10 Facts: Everything You Wanted to Know About Chocolate and Health (Yes, There Are Benefits)

1. Chocolate originated in Mexico in 500 BCE. The Aztecs, who discovered it first, used to grind cocoa beans and make a bitter drink. In the 16th century, the Spanish conqueror Hernan Cortes added sugar to the drink, making it sweet. The mixture as we know it today is the result of an English company that produced "chocolate for eating" in 1847 and Swiss Daniel Peter, who first added milk to chocolate in 1876.

2. Chocolate is a confection made from the fermented, roasted, and ground seeds of the tropical cacao tree. Chocolate is a combination of cocoa solids and sugar with additional ingredients like lecithin, which helps create an emulsion between the components, and sometimes vanillin for flavor. It contains endorphins that affect the brain and induce a good feeling, but these substances break down in the digestive system, and the amount reaching the brain when cocoa is consumed is negligible.

3. Chocolate is a high-energy food: The cocoa beans from which chocolate is made contain about 50% cocoa butter, carbohydrates, and a small amount of proteins. During production, it is typically enhanced with a large amount of sugar, milk, or other fats, increasing the caloric value of the final product. Therefore, consuming large amounts of chocolate can lead to weight gain.

4. Studies have shown that eating chocolate stimulates the release of endorphins and serotonin in the brain, temporarily and briefly uplifting mood.

5. Chocolate contains a stimulant called theobromine, small quantities of anandamide which is a neurotransmitter, as well as caffeine and tryptophan in small amounts.

6. New research suggests that chocolate plays a role in heart protection, as it contains antioxidants, flavonoids—a group of compounds some of which are colorful and found in plants—and polyphenols that prevent oxidation processes, reduce the risk of blood clots, and help lower the risk of heart disease.

7. Additionally, there are studies linking antioxidant activities to delaying aging processes, strengthening the immune system, and wound healing.

8. Research has found that the alkaloid theobromine in dark chocolate can alleviate a persistent cough. Studies on dark chocolate have shown it helps calm the body's cough mechanism, nearly as effectively as the drug codeine, thanks to the theobromine content. This chemical is responsible for the good feeling when eating dark chocolate, relaxing the activity of the vagus nerve.

9. The antioxidants in dark chocolate made from cocoa reduce the harmful impact of bad cholesterol (LDL) and increase the level of good cholesterol (HDL).

10. Chocolate's main ingredient is cocoa butter, which does contain saturated fat, but it also has oleic acid—a monounsaturated fat also found in olive oil, canola oil, peanuts, and avocados, known as effective for heart health.