As Charles Schulz, the creator of the Peanuts cartoons once said, "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." Most of use certainly would agree that chocolate can make our lives a bit better, and this delectable sweet is one of the most popular foods on earth. Here are a few fun facts about chocolate that you might not know.
While sweet treats often are considered quite unhealthy, dark chocolate actually can be beneficial for our bodies. The antioxidants in dark chocolate have been show to improve the health of our cardiovascular system and reduce blood pressure. Some studies suggest that a small amount of dark chocolate can help keep a person from becoming diabetic. There are also studies that suggest that chocolate can improve memory and other cognitive functions.
There are many similarities between the way coffee is produced and the way that chocolate is produced. For instance, both are roasted seeds and both contain high amounts of antioxidants. When it comes to chocolate, this seed comes from a cacao tree. Straight from the tree, the cacao seed is extremely bitter, so producers ferment the bean. Then after it has been fermented, dried and roasted, it is split open and the nib is removed and ground. This becomes the cocoa powder that used to produce all sorts of chocolate products.
While the Aztecs and Mayans used chocolate for many thousands of years, it was Europeans who added milk fats and sugar to chocolate and transformed it into a sweet treat. John Cadbury was the first chocolatier to develop a way to emulsify chocolate and create a solid chocolate bar, and today Cadbury still produces millions of chocolate bars and candies each year.
Of the Top Ten chocolate makers out there, four are based in the United States. Mars, Nestle and Mondelez International are all U.S.-based and are the top three chocolate companies, and Hershey is also among the ten top chocolate producers in the world. These companies also produce some of the world's best-selling chocolate bar brands such as Milky Way, Snickers and Kit Kat. While these inexpensive treats are popular, many people prefer a higher quality, gourmet-style chocolate produced by specialty chocolate companies.
If we have whetted your appetite for chocolate, take a look at the gourmet chocolate products created by Chocolate Pizza Company. The staff makes dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate pizzas by hand, as well as unique chocolate items like chocolate-covered pretzels or potato chips, succulent truffles, almond bark, cashew clusters and even Peanut Butter Wings to accompany your chocolate pizza. These special wings are created by blending potato chips with creamy peanut butter which is then dipped either in milk or dark chocolate.
While sweet treats often are considered quite unhealthy, dark chocolate actually can be beneficial for our bodies. The antioxidants in dark chocolate have been show to improve the health of our cardiovascular system and reduce blood pressure. Some studies suggest that a small amount of dark chocolate can help keep a person from becoming diabetic. There are also studies that suggest that chocolate can improve memory and other cognitive functions.
There are many similarities between the way coffee is produced and the way that chocolate is produced. For instance, both are roasted seeds and both contain high amounts of antioxidants. When it comes to chocolate, this seed comes from a cacao tree. Straight from the tree, the cacao seed is extremely bitter, so producers ferment the bean. Then after it has been fermented, dried and roasted, it is split open and the nib is removed and ground. This becomes the cocoa powder that used to produce all sorts of chocolate products.
While the Aztecs and Mayans used chocolate for many thousands of years, it was Europeans who added milk fats and sugar to chocolate and transformed it into a sweet treat. John Cadbury was the first chocolatier to develop a way to emulsify chocolate and create a solid chocolate bar, and today Cadbury still produces millions of chocolate bars and candies each year.
Of the Top Ten chocolate makers out there, four are based in the United States. Mars, Nestle and Mondelez International are all U.S.-based and are the top three chocolate companies, and Hershey is also among the ten top chocolate producers in the world. These companies also produce some of the world's best-selling chocolate bar brands such as Milky Way, Snickers and Kit Kat. While these inexpensive treats are popular, many people prefer a higher quality, gourmet-style chocolate produced by specialty chocolate companies.
If we have whetted your appetite for chocolate, take a look at the gourmet chocolate products created by Chocolate Pizza Company. The staff makes dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate pizzas by hand, as well as unique chocolate items like chocolate-covered pretzels or potato chips, succulent truffles, almond bark, cashew clusters and even Peanut Butter Wings to accompany your chocolate pizza. These special wings are created by blending potato chips with creamy peanut butter which is then dipped either in milk or dark chocolate.
About the Author:
Elba Fenwick loves reading chocolate blogs. For more details about chocolate covered cookies or to find about other products such as gourmet chocolate gift baskets, please check out the Chocolate Pizza site today.
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