We all love chocolate. The fact is, everyone loves chocolate. Chocolate is a wonder. Recently, chocolate as elevated to a superfood status. It is the world’s favorite luxury foodstuff. As versatile as it is, we can say that we’ve barely scratched the surface of chocolate uses. Most of us consume chocolate as a dessert. But that is that all chocolate can be? Some people put dark chocolate in their chili. And unlike the popular misconception, chocolate can actually be beneficial for your brain, skin, and heart.
The best way to use chocolate is to experience it. With that in mind, here are some weird and unexpected uses of chocolate.
Fake blood
Nowadays, most movie sets use regular red color as fake blood. But there were times when chocolate found its use in horror movies. According to stories, the set on Psycho and Night of the Living Dead used chocolate as their main ingredient for fake blood. That is a lot of chocolate. The producers of the movies wanted to make the gory scenes believable, so they used generous amounts of chocolate to do that.
The original bitcoin
Bitcoin is now among the world’s most popular currencies. Even though only 1% of the population in the world uses cryptocurrencies, bitcoin is entering the mainstream world. But there were times when chocolate was the original bitcoin, or the currency with a wide usage.
As one of the most tradable goods in the world, chocolate was used as a valuable trading commodity during the period in Mayan and Aztec civilization. One cocoa bean could get you many things. Same as coffee, chocolate products were backed up by Fair Trade.
The Gourmet ingredient
Chocolate is often paired with other luxury goods like wine, decadent fruits, and cheese. But with time, chocolate has earned its place as a gourmet ingredient. Chocolates are no longer of the strict sweet variety. Nowadays, chocolates are being infused with chili, gouda cheese, tobacco, gold, and other exquisite flavors. There is even a chocolate with bacon flavor.
Fuel for your car
This was just an experiment a decade ago. But in 2006, researchers at the UK’s University of Birmingham managed to create fuel for your car thanks to chocolate. Scientists fed Escherichia coli bacteria a feast of waste caramel and nougat from a British chocolate company. The bacteria subsequently burped out hydrogen gas, which was harnessed via a fuel cell to power an electric fan.
The whole process was a bit more complicated, but you can get the picture. With electric cars gaining on popularity, one can only dream of driving his car thanks to chocolate. The process got only to initial testing stages. But it was one example where chocolate was used to produce hydrogen from waste technology.
Fight tooth decay
Dentists all over the world constantly warn us that chocolate is bad for our oral health. But a study has also found that an extract of cocoa is more effective than fluoride in fighting tooth decay.
Lower blood pressure
In order to stop your tension from going hyper, you can try some dark chocolate. A study at the University Hospital of Cologne proved that polyphenols in dark chocolate lower blood pressure. That is one good reason to eat chocolate when you are stressed.
Perfume
Chocolate is an ingredient that has a great smell, similar to coffee and fresh-baked bread. Those smells weaken everyone’s knees, even if they do not like the product itself. There are perfumes made with chocolate as the main scent. Some even claim that the aroma is a male aphrodisiac.
Perfect outfit
The Salon du Chocolat, a yearly trade fair for the international chocolate industry, features an extravagant fashion show with designs made from chocolate. The fair began in 1994, and it is supported by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The trade fair was held in Paris, New York, Moscow, and Tokyo among other cities.
