Chocolate in George Washington's America

Chocolate Is A Girl's Best Friend

 

~Chocolate~

Do you take time out of your busy life to stop and smell the roses?

Perhaps.

Are the roses chocolate or God's real ones?

Those ole benefits that come from eating chocolate 

had better outweigh the benefits of not eating dark chocolate.

Know what I mean?

BLESSINGS TO YOU,

d

Chocolate Exhibition

Recently we visited family in Oklahoma and took a tour of the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. We saw massive dinosaurs and a traveling chocolate exhibition. Chocolate! Very nice museum and I'd encourage others to take advantage of this fine facility if in the area.






The museum request no pictures allowed once inside the chocolate exhibit...so I had to snag some from the internet...this was the best I could do. The only thing that could have made the exhibit better would be the handing out of gourmet chocolate!!!!! This would have cinched the deal. Wish I could have taken pictures...it was a great exhibition nicely displayed and very informative.





I had no idea that chocolate had such a detailed past.

This exhibition explores the plant, products, history, culture of chocolate through lenses of botany, ecology, anthropology and economics, conservation and popular culture.

The ancient Maya of Central America knew it as a frothy, spicy drink made from seeds of the cacao tree and used in royal and religious ceremonies.






Cacao became a valuable article of trade, particularly with the Aztec who inhabited drier areas. Seeds served as a form of money, and the drink became a luxury for the elite, served in lavishly decorated vessels.

Europeans reached the Aztec Capital and instead of gold found treasure troves of cacao seeds. Europeans sweetened chocolate with sugar and by the 19th century had transformed cacao both into commodities growing them on distant plantations using slave labor and importing them for drinking in Europe's well-to-do homes and chocolate houses.

Cacao is now grown in tropical lands. It struggles to grow in unshaded plantations and requires fertilizers/pesticides to survive. Today farmers and scientist are working together to find ways to grow cacao profitably. Protecting the rain forest in which cacao grows best also protects the genetic diversity of wild cacao.

Yum...please pass the chocolate.

I'm just sure of it...a little chocolate every day sweetens even the most bitter individual there is and should be served to all especially in one's HOME. Chocolate helps take the edge off of bitterness sweetening our HAVENS.

Sweet thoughts to you,
~Deanna~

Chocolate 101

Blessings to you today!

I've been researching the benefits of eating Chocolate and guess what I found out?

Awesomely HEALTHY things that makes eating a little chocolate each day a GOOD THANG FOR YOUR HEALTH.

Chocolate is a very popular FOOD as many of us will testify to.

Most of the bad reputation chocolate has been given is based on the fact that it contains saturated fats and caffeine. The level of saturated fat in chocolate is due to the presence of cocoa butter, which increases blood cholesterol levels. On the other hand, it also contains a high level of phenolen and that lowers the RISK of heart disease!

A regular cup of coffee contains 130 to 150 milligrams of caffeine whereas a 1 oz. piece of chocolate contains only 6 milligrams...at this rate better to give up coffee than chocolate.

Holland's National Institute of Public Health and Environment, chocolate was found to have 4 times the antioxidants of green tea.

Catechins are powerful antioxidants in the prevention of cancer and heart disease. 100 milligrams of black tea contains 13.9 milligrams of catechins. The same weight of dark chocolate has 53.5 milligrams of cathechins!

Heart Health Benefits of dark chocolate: A small bar everyday can help keep your heart and cardiovascular system running well.

Another Heart Health Benefit of dark chocolate: It lowers Blood Pressure and lowers cholesterol.

Dark chocolate stimulates endorphin production which gives a feeling of pleasure. It contains serotonin which acts an anti-depressant. Dark chocolate contains theobromine, caffeine, and other substances which are stimulants.

Some fats in chocolate do not impact your cholesterol. Fats in chocolate are 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid.

Oleic acid is healthy monounsaturated fat that's also found in olive oil. Steric acid is saturated fat but one which research shows has neutral effect on cholesterol. Palmitic acid is saturated fat, one which raises cholesterol and heart disease risk.

This means that only 1/3 fat in dark chocolate is bad.


Cacao, the source of chocolate, contains antibacterial agents that fight tooth decay.

Smell of chocolate may increase theta brain waves, resulting in relaxation.

Cocoa Butter in chocolate contains oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat which may raise good choesterol. Drinking a cup of hot chocolate before meals may actually deminish appetites.

Men who eat chocolate live a year longer than those who don't???

Flavanoids in chocolate may help keep blood vessels elastic.

Chocolate increases antioxidant level in the blood.

Mexican healers use chocolate to treat bronchitis and insects bites.

The carbohydrates in chocolate serotonin levels in the brain resulting in a sense of well being.

Chocolate contains phenyl ethylamine, a mild mood elevator.

Avoid drinking milk to wash down chocolate...milk could prevent antioxidants being absorbed or used by your body.

To get benefits eat 100 grams or 3.5 oz. a day. What a great One A Day!

Chocolate complex food has more than 300 compounds and chemicals in each bite.

Dark chocolate has more antioxidants than milk or white chocolate because dark chocolate has 65 % higher cocoa content.

Chocolate doesn't cause acne or irritate it.

It contains vitamins B1, B2, D and E as well as the minerals potassium and magnesium.

Chocolate provides endorphin which acts like a natural opiates in treating chronic pain.

Endorphins also bring on a relaxed state of mind, enable more oxygen to reach our inner blood supply and even improve our memory!


Seratonin, a neurotransmitter is found in chocolate and works in our body as an anti-depressant.

Research from Cleveland Clinic Miller Family Heart and Vascular Institute says flavonoid-rich foods with a reduced risk of cardivascular disease was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston.

One study found that a substance in cocoa helps the body process nitric oxide (NO), a a compound critical for healthy blood flow and blood pressure. Flavonols in cocoa prevent fat-like substance in the bloodstream from oxidizing and clotting the arteries and make blood platelets less likely to stick together and cause clots.

Flavs are plant compounds with potent antioxidant properties. So far scientists have found more than 4,000 kinds.

Cocoa beans contain large quantities of flavs and so does red wine, tea, cranberries, peanuts, strawberries, apples, and many other fruits and vegetables.

With all this said...I think I'm going to eat some chocolate and enjoy it while I'm doing this!

Isn't it great that chocolate can be served up in so many ways???

Now you all have a SWEET week-end and let me know if you like chocolate or not.

God bless,

~Deanna~

Have a fabulous Valentine's Day!!!

Sweet Things To Say!

Dear One,

Somebody said, "Chocolate!" What a sweet thing to say.

May you have a lovely week-end as we say good-bye to January

and warm blessings to February.

God bless,

~Deanna~