Chocolates Drugs?

No, don’t be fooled by the drug drop. In this day and age, we almost always use the word to refer to things that are illegal and stuff. What I’m talking about leans toward the good stuff, how chocolate has always been good, even medically.

Going back to the glory days of Mayans, Aztetcs, and Early Europeans, chocolates have always been within their midst. Contrary to most chocolates we have these days, they always had theirs in liquid form.

For the Aztecs, cacao beans were brewed and then drunk thereafter thinking it was the elixir of life. It gave strength to their warriors, it allegedly cured the sick, as well as awakened those who were asleep and even the weak.

It may not sound very credible, but chocolate back then was celebrated more due to its medicinal effects than its taste. Chocolate was often served to the elite, but it was also given to soldiers, since like I said, it was a drink full of magic to them. They claimed that chocolates gave oomph to their stamina and helped them overcome fatigue.

When cacao beans reach European lands, people were taken aback. A taste of the chocolaty drink was reportedly therapeutic as it aided in digestion problems and even anemia. It has been written in black and white on a manuscripts from the 16th to 20th centuries that chocolate has over 100 medicinal uses.

England’s Dr. Hughes specifically pointed out that chocolate is beneficial to pregnant women. In the 18th century, it was even dubbed as the most excellent drink that can be used as an alternative for all other foodstuff. People of all ages and from all walks of life get to have it.

While for the Americans, chocolate has also swept them off their feet. The third president of the country, Thomas Jefferson, once said that “The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.”

Unluckily though, with time, more and more ingredients have been added to the already stunning chocolate, making them less of a medicine and more of a sweet treat.