Chocolate ... Food of the Gods?
By polachicago
@polachicago (18716)
United States
February 25, 2007 7:45pm CST
The #1 food craved by women across North America. And it’s second only to pizza among men. Some people swear they're addicted to it. In fact, North Americans spend $8.9 billion (US) per year on chocolate and consume nearly 5.5 kg or 12 pounds per person each year. Is chocolate the "food of the gods", an indulgence, or a necessity of life?
10 people like this
22 responses
@jbrooks0127 (2324)
• United States
26 Feb 07
LOL...It would be my guess that depending on who you are it could be any one of those three. There is no question about it can be an addition or close anyway. I am not that crazy about it but I have known some woman that could easily be clasified as a chocoholic.
Except for your waistline however there are far worse things to be hooked on. My addition is coffee.
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
26 Feb 07
I think chocolate is an indulgence. I think it's considered a food of the gods because it tastes so good. It's rather cheap in most cases so it's not too expensive, pretty much anyone can get their hands on some so people indulge themselves on this food because they can.
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Cacao is a superfood. Cacao beans contain over 300 chemically identifiable compounds making it one of the most complex food substances on Earth!
2 people like this
@draconess (650)
• Canada
3 Mar 07
Cacao has many healthy properties, unfortunately by the time it's processed into chocolate bars there's not much of the beneficial stuff left ;)
1 person likes this
@shmeedia (1044)
• Canada
2 Mar 07
funny: i always crave pizza, and my boyfriend is a chocoholic! :)
my boyfriend is definitely addicted to it. when he doesn't have just a bit of chocolate in a day, his mood drops. this makes buying him gifts or pick-me-ups VERY easy. i know that anything chocolatey will always be the perfect gift!
as for me, i love chocolate but can't eat it often. not only do i get headaches from dark chocolate or heavy chocolate intake, but i also end up feeling nauseous :)
if i had to work in a chocolate factory or as assistant chocolatier, i don't think i would last very long. on the flipside, my boyfriend says he would never grow tired of the smell of chocolate surrounding him. he says he cares less about growing fat then about missing his chocolate. therefore if he was a chocolatier, he would eat all his creations, without caring how fat he got :)
so for him, though it's a mental thing, i would say chocolate is a necessity. if i am low on cash, chocolate is the last thing i would put on my grocery list. so for me it is definitely a luxury.
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
2 Mar 07
It is to hear about your personal experience. Most guys are chocoholics.:)
1 person likes this
@adidas7878 (1891)
• United States
26 Feb 07
if they find a way to put caffine in the pizza i am sure there would be more people eating pizza, the only reason there is alot of people eating chocolate is because it sweet and tons of caffine in it, like soda but it is also good, but the caffine also do the tricks, you can make people crave about stuff buy adding it to anything, that is what i think.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Estimates of how much caffeine is present in cacao differ, depending on the source. However, it generally agreed that chocolate is a poor source of caffeine.
Chocolate itself is a health food, especially in its raw form as cacao beans. It is the substances added to chocolate that cause the problems: dairy products/milk and sugar!
3 people like this
@adidas7878 (1891)
• United States
26 Feb 07
intersting, i never know that but what would happend if it have no caffine at all? would that make a different
@FrancyDafne (2047)
• Italy
14 Mar 07
I don't think that chocolate is a necessity of life, but I have to admit that it's really delicious, I love it. You can find a lot of kinds of chocolate here in Italia, and I often eat them.
Once even the Church forbade people to eat it (but you know, the Church forbade a lot of things in the past centuries, not only chocolate).
I like the slogan "Chocolate is the food of the Gods", infact its taste is really gorgeous, and for some pre-Columbian cultures it was really special.
1 person likes this
@magikrose (5429)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Honestly I think it is an indulgence more than anything else. I mean being a women myself the only time I find I crave it is when I am getting my period and then I kinda need it. Honestly I think it depends on the individual you are talking to at that time.
1 person likes this
@greengal (4286)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Wow that is a lot of chocolate. But that is inevitable considering the number of varieties available here as well as the number of companies that are into producing those varieties. I personally don't crave for chocolate as such. I like chocolate and eat it when I feel like it. I know friends who eat chocolate every day in some form or the other. They just can't do without it!
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
27 Feb 07
I eat chocolate once every two weeks...but it is good for you...
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
2 Mar 07
I love chocolate and the darker the better....sometimes it feels more like an addiction then a craving.
I don't know if it is necessity, but it is close to air and water.
1 person likes this
@cabergren (1181)
• United States
3 Mar 07
Chocolate is definitely the best thing ever invented. No matter how bad your day a piece of cholcolate always makes it right. I definitely think it a necessity of life.
@bondplok (139)
• Italy
26 Feb 07
I think chocolate is soooo good, I just love it, but it isn't that healthy, we eat because we like it, but if you exaggerate you could have quite a lot of problems...
well I think chocolate is an indulgence.. of course not a necessity of life because we could live pretty well without it.
1 person likes this
@pagli84 (1850)
• Netherlands
26 Feb 07
i have no idea which it is, but i can tell you that i love it! i have had a chocolate craving for the past few days, so i finally went out and bought some chocolate. i used to be able to eat all kinds of chocolates, but now the only kind i like is dark chocolate with nuts. of course, in cake or ice cream or other sweets that's a different story.
1 person likes this
@Dolcerina (3376)
• Hungary
26 Feb 07
I just woke up,and checking my emails. And I am just eating a sour chocolatte with whole nuts...yummi
I am not addicted, because I do not eat chocolatte every day. Sometimes I do not eat for weeks, but then I miss it...
It is said that who misses the love that eats chocolate. We often make fun of it, when I ask my boyfriend to hug me, and he suggest me to eat chocolate instead of hugging. But chocolate is not always in the cupboard.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
26 Feb 07
I am not big chocolate lover. I can have chocolate if I have my coffee with.
@emeraldisle (13139)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Well for myself I'm addicted to it. I admit I'm a choco-holic :) Usually though I manage all right. Chocolate though can be a wonderful item. They have found it can help with depression and with migraines along with PMS. Yes it's not just a myth but something in the chocolate does help with those things, they actually did studies to prove that women weren't just using it as an excuse to indulge. So not sure if it's a necessity but it sure makes life better at times.
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
26 Feb 07
What is in chocolate?
Serotonin (anti-stress neurotransmitter), tryptophan (anti-depressant amino acid)
It is proven that chocolate helps for depression.
2 people like this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
26 Feb 07
Perhaps the best news is that dark chocolate (but not milk chocolate) is now a superfood. It's not just the antioxidants that make it healthy. Dark chocolate contains substances similar to the heart-healthy compounds in green tea. The latest research focuses on flavanols. They help boost the production of nitric oxide in blood vessels, lowering blood pressure and improving blood flow.
2 people like this
@maribea (2366)
• Italy
26 Feb 07
my dear...think about this..I don't like chocolate and I don't eat chocolate unless I am forced or cannot avoid it...I hate chocolate ice creams and chocolate cakes.. I can stand only little amount of chocolate tablets...I use them when I am feeling too cold and I cannot have a hot cup of tea or something else to warm me up. I don't like cakes very muc either...but think how unlucky of me coming to parties and always finding chocolate cakes? Once I was even invited to a NUTELLA PARTY...Do you know Nutella? They all seem to love it in Italy...all but me...I like fruits and vegetables and pizza...yes I am an authority where pizza is concerned!
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
26 Feb 07
I like Nutella very much. I am not big chocolate lover, but I eat dark chocolate sometimes. Nutella is very sweet, but very good.