The Aphrodisiac called Chocolate

Chocolate contains not only caffeine, but also two other compounds with possible love-enhancing effects, anandamide and phenylethylamine.

The term, anandamide, comes from the Sanskrit ananda, which means bliss. Discovered in 1996, it’s a neuro-transmitter chemically similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the intoxicant in marijuana, which may partly explain why some people find chocolate so intoxicating.

Phenylethylamine (PEA) is “the molecule of love,” according to the late Theresa Crenshaw, M.D., author of The Alchemy of Love and Lust. PEA is a natural form of amphetamine. It’s also a natural antidepressant. Both love and lust increase blood levels of PEA, but after a heartbreak, PEA levels plummet. Chocolate contains high levels of PEA, which may explain why the broken-hearted sometimes binge on chocolate--it’s a way to raise their PEA levels.

Critics contend that chocolate’s PEA is metabolized so quickly that it couldn’t have much effect. Perhaps, but giving chocolates has become a worldwide courtship ritual.

Chocolate known as "Love Chemical" is the best mood stimulant and booster. Chocolate contains phenethylamine - a safe natural ingredient that is released in the brain when positive emotions such as falling in love are experienced. It can really pep you up and can make your day.

By Prerna Salla, 1/18/2005

Chocolate has untold and incredible powers and can make you its slave and really arouse your passion and desires.

It possess the ability to lift our spirits like nothing else, it can inflame passions within us, cause our senses to be heightened, make us more happy and content, give us the ability to fly high and to touch the sky. What else can make life content and satisfying, the way that devouring chocolate can?

With chocolate size doesn't matter. It's ALL-good! Chocolate is considered as the most powerful aphrodisiacs. It induces the wildest behavior and elevates your passion and desire. It provides the best prelude to passionate, romantic and sensuous lovemaking.  

Chocolate has long been associated with love. At one time, nuns were forbidden to eat it because of its sexual reputation. Casanova is believed to have thought of hot chocolate as the "elixir of love". And in the 18th century, French doctors prescribed chocolate to women patients for a broken heart.

Science may hold a clue - chocolate contains a substance called phenylethylamine, a naturally occurring chemical in the brain which promotes feelings of euphoria associated with being in love. It also contains a variety of other substances which may help create a feeling of well-being.

Why do you think the custom is to give women chocolates on Valentine's day? Chocolate increases the serotonin level in the brain, and that is the chemical which controls a persons moods, including being aroused.

Chocoholics Rejoice - it’s official. Chocolate has been proven to be an extremely powerful aphrodisiac. Just one taste sets your heart thumping creating within you wild passionate desires, desires so strong that you know you must satisfy the craving. You suddenly realise that you just can’t exist another moment without life’s most sinful pleasure - chocolate.

For some it's an aphrodisiac, for others an addiction. It's Britain's favourite comfort food and one of the most commonly given presents. Chocolate has many forms and uses, and a long association with pleasure - and guilt.

 Related link: THE SUNDAY TIMES online