Chocolate
Nahuatl cacahuatl; cacao
- Known today as
- The fermented, dried, and roasted seeds of Theobroma cacao, drunk by the Maya and the Aztecs before Spanish conquistadors met it in 1519.
- Kind
- Food & Drink, in 2 older authorities
- Constituents
- theobromine, caffeine, epicatechin
- Earliest authority here
- Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma
- In other databases
- GBIF search · Wikidata search
Revised October 1, 2026: Checked against its sources, each read in full, in part, or in its abstract. The mechanism extended from ChEMBL's curated records. Version 1, first published September 30, 2026.
Chocolate: what was it used for?
Nourishing and restoring, for the consumptive and the weak; and, by the reports of the Indies, a provoker of lust.
Chocolate: what does modern science say?
Its flavanols have small effects on blood pressure in trials; it is a food.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- theobromine ChEMBL
- caffeine ChEMBL
- epicatechin ChEMBLthe flavanol
- Mechanism
- Theobromine is a mild heart stimulant and, more weakly than caffeine, blocks the adenosine receptors; in trials, chocolate and cocoa improved the flow-mediated dilatation of the arteries. Dogs clear theobromine slowly, with a half-life of 17.5 hours, and some 200 g of the richest dark chocolate gives a 10 kg dog an even chance of a lethal dose.
- Checked against ChEMBL
- theobromine: Measured, as the entry says (“a mild stimulant”): Adenosine receptor A1 (rat), Ki 105 µM, CHEMBL1126876; Adenosine A2 receptor (rat), Inhibition 40 %, CHEMBL1126876.
- Toxic dose
- The median lethal dose of theobromine for dogs is 100–200 mg per kilogram.
- Standing
- A food; in 2013 the European Union authorised the claim that cocoa flavanols help maintain endothelium-dependent vasodilation, which contributes to healthy blood flow.
- Hooper, L., et al. (2012). “Effects of chocolate, cocoa, and flavan-3-ols on cardiovascular health.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 95. Abstract read · the text read
The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Chocolate: what lore surrounds it?
Whether chocolate broke the Church’s fast was argued in Spain and the Indies, as Stubbe reported in 1662, and the dispute ran on although popes, Pius V and Benedict XIV among them, gave the opinion that it did not.
Chocolate: what did the older authorities say?
- Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma
- Wrote in 1631 on whether it was hot or cold in the Galenic sense, and concluded that it was both: its parts were of different temperaments.
- Henry Stubbe
- Praised it in The Indian Nectar (1662).
Sources
- Colmenero de Ledesma, A. (1631). Curioso tratado de la naturaleza y calidad del chocolate. Read in full · the text read
- Stubbe, H. (1662). The Indian Nectar. Read in part · the text read
- “History of chocolate.” Wikipedia (read 2 October 2026). Read in full · the text read
- “Cocoa bean.” Wikipedia (read 2 October 2026). Read in part · the text read
- “Theobromine.” Wikipedia (read 2 October 2026). Read in full · the text read
- “Catechin” (Epicatechin). Wikipedia (read 2 October 2026). Read in part · the text read
- European Commission (2013). Commission Regulation (EU) No 851/2013 of 3 September 2013 authorising certain health claims made on foods. Official Journal of the European Union L 235: 3–7. Read in part · the text read
- “Theobromine poisoning.” Wikipedia (read 2 October 2026). Read in full · the text read
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026, and October 3, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- The mechanism read against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37): curated mechanisms and measured activity
- Every source read, in full, in part, or in its abstract, and every sentence checked against what was read (October 3, 2026)
- Sources
- 9 cited: 4 read in full, 4 read in part, 1 abstract read. 1 with the abstract on file.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 30, 2026 · last revised October 1, 2026
- Chicago
“Chocolate.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified October 1, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/chocolate.
- MLA
“Chocolate.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 1 Oct. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/chocolate. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Chocolate. (2026, October 1). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/chocolate
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See Also
Sharing caffeine
Nearby in the alphabet
Chokecherry (the chokecherry of North America) · Chicory (Cichorium intybus) · Chrism (Olive oil mixed with balsam and consecrated by a bishop) · Chaste tree (a Mediterranean shrub with spikes of lilac flowers and peppery fruit) · Cinchona (The bark of Cinchona trees of the Andes) · Chanterelle (apricot-scented mushroom with blunt ridges for gills) · Cinnabar (Mercury sulfide) · Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)
Historical description, not medical advice.