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Chocolate as Medicine: A Changing Framework of Evidence Throughout History

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Chocolate and Health

Abstract

In 1753, the noted nosologist, Carl Linnaeus, named it Theobroma cacao, food of the Gods. Two and a half centuries later, Joanne Harris emphasized this exotic’s erotic sensations in her award winning fiction debut, Chocolat. For millennia, healers have touted its myriad medicinal, yet mystical, abilities. By the 1950s, chocolate, what had long been used as a drug, a food and as a source of currency, was being marketed merely as a pleasure-filled snack. Over the next half century, the craving to carve out chocolate’s healthy, medicinal qualities resurged.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Humanities (H-134), Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, Pennsylvania, USA

    Philip K. Wilson

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  1. Philip K. Wilson
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Correspondence to Philip K. Wilson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Alpine Foundation for Life Sciences Olivone, Ticino, Switzerland

    Ario Conti

  2. Nutrition Foundation of Italy, Milan, Italy

    Rodolfo Paoletti  & Andrea Poli  & 

  3. Laboratory of Functional Foods, IMDEA-Food, Madrid, Spain

    Francesco Visioli

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Wilson, P.K. (2012). Chocolate as Medicine: A Changing Framework of Evidence Throughout History. In: Conti, A., Paoletti, R., Poli, A., Visioli, F. (eds) Chocolate and Health. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-2038-2_1

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