Superfoods: Cacao – Friend with Benefits.”

Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate (the really good stuff without milk solids or a lot of sugar) is high in minerals like potassium, magnesium, iron, and copper.
Dark chocolate contains theobromine, which has been shown to harden tooth enamel and is a mild stimulant. It has been suggested that theobromine can suppress coughs.
Dark chocolate is full of antioxidants. Antioxidants scavenge for free radicals in your body. Free radicals are produced in your body by stress and exposure to other toxins. Remember I did say “dark” chocolate with minimal sugar though.
Dark chocolate helps to control blood sugar levels because it has a low glycemic index.
Dark chocolate has several naturally good chemical compounds that have a positive effect on your mood and cognitive health.

Of course, you probably want to know how dark chocolate is different from milk chocolate? Dark chocolate is chocolate without milk solids. Dark chocolate is made from just a few ingredients: cacao beans, sweetener, emulsifier (usually soy lecithin, but some use a different lecithin or none at all), and some kind of flavouring like vanilla. Commercial dark chocolate is distinguished by percentage — I prefer 65-80%, but can be as high as 90%. Milk chocolate, on the other hand, has milk solids, so definitely not good for dairy-free individuals. For instance, the current ingredient list for Hershey’s Kisses includes sugar, milk chocolate, cocoa butter, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, vanillin (C₈H₈O₃ is one of the constituents that contribute to the distinct flavour and aroma of vanilla), artificial flavour, PGPR emulsifier. [5][6]

With Valentine’s Day coming up this week, what are you giving your sweetheart? Chocolate, perhaps. As for my sweetie, he’s getting handcrafted raw cacao truffles and chocolates from the Light Cellar. Take a moment to share why you indulge in chocolate in the comments below.