Interesting facts about food. Hot Chocolate Facts Chocolate is made from vegetables

In different periods of time, people sought to lose weight, but not always chose normal and healthy ways for this. History knows a lot of very strange, and sometimes dangerous diets that humanity has experienced. And here are just a few of them.

Diet on alcohol

The first person who decided to try out a very strange way to lose weight was the British ruler William the Conqueror. The period of his reign fell on the 11th century, not the best time for England. Then people really didn’t have time for luxury in food, so people practically didn’t experience problems with weight, people were more worried not about how to lose weight, but how not to die of hunger.

But fat people, on the contrary, were an example of luxury and wealth. The then ruler just met all the signs of the elite of those times, and, according to legend, he decided to lose weight after the horses could not transport him. It was then that Wilhelm completely excluded food from his diet and switched to beer and wine. Whether he managed to lose weight on such a "hot" diet is unknown, because the inventor of the unusual diet soon fell off his horse and died.

Vinegar Diet

Lord Byron always sought to look perfect, elegant and young, so diets were commonplace for him. In order to have a noble pallor, before eating food, he soaked it in vinegar, and then drank acid, which he had previously diluted with water. He died at the age of 36 and, as an autopsy testified, the body of the deceased was much older than its owner in its condition.

chewing diet

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the world learned about the diet of Horace Fletcher. The author of the diet food assured that food should be chewed at least 32 times before swallowing it. If the condition was not met, then this was recognized as a signal from the body that the food needed to be spit out. At the same time, it did not matter at all what exactly the person ate - even semolina porridge had to be chewed a given number of times. Surprisingly, this idea brought Horace millions.

Explosive Diet

In the 1930s, American doctors noticed a wave of active weight loss among those who worked in warehouses for storing explosives and insecticides. After that, it turned out that dinitrophenol, which was part of all stored goods, was to blame. This substance accelerates metabolic processes in the body and eliminates fat reserves. The skillful work of marketers and, voila, dinitrophenol is already in the composition of weight loss drugs and they are sold throughout the country. And everything would be fine, only after that a wave of loss of vision and deaths swept among those losing weight.

hcg diet

In the middle of the twentieth century, an English doctor introduced his own version of the diet - to consume no more than 500 Kcal per day while receiving the hormone hCG (in a simple way, the hormone of pregnancy). It is no secret that any hormonal invasion into the body does not go unnoticed, and then such a diet did not lead to a happy ending - those who want to lose weight were diagnosed with depression, migraines and thrombosis.

Worm diet

In the same mid-twentieth century, but already in the United States, a no less strange diet flourished, which involved the use of tablets with worms. The diet gained popularity thanks to the opera singer Maria Callas, who miraculously got rid of 35 kg in just 16 months.

A popular advertising campaign in the first half of the 20th century was to replace candy with a cigarette. And despite the harmfulness of this method of losing weight, then teenage girls, models, and ballerinas began to actively “smoke” in order to maintain ideal weight and achieve perfection.

sleep diet

When we sleep, we don't eat - a very simple truth that American residents realized in the 70s. But Elvis Presley, who was a big fan of this approach, learned it especially well. But the diet was based not on the physical need for sleep, but on handfuls of sleeping pills. Under the power of such pills, aspiring to lose weight could be in bed for several days, and some of them did not wake up at all.

"Horns and hooves"

In the 70s, Robert Lynn invented a wonderful drink that promised to suppress appetite. And it is worth noting that he coped with the task at 100%.

The doctor cooked his creation from the waste of the cattle slaughterhouse, it turned out a kind of jelly. It was recommended to drink this instead of eating, and those who listened really lost weight, which is not at all surprising, because a glass of such a brew contained less than 400 calories.

Diet Hallelujah

In the 90s, a pastor from the United States, together with his wife, invented a dietary system that led to God and health. The name for the food system was not chosen for long, the farm on which “divine” products grew was similarly called.

This diet was nothing more than a reduced-calorie vegetarian diet consisting entirely of grains and vegetables. According to the authors of the diet, this is exactly the kind of food that was in paradise, where Adam and Eve lived. Well, be that as it may, of all the above, this diet is the most harmless.

Sweet bliss, edible endorphin, a piece of paradise - true connoisseurs reward chocolate with all sorts of epithets. This product is to the taste not only gourmets: both children and adults are delighted with it. A delicacy familiar from childhood, which is familiar to everyone and, it would seem, has been fully studied, contains enough secrets and mysteries that can surprise. There are many interesting facts about the chocolate treat, thanks to which you can take a fresh look at this dessert.

An interesting fact that is little known: lovers of this sweet have their own day when they can indulge in gastronomic pleasures. World Chocolate Day has been celebrated on July 11 since 1995. In many cities, thematic festivals and exhibitions are held on this day.

Harmful or helpful

Few products have as many misconceptions as chocolate. Caries, allergies, addiction, extra pounds - which is not attributed to him. Fortunately, scientists have conducted a sufficient number of studies that can dispel all doubts.

Of all the desserts, it is chocolate that is the least dangerous for dental health. This is due to the fact that cocoa butter has antibacterial properties. It envelops tooth enamel with a thin film that prevents the harmful action of bacteria that cause caries.

Japanese dentists have suggested adding cocoa bean husk extract to toothpastes and mouthwashes because they consider this extract to be a very effective ingredient.

Regarding concerns about the figure, all the facts indicate that chocolate can become more of an ally in losing weight than an enemy. The calorie content of dessert is due to the presence of glucose and milk in it, but these carbohydrates are consumed very quickly and do not have time to be deposited on the body in the form of fats. There are even interesting chocolate diets based on the fact that after a couple of small tiles, the feeling of hunger quickly passes and there is no longer a desire to overeat. The accusations that chocolate spoils the skin are not fair either. The facts say: this is not the fault of cocoa at all, but the amount of sugar that manufacturers add to sweets, so you need to pay attention to the fact that there is more cocoa butter and less sugar in the products.

It is believed that chocolates can increase blood pressure due to the caffeine they contain. In fact, one bar contains six times less caffeine than a regular cup of espresso. Even cardiologists advise to use a few pieces of high-quality chocolate for preventive purposes, because the polyphenols present in it have a positive effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system and blood circulation.

"We will not stand up for the price"

Most of the major exporters of cocoa beans and butter ship raw materials from Africa, where special varieties of cocoa are mass-grown. Growing such a planting is not an easy task: the fact is that the life of a tree is 200 years, but the fruiting period is almost 10 years shorter and rarely reaches 25 years. Therefore, those trees that supply raw materials for the chocolate industry today were planted several years ago.

Now plantations are recovering very poorly, moreover, cases of their complete extermination from various diseases or drought have become more frequent, which makes the price of cocoa butter and cocoa beans higher and higher. It is possible that in a couple of generations, chocolate desserts will become a luxury available only to the elite.

At the moment, the Le Chocolate Box has become the most expensive chocolate delicacy. The manufacturer was an American jewelry company, and it did not deviate from its pricing principles, so a box of these chocolates costs 1.5 million dollars. Such a discouraging price is simply explained: bracelets, rings, earrings and other jewelry with diamonds and sapphires are an interesting and unusual “stuffing”.

Mayan Treasures

Historians know that the Maya were great lovers of chocolate drink. Their name sounded like "chocolatl" - "water with bitterness." The technology for making this drink was interesting and quite complicated, but this was not able to stop real gourmets. The Maya harvested beans and left them in the open sun for the fermentation process, after which they baked them in earthenware. Then the shells were removed from the beans and crushed on a special device - the Metate crusher.

In order to achieve a refined taste, spicy additives were added to the ground mass. This blank was used to make briquettes, which were delivered to those who were thirsty for a hot drink. The briquette was broken and brewed in water until foam appeared. One of the fanatical lovers of such a chocolate drink was Montezuma, the most famous of the Aztec emperors.

The love of the ruler acquired the proportions of mania: in a day he could drink about 50 cups of the drink. For him, honey, thick agave juice and vanilla tree bark were added to the dessert. Archaeologists have established the fact that after death, several cans of chocolate were left in the burial near the body of Montezuma, so as not to deprive the emperor of his favorite treat in the afterlife.

The special position of cocoa in the Mayan civilization made it a kind of currency. For cocoa beans, you could buy a lot of goods and services. For example, a turkey carcass could be purchased for 20 cocoa beans, the cost of a slave was 100 beans, and the services of a priestess of love were estimated at 10 beans. The first “counterfeiters” appeared there, passing off painted clay fakes as real beans.

In the 16th century, chocolate was one of the first products that Columbus brought to the Old World. This taste was not particularly liked by the conquistadors, but an interesting invigorating aroma immediately gained a huge number of admirers throughout Europe.

Who grows cocoa

It has been established that the first chocolate bar was produced by the confectionery company Cadbury in 1842. It happened in England, but since then production has spread throughout the world. At the very beginning, the industry prospered at the expense of slaves who worked hard on the plantations.

Nowadays, millions of people who eat chocolate every day most often do not realize that about 900 cocoa beans are needed to make one such bar weighing a kilogram. In order to grow and collect the required amount of cocoa, colossal human labor is still needed. Since 70% of raw chocolate is grown in Africa, where the use of technology is impractical due to the cheapness of human labor, even now a large percentage of plantation workers are children. Experts have established the fact that a huge number of children under the age of 14 are involved in African chocolate farms.

Many of them come here in search of food and at least some kind of salary, and some are sold into slavery by relatives. Often, employers treat them the same way they treat livestock. All these children have never tried a product they have been working on all their lives.

How much chocolate is in chocolate

It is more correct to call this interesting product chocolate-containing. This is due to the fact that different varieties contain different amounts of grated cocoa and cocoa butter. The highest rate - 60% - is typical for the black bitter variety, which is rarely liked by children, but so often appreciated by adults.

In dark varieties, the content of the main component is almost two times lower and amounts to 35%, but more sugar is added here.

The dairy variety was invented relatively recently. It was made by mixing 10% cocoa powder and milk powder, cream or condensed milk. This variety was invented with the participation of one entrepreneur, whose name is now known all over the world - Nestlé. For several decades, Henri Nestle has become one of the largest businessmen in this industry.

White chocolate is made without the addition of cocoa powder, only fruit oil is present in the recipe. There are connoisseurs who prefer to use pieces of pure cocoa butter as a dessert, enjoying an interesting aroma and delicate taste, without being distracted by the sweetness of sugar. Doctors and nutritionists say that the benefits of this dessert are higher, the more cocoa it contains and the lower the amount of other additives.

Sweet tooth country

No wonder Swiss and Belgian chocolatiers are considered the best in the world. It has been established that it is in these countries that chocolate delicacies are eaten the most. According to statistics, each inhabitant of Switzerland accounts for almost 12 kg of this dessert per year, and for each inhabitant of Belgium - 11 kg. Not only adults are taken into account, but even infants, who so far cannot bite off even a small piece.

The most famous dessert in the world is no less loved in Germany, where every inhabitant of the country buys 11 kg of tiles a year. Japan is located at the opposite pole of love for chocolates: here the consumption of cocoa products stopped at around 2.2 kg per person per year.

War and sweets

An interesting fact is that during the Second World War, chocolate was introduced into the food program for the nutrition of soldiers. This interesting decision was wise, since the constant presence of this product in the diet gave several advantages at once. Doctors have long known the wonderful pain-relieving properties of chocolate products. This is due to the release of endorphins into the brain, produced by the satisfaction of taste buds. In addition, caffeine and theobromine can quickly increase the body's energy production. The same effect is produced by energy drinks, but after them there is a catastrophic exhaustion of forces, which is not observed after chocolate treats.

But in the realities of the army, another problem arose - the excessive consumption of a delicious dessert. For this, an unusual and interesting decision was made: the taste was specially modified so that it turned out to be not very successful, and this saved the soldiers from abuse and quickly eating chocolates.

This was not the only such episode. A similar diet was developed for the participants of the military operation "Desert Storm". Military doctors, together with Hershey's specialists, have created interesting bars with an unusual formula. Since the operation was carried out in a hot area, and the melting temperature of cocoa butter is 34°C, the bars were heat-resistant so as not to melt before the deadline. They easily withstood temperatures up to 60°C and did not melt either in the hands or in the mouth.

But use during the war was not limited to rations. The German military developed an explosive in the form of a chocolate bar. When they tried to break it, the device detonated and exploded.

Sweet Tooth Libido

Historians have established an interesting fact: the famous mistress of Louis XV, Madame Pompadour, not only loved to eat chocolate, but considered this delicacy to be the key to her hectic sex life. Marquis de Sade, who is still considered the first sexologist in the world, attached no less importance to this product.

This interesting point of view was confirmed by scientists. Studies have found that the substances contained in cocoa beans increase libido, increase the intensity of the sexual life and make the achievement of orgasm faster. To a greater extent, this rule applies to women, but often the same effect is observed in men.

relative of opium

It is widely believed that the systematic use of chocolate can cause addiction. Of all the chemicals it contains, caffeine and theobromine can cause this effect. But their concentration is so low that in order to develop drug addiction, it is necessary to eat a half-kilogram tile every day for several months. It is not easy to overpower such a dose of sweet.

It is impossible to imagine the celebration of the New Year without a chic table with an abundance of salads, hot and cold appetizers, champagne and tangerines. Although eating habits tend to change over time, the festive table on December 31 from year to year in many families remains traditional.

Recipes of dishes loved since childhood are passed down from generation to generation in order to arrange a real celebration of taste on the most magical day of the year. What dishes are usually prepared for the New Year and what is their calorie content, we will find out further.

Eggs stuffed with various fillings are an essential attribute of the New Year's festive table. This dish, loved by both adults and children, has been known since the 16th century. But then only the nobles could afford it. Now, absolutely every family can afford to cook stuffed eggs for the holiday, and you can choose the filling for them to your taste: with onions, mushrooms, liver, crab sticks, canned fish or caviar - there are a lot of variations.

Depending on the ingredients, you can make a dietary snack or, conversely, very satisfying and high-calorie. The average nutritional value of a dish is 150 kcal / 100 g.

Red caviar became available to the general population in the late 90s of the last century, and since then sandwiches with it have become classics of the New Year's table. This appetizer is not difficult to prepare, it is great for a festive buffet table. Most often, a small amount of caviar is placed on top of bread spread with butter. Some housewives, in order to reduce the calorie content of the dish (after all, it is really quite high - 315 kcal / 100 g.) use cream or cottage cheese.

Fish caviar is the leader among products in terms of protein content, which is almost completely digestible. Therefore, sandwiches with red caviar are not only a delicious New Year's dish, but also healthy.

Game (duck, goose) baked with apples

Game baked with apples in the oven is a traditional New Year and Christmas hot dish from the 18th-19th centuries. It symbolizes prosperity, peace and prosperity in the family, confirming the old saying "A bird on the table is a holiday in the house." In addition to duck, goose, hazel grouse or chicken are baked, and stuffed not only with apples, but also with pears, prunes, oranges, pineapples.

To give a special taste, the bird is flavored with red wine sauce and all kinds of spices. You can serve the dish with a side dish of potatoes, buckwheat or any vegetables. Calorie content - about 250 kcal / 100 g.

Pelmeni is a traditional New Year's dish in Russia, especially in the Urals and Siberia. They first appeared in China in the 13th century as a symbol of wealth and family unity, and in Russia until 1817 they were considered exotic. Since the times of the USSR, it has been customary in almost every family to gather around the table a few days before the holidays and sculpt dumplings (hundreds of pieces) together.

This allows the hostess to save time preparing treats on New Year's Eve, and use stocks in case of unexpected arrival of guests. You can easily take them with you to the street or to the country house and cook them in a pot (for those who like to celebrate the holiday in the fresh air).

Hot dumplings with meat served with sour cream or mustard (as an option with ketchup, mayonnaise or vinegar), they are great as an appetizer on New Year's Eve. The energy value of the dish - 275 kcal/100 g.

For most people, jelly is associated with winter and the New Year's feast. This is a fairly simple dish, but not for everyday use. It takes a lot of time to prepare (6-8 hours for boiling the bones + time for solidification), so it is usually prepared a couple of days before the New Year celebration.

Kholodets was invented by the nomadic peoples of the north of Russia - it was they who first noticed that the broth cooked from pork legs or brains quickly hardens in the cold (due to the presence of jelly-forming substances). It could easily be taken with you on a hunt and warmed up on a fire. Due to the high nutritional 300 kcal / 100 g.) the dish quickly satisfied hunger and warmed in the cold.

Historians say that jelly in Russia is the traditional food of servants and slaves in rich houses. After the feast, everything that was undereaten was collected from the master's table, poured with hot broth and exposed to frost to cool. The next morning it was a tasty and nutritious snack.

Bay fish (meat)

Despite the fact that every year we hear from the TV screens from our favorite movie: “What a muck this is your aspic fish”, this dish appears on the New Year's table every year in many families. You just need to know how to cook it. Aspic in Russia appeared in the 19th century thanks to the imagination of a French chef. The jelly was taken as the basis, but for the new dish, not the remains of food were chosen, but the best pieces of meat or fish. They were not crushed, but thinly sliced. Unlike jellied meat, gelatin is required for aspic. Sprigs of greens, boiled vegetables, lemon slices or half an egg are added to the dish.

A beautifully decorated aspic of fish is a bright decoration for the New Year's feast. The dish has a low calorie content - only 50 kcal/100 g.

No other confection symbolizes the New Year and Christmas as vividly as gingerbread. They come in a variety of shapes: from little men and Christmas trees to houses and cakes. In Western countries, they have been traditionally prepared for holidays since the 13th century. The German city of Nuremberg is considered the world capital of gingerbread. At medieval Christmas fairs in European cities, you could always buy ginger dough products in the form of snowflakes, animals, birds, angels.

In Russia, gingerbread became popular not so long ago, but many have already fallen in love with it and have become an integral part of the celebration of the New Year. Children especially like ginger delicacy - it attracts attention with funny shapes, tasty and fragrant. The nutritional value - 350 kcal/100 g.

The cake, which the Russians call "Napoleon", appeared in France in the 18th century. There, to this day, it bears the name "Millefeuille" - "Thousand Layers". In Russia, they learned about this dessert in 1912 - on the centennial anniversary of the expulsion of Napoleon Bonaparte's army from Moscow. The cake then was triangular in shape and resembled the famous headdress of the French emperor. Hence the name of the layer cake with custard, which was often prepared for the New Year. This is a pretty high calorie dish. 330 kcal/100 g) and takes a long time to prepare. But even this does not prevent him from year to year to be a traditional decoration of the festive table.

Salad "herring under a fur coat"

The history of the origin of this popular New Year's dish goes back to the ancient Scandinavian countries, where herring was always in abundance. The combination of salted fish under a “fur coat” of sweet boiled vegetables gives the salad an unusual taste that many peoples love. The appearance of the dish in Russia is associated with the legend of the innkeeper Anastas Bogomilov.

So that the regulars of his establishment arranged less drunken fights, he ordered the cook to come up with a good snack. Without thinking twice, he mixed herring fillet (which at that time was a cheap and affordable product), onions, boiled beets, potatoes and carrots in a dish. Since it was the eve of 1919, the salad was declared a symbol of the coming New Year, uniting the powerful class of the proletariat (beets, because of their color, served as the personification of the revolution). The working class came up with a slogan for the dish: “Boycott and anathema to chauvinism and decline” (abbreviation SHUBA.)

To believe this legend or not is a personal matter for everyone. We love “Herring salad under a fur coat” for its taste, availability of ingredients, useful and dietary properties (calorie content - 150 kcal).

The most popular dish for the New Year

The most popular dish for the New Year is Olivier salad. The author of the most popular dish of the New Year's table - salad "Olivier" - the chef of the Moscow restaurant "Hermitage" Frenchman Lucien Olivier. The classic recipe of the early 19th century included: boiled crayfish tails; fillet of hazel grouse and partridge; black caviar; capers; egg potatoes; salted cucumbers. But, even mixing these ingredients, other chefs could not repeat the success of L. Olivier. They did not know the main secret of the dish - the recipe for the special Provencal sauce.

Over time, the components in the Olivier salad changed to more familiar and accessible ones: instead of grouse, they began to add boiled beef, ham or sausage, capers were replaced with green peas. Some housewives add boiled carrots or apples to the salad.

In Soviet times, it was problematic to buy mayonnaise and peas, but by the New Year holidays they still tried to get these products in order to traditionally start the feast with Olivier salad.
The calorie content of the dish varies depending on the ingredients and is 180-250 kcal / 100 g.

According to an ancient tradition, the housewives put the most favorite and delicious dishes on the New Year's table. Of the salads, these are “Olivier” and “Under a Fur Coat”, for hot dishes - dumplings and baked game. Popular New Year's snacks are: jelly, jellied fish, sandwiches with red caviar and stuffed eggs. For dessert, gingerbread and Napoleon cake are traditionally served. All dishes are quite high-calorie, but once a year everyone is allowed to arrange a “belly holiday”. If you do not spare the time to prepare at least a few of them, the memories of New Year's Eve will remain the warmest and most sincere.

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1. Chocolate is a natural pain reliever

Every time a piece of chocolate enters our stomach, the cocoa it contains causes a small burst of the elixir of happiness into our brain. This is due to the production of additional endorphins (natural opiates) and the activation of the pleasure centers of the brain, which can even lead to a decrease in actual pain sensations.

When chocolate enters the stomach, the cocoa contained in it causes the release of endorphin, which activates the pleasure center of the brain, which can lead to a decrease in pain.

2. Chocolate makes your skin look younger.

German researchers suggest that the flavonoids in chocolate absorb UV light, which could actually help protect skin from aging and increase blood flow. Ultimately, this leads to significant rejuvenation and improvement of your skin.

A study by German scientists suggests that the flavonoids found in chocolate absorb ultraviolet light, which leads to increased blood flow to the skin, which in turn leads to the rejuvenation of your skin.

3. Chocolate doesn't harm your teeth.

In 2000, Japanese scientists found that chocolate was less harmful to your dental health than many other sugary foods. This is because the antibacterial properties of cocoa beans compensate for the relatively high sugar levels. Japanese scientists claim that chocolate is less harmful to teeth than most other sweets, since the antibacterial properties of cocoa beans compensate for the relatively high level of sugar.

4. Increased libido.

According to Italian researchers, women who regularly eat chocolate have a much richer sex life. They have a higher level of attraction, arousal and satisfaction from sex. According to a study by Italian scientists, women who regularly eat chocolate have a more intense sex life, as they have a higher level of libido.

5. Cocoa has been growing on our planet for millions of years. It is probably one of the oldest natural food sources.

Cocoa is probably one of the most ancient natural food sources. Beans have been growing on our planet for several million years.

6. Chocolate contains phenylethylamine - an amino acid that has an aphrodisiac effect and can eliminate hangover syndrome.

Chocolate contains phenylethylamine, an amino acid that has an aphrodisiac effect and can help cure a hangover.

7. Chocolate lovers live longer. The study proving this has gone on for over 60 years. Eating chocolate regularly can add a year to your life.

After a 60-year study, it has been proven that chocolate lovers live longer. Regular consumption of chocolate can add about a year of life.

8. Reducing the risk of diabetes.

The flavonoids found in cocoa have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties that may reduce the risk of diabetes by increasing insulin sensitivity. The flavonoids found in cocoa beans also have antioxidant properties that can reduce the risk of diabetes by improving insulin sensitivity.

9. It is a reliable source of energy

Chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine, which increase your energy levels. The darker the chocolate, the more energy you will get. And, unlike any energy drink, chocolate does not lead to a catastrophic drop in energy after a few hours. Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, which increase a person's energy level. But, unlike energy drinks, eating chocolate does not result in energy slumps after a few hours.

10. Chocolate lasts forever (under the right conditions).

A chocolate bar discovered at the site of the legendary Admiral Richard Byrd near the South Pole is very well preserved. Despite the passage of 60 years, it is quite usable. Under the right storage conditions, chocolate can be stored for a very long time. A bar of chocolate found at the site of Admiral Richard Byrd near the South Pole is well preserved after 60 years.