By Emma Murphy, contributing writer

Each February, couples celebrate their love by exchanging Valentine’s Day gifts like gourmet chocolates and flowers and cards. With the holiday just around the corner, I looked into how chocolate came to be the customary Valentine’s Day gift.

I learned that chocolate is more closely linked with love because of its supposed effect on the libido than it is with St. Valentine. Chocolate is made from the cacao bean found in pods that grow on the trunks and lower branches of the cacao tree. The fruit pods are nine inches in length on average and typically contain 30 – 40 almond-sized cacao beans. The Aztecs were the first to draw a link between the cacao bean and sexual desire. Emperor Montezuma was said to drink chocolate in copious amounts before visiting his harem of women.

However, there is no hard evidence that chocolate is an aphrodisiac. Researchers have looked for a direct link between chocolate consumption and heightened sexual arousal and have found none. The myth of chocolate as an aphrodisiac developed because chocolate does contain tryptophan, a building block of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which affects mood. When our serotonin level is high, we’re happier. But, the amount of tryptophan in chocolate is too small to have any measurable effect on desire. Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine (PEA), which facilitates the release of dopamine, a neurochemical associated with pleasure. However, when consumed orally, PEA is rapidly metabolized, preventing significant concentrations from reaching the brain and producing euphoria.

Bottom line: if chocolate has any aphrodisiacal qualities, they are psychological, not physiological. That being said, it can’t hurt to pick up some bonbons or truffles for your better half.

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