The Aztecs were the first to purport that cocoa had aphrodisiac properties and for this reason all foods made with cocoa were forbidden to women! In the seventeenth century an Austrian professor tried to ban the drinking of chocolate in monasteries because it 'inflamed passions'.

The Aztecs' Spanish conquerors discovered the drink and found that a draught of chocolate could sustain them for a whole day's hard marching.

Chocolate contains over 300 chemicals including a multitude of vitamins, minerals (calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium). Dopamine is a natural painkiller. The mood-boosting chemicals serotonin, phenylethylamine, and theobromine are contained in chocolate. Phenylethylamine is released naturally into the body when you fall in love and is also considered to be an aphrodisiac. Serotonin produces feelings of pleasure. So chocolate really is the food that makes you feel good.

Even the smell of chocolate causes relaxation: it significantly reduces theta activity in the brain which is associated with relaxation (Internat J of Psychophysiol, 1998) (LM)

A cup of cocoa (using pure cocoa powder) has double the amount of antioxidants as green tea (Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, 2003)

Chocolate has over 400 distinct smells. A rose has only fourteen and an onion just six or seven.