The Food of the Gods

1129 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What are the effects of chocolate

The Food of the Gods

For over 2000 years, chocolate in its many forms has been enjoyed and its effects have been exalted. It was believed that the Mexican god Quetzalcoatl left the cocoa tree for the people. The Aztec emperor Montezuma is reported to have consumed 50 goblets of chocolate a day. It is called "the food of the gods," literally, as a translation of Theobroma Cacao, the cacao bean. (1). Such a title must imply that chocolate has some naturally occurring superior quality. Why else would we crave it so much more than other foods? For many people, nothing can take the place of chocolate when a craving hits.

Chocolate and cocoa have very complex chemical properties and many components. Among the most researched components of chocolate which are thought to have an effect on craving and addiction are fat, theobromine, caffeine, and salsolinol. (2).

Fat and sugar are substances naturally craved by the body, and thus although they may play a role in the allure of chocolate, they cannot be responsible for its appeal over other sweets. The caffeine in chocolate is sometimes implicated as part of its addictive properties. However, the amount of caffeine contained in one ounce of chocolate is about 5-35 milligrams, compared to the 140 milligrams found in a cup of brewed coffee. This does not discount the idea that caffeine plays a role in the appeal of chocolate, more likely it compounds the effect of other components. (3).

Theobromine, similar to caffeine but present in larger amounts in chocolate, is less potent than caffeine yet still may retain stimulatory effects in large amounts of chocolate. Concentrations of theobromine vary in different chocolate products, and its effect on humans through chocolate has not...

... middle of paper ...

...e.com/chocolate.htm

3) Does cocoa have caffeine in it?, International Cocoa Organization.

http://www.icco.org/questions/caffeine.htm

4) Theobromine: Chocolate's Caffeine Cousin .

http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/?once=true&

5) In vitro pharmacological activity of the tetrahydroisoquinoline salsolinol present in products from Theobroma cacao like cocoa and chocolate..

http://hub.elsevier.com/pii/S0378874100002919

6) Naloxone, an opiate blocker, reduces the consumption of sweet high-fat foods in obese and lean female binge eaters .

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/61/6/1206?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=drewnowski&searchid=QID_NOT_SET&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=

7) Psychological and Physiological Characteristics of Sweet Food "Addiction".

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/40004278/ABSTRACT

Show More
Related

  • The Chocolate Sector of Côte d’Ivoire

    1989 Words  | 4 Pages

    Zak, L. (2009, 04). Not all's fair in love of chocolate. Food Magazine, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/198287549?accountid=12964

    Read More

  • The Columbian Exchange: Chocolate

    652 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chocolate or cacao was first discovered by the Europeans as a New World plant, as the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. In Latin, Theobroma literally means: “food of the Gods” (Bugbee, Cacao and Chocolate: A Short History of Their Production and Use). Originally found and cultivated in Mexico, Central America and Northern South America, its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning “bitter water” (Grivetti; Howard-Yana, Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage). It was also a beverage in Mayan tradition that served a function as a ceremonial item. The cacao plant is g...

    Read More

  • Is Chocolate Physiologically or Psychologically Addictive?

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    Substances found in chocolate, such as phenylethylamine, theobromine, anandamide and tryptophan trigger mood enhancing chemicals and neurotransmitters to be released in the brain. Phenylethylamine is a chemical found in the body that is similar to amphetamine. It he...

    Read More

  • Spanking: Discipline or Abuse – Who Decides?

    910 Words  | 2 Pages

    A parent’s right to spank their child has been an issue of great debate for a long time. On one side of the debate are people who feel that to strike a child in any way automatically constitutes abuse. The opposing side believes that parents are within their legal and, more importantly, their moral rights to discipline their child as they see fit. As one can imagine, the former are routinely portrayed to be overly humanistic and ultra-liberal, while the latter are almost always smeared as right-wing bible thumpers and uneducated miscreants.

    Read More

  • The Physiological Effects of Caffeine

    2638 Words  | 6 Pages

    Caffeine, probably the most widely used drug, is a potent pharmacological and psychotropic agent. The white, bitter-tasting, crystalline substance was first isolated from coffee in 1820. The origins of the words, caffeine and coffee, reflect the spread of the beverage into Europe via Arabia and Turkey form North-East Africa, where coffee trees were cultivated in the 6th century. Coffee began to be popular in Europe in the 17th century, and plantation had been established in Indonesia and the West Indies by the 18th century. Nowadays, it is a regular component of the diet for most people. Caffeine is considered as a cheap drug that could be found in many nature sources such as tea, chocolate, and cocoa.

    Read More

  • Chocolate Essay

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Afroakwa E.o, 2010) The saying "cocoa" is a debasement of the expression "cacao" that is taken straight from Mayan and Aztec dialects. (Grivetti L.e, 2009) Until generally as of late individuals finished not consider consuming the chocolate bar, drinking was the first utilization of chocolate, paying little respect to the confirmation of the Amazonian birthplaces, Mesoamericans were its unique organizers. (Backett S.t, 2008) The Maya created the first cocoa tree, these coca trees where developed by the Aztec of Mexico and the Inca of Peru. (Morganelli A, 2006) Many Maya relics like models, divider paintings, and earthenware vases, show Gods, Kings, People, and creatures drinking chocolate however despite the fact that all the Maya drank chocolate, just the affluent drank in refreshment from explained vessels. (Minifie B.w, 1989)the Maya of the Yucatan and Aztec of Mexico growed cocoa much sooner than first experience with Europeans.

    Read More

  • Why Spanking Is Wrong

    631 Words  | 2 Pages

    Spanking is an important aspect of a child’s social development and should not be considered an evil form of abuse. In her argument, Debra Saunders says that there is an obvious difference between beating a child and spanking a child, and parents know the boundary. Spanking is the most effective form of discipline when a child knows doing something is wrong, but the child does it anyway. A child who is properly disciplined through spanking is being taught how to control her or his impulses and how to deal with all types of authorities in future environments. Parents can control their child’s future behavior by using spanking in early childhood, because if...

    Read More

  • U.S. Budget

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    A lot of people often wonder what caffeine is. When isolated in pure form, caffeine is a white crystalline powder that tastes very bitter. The chief source of pure caffeine is the process of decaffeinating coffee or tea. Caffeine is used to provide“boost energy” or a feeling of heightened alertness. It is often used to stay awake longer and late into the night. Many people feel as though they “cannot function” in the morning without a cup of coffee to provide caffeine and the boost it gives them. Caffeine is an addictive drug. It operates using the same mechanisms that amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin use to stimulate the brain. Caffeine effects are more mild than amphetamines, cocaine, and heroin, but it is manipulating the same channels, and that is one of the things that gives caffeine its addictive qualities. If you feel like you have to have caffeine everyday and cannot live without it, then you are considered addicted to caffeine.

    Read More

  • Effects of spanking on children

    409 Words  | 1 Pages

    The use of spanking is one of the most controversial parenting practices and also one of the oldest, spanning throughout many generations. Spanking is a discipline method in which a supervising adult deliberately inflicts pain upon a child in response to a child’s unacceptable behaviour. Although spanking exists in nearly every country and family, its expression is heterogeneous. First of all the act of administering a spanking varies between families and cultures. As Gershoff (2002) pointed out, some parents plan when a spanking would be the most effective discipline whereas some parents spank impulsively (Holden, 2002). Parents also differ in their moods when delivering this controversial punishment, some parents are livid and others try and be loving and reason with the child. Another source of variation is the fact that spanking is often paired with other parenting behaviours such as, scolding, yelling, or perhaps raging and subsequently reasoning. A third source of variation concerns parental characteristics. Darling and Steinberg (1993) distinguished between the content of parental acts and the style in which it was administered (Holden, 2002). With all this variation researchers cannot definitively isolate the singular effects of spanking.

    Read More

  • Imperialism Essay

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Raw materials and entry into new markets was one of the main reasons caused imperialism. The Europeans required raw materials, they could not produce them in their own countries, and therefore they could not improve industrial revolution of raw materials such as oil, rubber and metals. The Europeans were searching for places they could remove these raw materials and hence when they landed in there colonies that had less market and low innovation to use these resources. This helped them to grow stronger economically.

    Read More

  • The Age of Imperialism

    1586 Words  | 4 Pages

    .... The Tools of Empire: Technology and European Imperialism in the Nineteenth Century. NYC.: Oxford University Press, 1981.Print.

    Read More

  • The Chemical and Psychological Effects of Chocolate

    1277 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2013, about 7.4 million tons of chocolate is expected to be consumed globally, totaling to nearly $110 billion (Pardomuan, Nicholson). I can honestly say that I will be one of the many people who contribute immensely to those massive quantities. Chocolate has always been one of my guilty pleasures, leading me to consider myself a “chocoholic.” After 20 years of eating chocolate, I learned there is more to chocolate than meets the eye. Many chemicals compose each delicious piece creating multiple psychological effects on the mind. With the knowledge of the chemical and psychological influences that chocolate has on the human mind and body and my own curiosity as to why I love it so much, this led me to ask: Why is chocolate considered such a pleasurable and craveable food?

    Read More

  • Chocolate Essay

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many myths and misunderstandings about chocolate. For example, chocolate is not addictive. Many people might consider themselves “chocoholics”, but the fact of the matter is that there is now actual chemical addiction. Researchers, instead, insist that chocolate cravings are stimulated by the “sensory properties”, such as the smell, taste and texture, of chocolate (Brody Pars. 26). In a study concerning the satisfaction of a chocolate craving, one group was given a milk chocolate bar, one group was given a white chocolate bar that contains no actual cocoa, one group was given a capsule of cocoa powder, a...

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Caffeine

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Caffeine is a chemical found in coffee, tea, soft drinks and various easy to get foods and drinks. Like all drugs, caffeine has its good and bad side. Caffeine’s categorized as a stimulant, meaning it temporarily increases alertness and energy. With this stated, you may ask yourself, what’s so bad about a little high associated with coffee or chocolate? I mean it’s practically harmless, right.

    Read More

  • Diet Pills

    1195 Words  | 3 Pages

    The appetite suppressors help reduce over eating and help people make healthier choices of what to eat. Normally when someone is really hungry they do not care what they eat as long as it is a lot. By controlling a person’s hunger, diet pills effect a person’s eating habits. So they help people make better choices on what to eat and how much. The way that diet pills help control hunger is by fooling the brain into thinking it is full. The brain needs a lot of energy to function and the brain gets that energy from sugar. When the blood sugar level is too low the body reacts by sending a signal to raise the blood sugar level by creating hunger. Some diet pills use a combination of amino acids and polysaccharides to supply the brain with unique intermediate metabolites, which are chemical compounds t...

    Read More

More about The Food of the Gods

Open Document