Tag Archive: folk medicine

Chocolates, Drugs Of The Past

Do not let the "drug" word fool you because there is actually more to that than meets the eye. In our current society, we often use drug to refer to illegal chemicals that will cause you a lot of jail time. However, the kind of drug we are about to discuss entails not only benefits to the body but also sweetness to the taste buds from then until now.

Dating back to the days when Mayans, Aztecs, and Early Europeans roamed the earth, chocolates were already within their midst. As opposed to the many variety of chocolates we have nowadays, the most popular for these earlier civilizations was chocolate in the form of a drink.

For the Aztecs, the cacao beans were brewed and drank in the belief that it was an elixir of life. It strengthened their warriors, cured the sick and awakened those who were weak and asleep.
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The Medicinal Use of Chocolate

Chocolate has a long history of use in treating several ailments such as reducing anemia, stopping the progress of diarrhea, relieving an overworked brain, and soothing an upset stomach.

It is commonly used in helping emaciated patients gain weight and stimulating the nervous systems of the physically weak by allegedly strengthening the lungs and energizing them. Yes, chocolate is that significant in traditional medicine.

Chocolate drinks with added coconut milk and onion were used in the Dominican Republic to lessen common cold symptoms. Sounds a bit odd, I know.
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Chocolate as a Cure For Everything

Before modern science began discovering the much talked about health benefits of chocolate, the Mayans (central America) and Aztecs (ancient Mexico) considered it a powerful remedy to many ailments.

Theobroma cacao, or the “chocolate tree,” has been used in folk medicine as an anticeptic, diurectic, and parasiticide.  It has been used to heal burns, cough, dry lips, fever, listlessness, malaria, nephrosis, rheumatism, snakebites, and small wounds.
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