What happens in the brain when we make decisions about money or food
Neuroscience researchers from Bochum confirm different strategies when choosing between primary and secondary rewards. The lever is impulsivity.
3 hours ago
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Neuroscience researchers from Bochum confirm different strategies when choosing between primary and secondary rewards. The lever is impulsivity.
3 hours ago
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Although it always makes me scoff slightly to see Easter eggs making their first appearance in supermarkets at the end of December, there are few people who aren't delighted to receive a bit of chocolate every year.
Mar 28, 2024
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While many of us enjoy chocolate throughout the year, Easter is of course synonymous with its consumption in a range of forms; be it dark, milk, white, egg or bunny-shaped.
Mar 27, 2024
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Illegally selling or manufacturing vapes in Australia could spell up to seven years in jail under new legislation proposed Thursday, as authorities moved to toughen rules outlawing the fast-growing habit.
Mar 21, 2024
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The secret to making delicious chocolate with less added sugar is oat flour, according to a new study by Penn State researchers. In a blind taste test recently published in the Journal of Food Science, 25% reduced-sugar chocolates ...
Feb 12, 2024
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Historians credit Richard Cadbury, son of chocolatier John Cadbury, with the invention in 1861 of heart-shaped boxes filled with chocolates. The box—after the candy was consumed—was intended to store sentimental love ...
Feb 9, 2024
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Heading back to school is a time of great anticipation for many families, but it is not without challenges. One of the big challenges is preparing healthy, easy, affordable and appealing lunchboxes.
Jan 23, 2024
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A team of cardiologists at Shaoxing People's Hospital, working with a colleague from Zhuji People's Hospital, both in China, has found an association between consumption of dark chocolate and reductions in the risk of essential ...
It's a headline sure to make people keep reading: Is chocolate good for you?
Jan 11, 2024
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Groceries cost a lot, but it is possible to eat healthy foods without overspending.
Sep 4, 2023
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Chocolate (pronounced /ˈtʃɒklət/ (help·info) or /-ˈələt/) comprises a number of raw and processed foods produced from the seed of the tropical cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America, with its earliest documented use around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican peoples made chocolate beverages, including the Aztecs and the Maya, who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.
After fermentation, the beans are dried, cleaned, and roasted, and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground and liquified, resulting in pure chocolate in fluid form: chocolate liquor. The liquor can be further processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Pure, unsweetened chocolate contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, combining chocolate with sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. "White chocolate" contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids (and thus does not qualify to be considered true chocolate).
Chocolate contains alkaloids such as theobromine and phenethylamine, which have physiological effects on the body. It has been linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Scientists claim that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure. Dark chocolate has recently been promoted for its health benefits, including a substantial amount of antioxidants that reduce the formation of free radicals, though the presence of theobromine renders it toxic to some animals, such as dogs and cats.
Chocolate has become one of the most popular flavors in the world. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays: chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on Easter, chocolate coins on Hanukkah, Santa Claus and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and hearts on Valentine's Day. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and hot chocolate.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA