Chocolate
Plant Medicine, Excitantia, Caffeine plant
Chocolate
Theobroma cacao
Chocolate is the fermented seed of Theobroma cacao (genus name = "food of the gods," Linnaeus's coinage). First cultivated by the Olmecs (~1500 BCE) and central to Mesoamerican cosmology — Aztec yollotl-eztli ("heart-blood") was its poetic name. Drunk frothed and bitter, often as a soldier's ration before battle. Brought to Europe by the Spanish in the 16th century and slowly tamed with sugar.
Coffee, Tea, Caffeine
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See also
References
Pharmacy
Preparations
Fermented and roasted seeds, ground. Mexican tradition: drunk with chili, cornmeal, achiote. European tradition: with sugar and milk
Common uses
Classification(s)
Classes
Plant Medicine, Excitantia, Caffeine plant
Pharmacology
Routes
Oral
Purported mechanism
Primary alkaloid is theobromine (3,7-dimethylxanthine), with minor caffeine. Also contains phenethylamine, anandamide (an endogenous cannabinoid), tryptophan (serotonin precursor), and flavanols. The combined effect is mild stimulation + mood elevation.
“Pendell's corner
Chocolate, cocoa. The "Food of the Gods." Nothing else quite like it.
— Dale Pendell, Pharmako/Dynamis, p. 73