This all started when Dr. Chaput noticed a supervisor regularly snacking on chocolate when doing computer work.  He then asked one group of female students to go to a computer and start working while another group was told to relax for 45 minutes.

The group doing the computer-based task only burned off three more calories than the relaxing group but later they ate 230 more calories when dining at a buffet afterwards.  Much of the 230 calories came from sweets and other snack foods.

Dr. Chaput says that sitting at a computer makes you gain weight because you are sedentary, and working at one makes you gain weight because it increases your appetite. 

Double Whammy.

The message in all this?  Take regular screen breaks and get more physical exercise, says the doctor.

Excuse me for a second as I cut this post short.  I need to get up and get some chocolate.

This product claims all kinds of health benefits without the added sugar and fat of eating chocolate. 

The pill contains 90% cocoa.  It is called “one a day” – Uno Al Dia.

Personally, I’d rather eat chocolate once a day and enjoy both the flavor benefits as well as any health benefits!

Of course my curiosity drove me to visit their website, www.pancracio.com, where I discovered one of Pancracio’s specialties is the Turron. 

Turrones are mostly unfamiliar to most people living in the U.S.  They are typically nougat confections made of honey, sugar, egg whites, toasted almonds or other nuts, and shaped into a rectangular tablet.  Pancracio has a varied selection of Turrones, enrobed in milk, dark and white chocolates.

Another interesting product is their Cocoa Pasta.  It is a Fusilli pasta containing cocoa.  The pasta is not sweet and I bet it is delicious served with a spicy chicken mole.

If you are not familiar with s’mores, it is like a marshmallow and chocolate sandwich with the bread replaced with graham crackers.  First roast a marshmallow skewered on the end of a long stick or fork over the coals of a camp fire or grill. 

Meanwhile put a piece of chocolate on a graham cracker.  After the marshmallow turns a golden brown, you pull it off the stick, place it on top of the chocolate, and top with another graham cracker.  The warm marshmallow melts the chocolate and voilà! a s’more is born.

No one is certain when or who invented the s’more.  The accepted idea is that the Girl Scouts made “Some Mores” at Girl Scout Camp back in the 1920’s.

Here’s my theory:  someone forgot it was a bad idea taking candy bars camping during the summer heat and the whole lot melted before dessert time.  Because the dim-witted person was also frugal, there was a strong need not to waste the chocolate.

This is how chocolate and I get along in the heat…  If I purchase a gift of chocolate from my favorite chocolate shop during summer, I go into game show contestant mode.  The game is called “Get Home Before It Melts.”

If I succeed, I declare myself the winner and treat myself to some chocolate (go figure! ).   There is strategy involved.  I have to pick the most efficient route home, and I must place the chocolate directly under the AC vent on the floor of my car with it blowing full blast.  I yell at all the drivers to get out of my way as I precariously drive the line between speeding and simply going slightly over the limit.

Back to s’mores.  The real reason I bring this up today is because of an article I read from Global Exchange.  They remind us to use fair trade chocolate when making our s’mores this summer.  No, sad to say, Hershey is not fair trade, so what this really means is that you might have to step out of your flavor comfort zone and explore a new taste while supporting the fair trade initiative.

To learn more about their project, visit this website: www.globalexchange.org/smoresaction.

From my perspective, put the emphasis on eat!

But here’s a twist:  what about chocolate art you don’t (or can’t) eat?

Need an example… An art exhibition featuring miniature chocolate replicas of China’s ancient terracotta warriors opened this week in Taipei.

The show is called ‘World Chocolate Wonderland’ and the main attraction is a display of 400 chocolate warriors measuring 35 centimeters tall.  

Click here for the full article from Google news.

You might also enjoy an article from January when the exhibit first opened in China.  You can follow the link on the primal chocolate blog page to see a video with more information.

While I am sure this exhibition is incredible, it isn’t edible!

I like looking at chocolate art, but I love eating chocolate even more!

Back in May, Mars put up a website at www.realchocolate.com that is giving away chocolate on Fridays through October.  I just discovered this today!

In their words, “Times are tough and we at Mars want to help. How, you ask? Every Friday through October, Mars will give away free real chocolate to 250,000 people.”

If you are one of the first 250,000 to register on the site on a particular Friday they will send you a coupon for a free M&M’S®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, 3 MUSKETEERS®, MILKY WAY®, or DOVE®— for free!  That’s pretty exciting.

The website has emphasis on the “real chocolate.”  By clicking the “why real chocolate” button you’ll get a little bit of education on the U.S. standards of identity for chocolate.  This is good information that every chocolate lover should understand.  Afterall, you don’t really want something that just kind of like chocolate, do you?  I don’t think so.

So, it’s July now, and I have, for the first time, submitted my registration for a free candy bar.  Given the choices I think a dark chocolate Dove would be my choice.  Dark M&Ms are good too, but sometimes hard to find. 

And, I’m not exactly sure why, but my tastebuds do give some favor to the Twix bar even though I’m not much of a fan of milk chocolate.  The Twix is best if it first spends a few hours in the freezer.  It’s cold, it’s crunchy, and the caramel develops a nice snap.  Yum!

Be sure to get your chocolate relief next Friday.

Yikes!  Who would spit out chocolate?  I read on to discover that upon taking a piece of chocolate into her mouth, the woman in question chewed once and then spit out the chocolate into her napkin, apparently deciding in that moment that the chocolate, if fully consumed, would not be worth the calories.

Jodi, the Mannersmith, went on to explain, “For treats and sweets, you should taste them first and decide if they are worthy…”  Then if they pass your taste test, go ahead and eat it, but if they do not, you can kindly refuse and not gross anyone out!

That’s the etiquette perspective, assuming you’re eating chocolates in the presence of other people.  But what if your chocolate addiction leads you to sneaking pieces of chocolate when you’re alone?  (While I highly recommend the social aspect of shared chocolate enjoyment, I understand that some people do crave chocolate especially when they’re alone.)

You probably have your chocolate comfort food, that particular candybar that satisfies anytime.  You know you’d never even be tempted to spit that out.  But at Chocolate University Online we urge people to move beyond their familiar comfort chocolates and explore the ever-widening array of chocolate options.

What if you have purchased an artisan chocolate or a single-origin bar and you have no idea what it’s going to taste like?  Or, what if you’ve been given a box of chocolate candies, you know those mysterious boxes that don’t have a handy key to the mixed shapes within?

The Mannersmith’s advice is still good, at least in part.  Take a small taste first following our suggested tasting guidelines.  If you like it, great you’ve discovered something new!  If you don’t like it, and you’re still alone (or in a small group who have agreed this is OK), then by all means spit it out!  Get rid of it.  Rinse your mouth.  Grab a different piece of chocolate and start over.

My final recommendation is that you always end with a piece of chocolate that you really like.  You want the lingering flavor notes to pleasantly stay with you.  Of course if you’re with company, tasting an unpleasant mystery chocolate, with no other options, be polite with your first taste and then simply set the chocolate aside, unchewed!

If you’re interested in the original article that spurred this post, please see “Diet no Excuse” article.