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font face="Arial,Helvetica,Sans Serif" size="2"h2 align="center"pfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5"font size="4"Chocolate's Health Benefitsfont fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5" fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5"font size="4"In
1519 Spanish Conquistadore Hernando Cortes led an expedition into the
depths of Mexico to capture gold and silver treasures from the Aztec
people. The Emperor Montezuma, along with his subjects, welcomed these
strange looking visitors as ?white Gods, risen from the sea.? The
Spaniards were feasted and served a cold, bitter drink that was very
popular among the Aztecs. The drink was called cacahuati. font fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5" fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5"font size="4"From
the Aztecs the Spaniards learned that the drink has mystical
connections, it being the product of the juice of the seeds of the
cacao tree. Montezuma himself held that the drink not only gave him
strength and energy, but also gave an impetus to his sexual prowess. To
the Spaniards, however, the drink was too bitter. By adding sugar,
however, it was made more pleasant to the European palatte. In fact,
Cortes decided to introduce this new find into the Spanish Court. He
called it chocolatl and in Spain it became an immediate success. Among
the elite it became a delicacy, served piping hot. Soon Spanish ships
were inging regular supplies of cacao beans to satisfy this demand.
Before long the drink spread across Europe. In England, they changed
the name to the easier to pronounce chocolate. Methods of manufacture
were refined over the years and before long the chocolate drink was
just the first in a long line of cacao seed based products ? chocolate
bars, milk chocolate, chocolate with nuts in it, chocolate with
cherries, chocolate with caramel. fontfontfontpfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5" fontfontpfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5"font size="4"Today
chocolate is all around us. We all love it. Many of us, however, feel a
little guilty about eating it. So, what?s the truth. Is chocolate
really bad for you? fontfontfontpfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5" fontfontpfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5" fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5"font size="4"Does
chocolate cause acne? In a recent study out of the University of
Pennsylvania, 65 acne sufferers began to consume large amounts of
chocolate. 46 showed no change in their condition, 10 got better and 9
got worse. This would sem to indicate that chocolate does not affect
acne. font fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5" fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5"font size="4"Does
chocolate cause migraines? Unfortunately, the research does show that
large amounts of chocolate can cause migraines as well as upset
stomachs and hives. These types of reactions are, however, relatively
minor. font fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5" fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5"font size="4"Chocolate
does not cause high levels of cholesterol in the blood. Since it is a
product of plants, chocolate contains no cholesterol. A chocolate bar
does however contain a lot of calories ? a bar of one and a half ounces
has a whopping 220 calories. Chocolate is, however, a powerful fighter
of fatigue and it does give the consumer strength and energy. font fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5" fontfontppfont face="Arial" size="2"font face="papyrus" size="5"font size="4"Chocolate,
then, has both positive and negative aspects to it. You?ll have to
weigh the balances for yourself as you decide whether or not to
indulge. fontfontfontph2font