Check Your Chocolate IQ

Transcription

1 Check Your Chocolate IQ Which kind of chocolate is the healthiest? A. Milk B. Dark C. White B. Dark. It's not up there with spinach, but dark chocolate is usually your healthiest bet. The darker chocolate is, often the less fat and sugar it has. Plus, dark chocolate usually is least processed -- that means it has the most antioxidant-like flavonoids, which may help lower blood pressure and cholesterol. The higher the percentage of cocoa, typically the more flavonoids the chocolate has. But don't eat lots of chocolate in hopes of better health. A serving size is about the same as a package of dental floss.

2 Chocolate was believed to be so powerful that at one time: A. Doctors used it to treat broken hearts B. Nuns were forbidden from eating it C. Both C. Both. Chocolate has a long reputation as an aphrodisiac. Aztec ruler Montezuma supposedly drank a chocolate-y concoction before visiting the women in his harem. It s also believed that nuns were forbidden from eating it at one time because it was thought to be so romantically potent. And French doctors supposedly used it to treat broken hearts. How many milk chocolate bars would you have to eat to get the caffeine in one cup of coffee? A. Two B. Eight C. Fourteen C. Fourteen. Chocolate does have caffeine. But if you're looking to get a caffeine boost, chocolate isn't your best bet. You d need to eat 14 regular-sized (1.5 oz) bars of milk chocolate to get the same caffeine as you d find in a 8-ounce cup of coffee! That would have about 3,000 calories and more than 300 grams of sugar -- compared to only about two calories in black coffee. Dark chocolate does have more caffeine than milk chocolate. Even then, it would take four bars to give you the same buzz as one cup of regular Joe. Why is white chocolate white? A. It is mostly milk B. It has no cocoa solids C. The color has been bleached out B. It has no cocoa solids. White chocolate has cocoa butter, so technically it s called chocolate. But it doesn't have cocoa solids -- the ingredient that gives chocolate its dark, rich color.

3 Which part of a chocolate Easter Bunny do most people eat first? A. Ears B. Tail C. Nose A. Ears. Poor Easter Bunny! At least he can't hear us when we're eating him. An overwhelming number of us (76%) chomp off the ears of a chocolate bunny first before devouring the rest of him. Nearly 90 million chocolate bunnies are made each year to feed our need to nibble. Centuries ago, doctors used chocolate to treat: A. Tuberculosis B. Fever C. Headaches B. Fever. The Maya and Aztec believed chocolate had all kinds of healing powers. They used it to treat everything from fevers and seizures to skin infections. When chocolate made its way to Europe in the 1600s, some doctors used it to try to treat illnesses -- like ulcers and ringworm. Meanwhile, other docs thought it caused illnesses and drunkenness! What is Dutch-process chocolate? A. Chocolate from the Netherlands B. A chocolate treated to be more mild C. Chocolate with extra air and milk B. A chocolate treated to be more mild. Dutch-processed or Dutched chocolate is when cocoa powder or chocolate liquor has been treated to end up with a milder taste and a darker color. Dutched or alkalized cocoa is used in delicate, European-type baking. Natural, unsweetened cocoa powder is more intense and often used in brownies, cookies, and cakes.

4 What did the Aztecs do with the cacao beans? A. Played games B. Made people pay taxes with them C. Fed animals B. Made people pay taxes with them. You think you love chocolate? The Aztecs valued it so much they made it into drinks and used it for important religious and royal events. But they couldn't grow cacao (the beans used to make chocolate) in their very dry climate. Instead, they traded with other cultures for the beans or made the people they conquered pay taxes with them. Chocolate is the secret ingredient in which food? A. Guacamole B. Steak sauce C. Mole C. Mole. Who knows? You could experiment -- chocolate might make almost any food more interesting. But in Mexico, cacao seeds are put in a traditional dish called molé. It s often served as part of Day of the Dead ceremonies, where families celebrate and honor family members who have died. Chocolate is better for your teeth than dried fruit. True False True. All sweets are not created equal when it comes to your teeth. A piece of chocolate actually does less damage to your teeth than dried fruit because you eat it and it dissolves. Dried fruit -- and hard candy -- leave sugars that stick to your teeth. It's always a good idea to brush after eating sweets to get rid of that sugar. If you can't brush, at least rinse your mouth with water and swish some sugar away.

5 Plain, low-fat milk and low-fat chocolate milk are about the same nutritionally. True False False. Plain low-fat milk and low-fat chocolate milk have the same amount of protein -- about 8 grams in an 8-ounce glass. But chocolate milk has about 50 calories more per cup and nearly twice the sugar. One 8-ounce glass of chocolate milk maxes out your recommended sugar limit for the whole day! How is baking chocolate different from regular chocolate? A. It melts quicker B. It s actually the same C. It has no sugar C. It has no sugar. Next time you want a chocolate fix, raiding the baking supplies in your pantry probably won't cut it. Baking chocolate is made from the finely ground centers of cocoa beans and no sugar is added. That's why it's bitter and called unsweetened chocolate. Ready-to-eat chocolate can have lots of sugar. A plain chocolate bar, for example, can have 24 grams. That's about as much added sugar as you should have all day -- just in one candy bar!