Do You Know The Origins Of Giving Chocolate For Valentines Day?
Have you ever wondered about the origins of giving chocolate for Valentines Day? Have you ever wondered about why certain traditions are followed on special days such as on Christmas Day you put up a tree; on Valentine's Day you offer chocolates, flowers, gifts and declare your love and so on. Why do you offer chocolates? Does chocolate has any special significance?
The Origins Of Giving Chocolate For Valentines Day
In ancient days, chocolate has forever been considered a very special gift from Gods right from the time the Aztecs discovered it. In those times it was believed that chocolate was meant to enhance the passion of love and ecstasy. Chocolate was also associated with spiritual wisdom and sexual prowess. The then Emperor Monezuma, so the legends say, considered this to be an elixir for eternal sexual youth and always consumed a cup of hot chocolate before he visited his harem.
The Spanish explorers carried tall tales about the chocolate drink (this is the way it was known and consumed in the past) and have entered it in their chronicles as the "divine drink" meant to build sexual resistance and eliminate body fatigue. This is how, ever so gradually chocolate established itself as an energy-recharge drink.
It was long after in the year 1585 that scientists of that time realized that chocolate is addictive; similar to coffee due to an ingredient know as theobromine which actively stimulated the nervous system of the body resulting in a pleasant and energetic feel. Looking closely at the composition of a bar of chocolate you will find that a regular chocolate bar would have as much as 200 mg of theobromine and about one tenth of it is caffeine. Both addictive ingredients, both well known as mood elevators.
This is not all. There is one more extremely savvy ingredient in the chocolate and that is the phenylethylamine which is part of the natural body-produced mood enhancers called endorphins. This is the same ingredient that you would find in the body when you are in love. This could be one of the explanations or origins of giving chocolate for Valentines Day because it is directly associated with love, passion, sex and so on.
There is more that contributes to the legend on origins of giving chocolate for Valentines Day and that is that it also has a good deal of serotonin which is a compound that is used to calms the nerves of a person. This is why today when anyone is a little upset there is a tendency to reach out for a bar of chocolate.
The above trip through history besides being enjoyable actually explains why chocolate is given on Valentine's Day. As you observe the origins of giving chocolate for Valentines Day seem to be traced back to literally hundreds of years ago because it is associated with directly with love.
