Trivia #8: Chocolate (Yum, yum!)

Ahhh, chocolate. A delicious treat, only second to froze yogurt. I've always been a chocolate kind of girl; other candies just don’t appeal to me. I love any type, dark chocolate especially. Here are ten facts about the world’s most beloved sweet:

1. The word “chocolate” comes from the Aztec word, “Xocolatl” which, ironically enough, means “bitter water”.
2. Chocolate manufacturers currently use 50% of the world’s almonds and 38% of the world’s cashews.
3. Chocolate is a valuable energy source. One chip of chocolate can provide enough energy for an adult human to walk 150 feet. Perhaps this is one of the reasons Napolean always carried chocolate with him as an energy booster.
4. Chocolate is technically responsible for the microwave. During World War II, scientists were testing devices called magnetrons. A scientist named Percy Spencer entered the lab with a chocolate bar in his pocket and realized it quickly began to melt. He then realized that the magnetron could potentially be used to cook food.  He successfully popped corn and then attempted to cook an egg, which cooked so quickly it blew up in his face, leaving him with a brilliant invention and literally scrambled eggs splattered all over his face.
5. Chocolate contains healthy antioxidants. These can help lower your chances of getting cancer and heart disease. Eating chocolate can also lower your LDL cholesterol and add beneficial iron and magnesium to your body. 
6. Chocolate contains a chemical known as phenylethylamine. The phenylethylamine, in addition to the sugar, fat and caffeine that's found in chocolate, has been shown to release serotonin and endorphins-- two known chemicals that make us feel happy!
7. For it to be lethal, a person has to consume 22lb of chocolate. There are no allergies caused by chocolates. Eating a chocolate before a meal will take the appetite away, preventing you from overeating. Chocolate is lethal to canines though, and could lead to seizures.
8. Contrary to common belief, chocolate is not high in caffeine (ten bars of chocolate-y heaven would equate to only a cup of coffee).
9. Despite common belief, acne is not linked with eating chocolate. Acne is caused by improper diet or a hormone imbalance.
10. White chocolate isn't really chocolate. It's made from cocoa butter (the substance you get by pressing cocoa beans), and so doesn't contain the cocoa solids used to make chocolate. 

So next time someone scolds you for stuffing your mouth with chocolate, let them know that you're actually being very, very healthy, and that they are just jealous of you. And never feed your dog chocolate.

Last time's false fact was: "Caterpillar curry makes you fart more than even beans because it contains a lot of carbon." 

As you can probably tell by now, my fellow columnist, Prom15e, has a strange obsession with caterpillar curry. So watch out for that in the posts she writes~

Try to figure out this week's false fact! Comment below with your guess.

--Aki

This entry was posted in Science, Trivia.