Genus: Theobroma
Common name: Chocolate. Cocoa. Theobroma cacao
Family: Malvaceae (formerly Sterculiaceae)
The Theobroma cacao tree, which grows in the rainforests of South and Central America, produces cacao seed pods that yield beans from which chocolate is made. The cacao seed pods are cut open to expose the beans which are then fermented and dried in the sun for several days before being ground into a paste. Cacao was served as a bitter beverage and cacao beans were used as currency by the ancient Mayans and Aztecs. Hailed as the food of the gods, cacao was used in official religious ceremonies and festivals, and for medicinal purposes. In the 1500s, Spanish conquistadors introduced cocoa to Europe, where it was drunk as a beverage. During the 1800s, cocoa powder and sugar were added to the cocoa paste to make solid chocolate. Today two-thirds of the world’s cocoa is produced in Western Africa. Around the world, 7.5 million tons of chocolate were consumed in 2022, and the demand is growing.
In 1989, Jeremy Sherr conducted a proving of the best quality Belgian dark chocolate. The proving showed that a craving for chocolate is often linked to the menstrual cycle and to issues of nurturing and mothering. There can be irritability and an aversion to loved ones, or overprotectiveness. A lack of breastfeeding, affection, or nurturing in childhood can lead to a feeling of vulnerability, isolation, and fear of being watched. This can be expressed by a desire to be alone, to hibernate, or to hide under the covers for safety and warmth. In contrast, there can be a desire to be outside in nature, to be free and unrestricted. There can be either mental dullness and confusion, or restlessness, over-stimulation, and over-sensitivity. One interesting symptom is the desire to keep hair, including facial hair, short and bristly, reminiscent of a hedgehog. Chocolate is a chilly and dry remedy. Pains are sharp, prickly, and sticking. This remedy has an affinity to the circulatory system, the digestive system, and the endocrine system, which affects the menstrual cycle and sex hormones.
Keynotes:
- Desire to be alone, aversion to company, unsociable, feeling of rejection, loneliness, difficulty connecting with people
- Anxiety with a desire to hide, desire to hibernate, desire to cover up under a blanket and keep warm
- Desire to be outside, desire for freedom, dreams of flying
- Restless, impatient, irritable, sarcastic, mocking, intolerant
- Difficulty concentrating, easily distracted, forgetful, absentminded
- Fear of being watched, fear of being attacked
- Indifferent and irritable to husband and children or an over protective need to control them
- Headaches and migraines with nausea and vomiting worse menses
- Desire to keep hair short and bristly
- Dry lips, dry mouth, dry painful throat, dry skin
- Craving for chocolate, sugar, sweet food or aversion to sweets
- Clumsiness, weakness of arms, incoordination of hands, legs heavy and difficult to move
- Heavy menses, weeping before menses, breast pain before menses
- Chilly, worse cold but better open air
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