One of the best, no, the best gift that you can present someone with is a box of fine luxury chocolates. Whether they be for the love of your life, your mum, your best friend or a work related gift then chocolate is a wonderful choice. The thing about chocolate is there are very few people in this world that do not like chocolate and those that don't probably don't deserve a gift anyway.

If you do happen to give chocolates to people that do not like them there is every likelihood that the person that doesn't like them will know someone that does and will be able to share them. One of the best and underrated uses of chocolate as a gift is as a corporate gift that you can present to a business or company that has worked with you over the year. These boxes of luxury chocolates can be branded with your company image and they are likely to be shared around the office which is sure to please everyone that benefits from your generosity.

History of chocolate

Chocolate comes from Latin America. The word for chocolate has developed from the Nahuatl word xocolatl which was spoken by the Aztecs. The word derives from a number of sources that contribute to the word we know today. The word is a combination of the word 'xocilli' meaning bitter and 'atl' which means water. This means that typically the phrase means bitter water. This is in reference to how early chocolate was enjoyed. The first forms of chocolate were as a liquid drink that was made from the cocoa bean. These early chocolate drinks were not as sweet as chocolate is nowadays and was indeed very bitter. The Aztec people always held chocolate in high regard and it was associated with the goddess of fertility.

Chocolate seems to have been synonymous with godliness for as long as it has been around. As mentioned the Aztecs associated it with the goddess of fertility. The Mayan people also associated the drink with their goddess of fertility. It is definitely the case that this relationship with godliness still remains with many people almost worshipping chocolate.

As well as being a luxury food product chocolate also has a history as a commodity that was used throughout pre-Columbian Mesoamerica where people used cacao beans as a currency. The other items of food that were used as currency were avocados that were equal to three cacao beans and turkeys which were worth a hundred cacao beans. The cacao bean was also used as a medicinal item to help treat diarrhoea.

Health benefits

There are a number of benefits that are associated with chocolate. It is said to benefit the circulatory system and recent studies have suggested that the flavonoids, epicatechin and gallic acid that is found in high cocoa content foods have great cardio-protective properties. Cocoa also contains a great amount of antioxidant action and it has been claimed that it can bring about a reduction in blood pressure.

There has even been a diet that has been developed that has been named the 'chocolate diet'. It encourages people to consume cocoa in capsules in an attempt to benefit from the positive effects of chocolate. Nevertheless the high milk and fat content can be a cause of bad health and eating large amounts of chocolate can be bad for your health.