How Chocolate Can Make Valentine's Day Perfect

Sure, women might like diamonds and things that glitter, but Valentine's Day just would not be complete unless there is the gift of Chocolate. For as long as this holiday has been in existence, chocolate has been the gift that you simply cannot forget. You might get that special woman in your life a little chocolate or maybe you want to spoil her rotten with an overload of her favorite kind of chocolate.

When shopping for Valentine's Day chocolate, it is important to make sure that you are shopping as soon as possible. You do not want to wait until the very last minute. If you do wait until Valentine's Day or the day before, you will be in for a rude awakening. There will not be much left and what is left, is the stuff that no one else wanted and for good reason to so you might want to keep that in mind.

Do not allow yourself to be intimidated by all of the fancy boxes of chocolate. You will soon learn that there are basically three levels of chocolate goodness. There is the stuff that costs several hundred dollars that only the super rich and famous purchase, then there is the bottom of the barrel stuff that even the kids will not touch and then there is everything in between. As long as you are shooting for that "in between" level then you will be golden. Of course, if you are on a very tight budget, you do with it what you can.

Many people find themselves wondering if a good box of chocolates can count as the gift. Well, that will depend on a few things such as how long you have been together and what you think she expects the holiday to be like. If you are spending a mere five dollars on the chocolate, you might want to follow up with another gift as well. She will know that it was cheap chocolate. However, if you splurge and get her that hundred-dollar box of gourmet chocolates she has always wanted to try, then the chocolate itself can count as the gift. It still would not hurt to throw in some flowers too.

As you can see, there is more to purchasing chocolate's for the woman that holds your heart on Valentine's Day than you thought. You want to make sure that this is a holiday that she will remember for many years to come, whether you have just started dating or you have been married for forty years. There is always room for a little romance and chocolate. The two have always gone hand-in-hand and they will probably continue to be that way for many more years to come.

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Raw Chocolate - The Healthiest Chocolate In The World?

Raw chocolate - also known as 'cacao' - is, as its name suggests, chocolate that hasn't undergone the usual heating processes applied to all other forms of chocolate, including the organic kind.

This means that the end product, pretty much identical to normal chocolate in taste and consistency, has at least four times (and up to as much as seven times) the antioxidant content of dark chocolate. Interestingly, this makes it one of the most antioxidant-rich foods on the planet.

Cacao is absolutely choc full (excuse the pun) of feel good factors and therefore gives this wonderful sustained happy high for most people who eat it. Processed chocolate has some of them (which is why it has the reputation for giving us that 'in love' feeling) but in considerably smaller quantities. For instance, raw chocolate is 33% richer in PEA, the substance that gives us that feeling of being in love. It also contains significant levels of anandamide, known as the 'bliss chemical' and factors which slow down anandamide's breakdown, so we stay happy for longer. It's also a good source of tryptophan which the brain uses to make serotonin which in turn creates a feeling of euphoria. Then there's arginine, known as 'nature's viagra' and magnesium and sulphur, important nutrients most of us are deficient in and which, among other things, help us relax. It's no wonder raw chocolate can make many people feel distinctly trippy!

So where can you get this wonder food from? Well, it is already possible to buy a range of delicious raw chocolate bars from some health food shops, or alternatively, online (see Resources at the end of this article). These bars are all made using natural low GI sweeteners, so they have the added benefit of being sugar-free (and are also dairy-free so suitable for vegans and those with a dairy intolerance).

Or you can have a go at making your own creations: you can buy raw chocolate powder, raw cacao butter (cocoa butter) and cacao nibs from some health food shops or purchase them online and have fun experimenting with recipes.

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