Chocolate and Your Sex Life?

From the time the first coca beans were harvested by the Aztecs or the Mayans, there'd been the belief chocolate has a euphoric impact on the body’s senses, which science now believes is true -- to a point. The conquistadores saw the Emperor Montezuma of the Aztecs consuming as much as 60 cupsof cocoa a day in the form of a beverage the natives called "xocolatl" (the forerunner to the word "chocolate") before entering his harem. The enterprising Spaniards concocted the Montezuma's belief that cocoa was an aphrodisiac and brought it to Europe where it was met with great success.

Since those ancient times, consuming chocolate in some form or another as part of the human-mating ritual has been certainly established. Today, in America, we even have a holiday that commemorates love, courting, and mating -- St. Valentines Day. When a man is courting a woman or girl, he will what? Bring over a gift of chocolate ("sweets for the sweet" goes the saying). Recently, research has been shown that not only does chocolate increase the sexual appetite but also produces a sense of elation similar to an orgasm. Is that true? Personally, I doubt that. Ginseng and bee pollen are better aphrodisiacs actually. Try it and you'll see. But this lore is popular. In the movie Devil's Advocate starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves, Pacino is trying to get Reeves to seduce his half-sister telling him after Reeves asks, "What about love?" "It is indistinguishable when taking in large quantities of chocolate." Or something to that effect. I think you get the point.

Actually, it has only been recently that scientists have unravelled chocolate’s psychotropic properties and the effects it has on the human biology. Chocolate has been found to contain modest amounts of the stimulants caffeine and theo-bromine, (although it is much less than that in coffee or tea). Chocolate is also known to produce significantly increased levels of serotonin, a chemical naturally produced by your brain. This brain chemical is known to reduce anxiety. Serotonin is most commonly associated with the effects of marijuana or getting the buzz characteristic of inhaling (yes you have to inhale it). In truth, researchers say you'd have to eat at least 25lbs of dark chocolate at one sitting in order to achieve the same effect. (If you like acne, try that.)

Neither of these properties by themselves provides the connection between eating chocolates and heightened sexual pleasure. It is in fact the rush of endorphins produced by eating chocolates (particularly the dark chocolate variety) that is most similar to the feelings associated with a healthy sexual relationship. Chocolate also contains phenyl-ethylamine which is known to stimulate the release of dopamine into the pleasure centers commonly associated with an orgasm.

In addition to this scientific evidence, a great deal of behavioral research has been done to study the sexual behavior of women who eat a lot of chocolate and those who don’t. The conclusion of this is that women who consume large quantities of chocolate have more satisfying sex lives. However the reverse correlation could also be assumed where women with satisfying sex lives tend to eat more chocolate.

One article I read said, "Despite the fact that the relationship between sex and chocolate can’t be proven with any degree of certainty, the scientific evidence combined with behavioral studies provides a compelling argument for cocoa’s impact on your sexual drive." I personally disagree. Again, there are other better substances to increase your sex drive. Chocolate may taste divine and I certainly love it but it's overall not good for you. It is also not good for the intestinal tract, a very unthought about aspect of health. It has no fiber -- that is how and why it is not good for the system.

If you are going to eat chocolate to increase your sex drive, one research says you shouuld buy chocolate with a high cocoa content as this tastes better and doesn't contain extra sugars and oils like candy bars do. Look for chocolate where where you can get dark chocolate with a high cocoa content and a resulting counterfeit of romantic pleasure.