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Chocolate is known throughout the world as a delightful treat and loved by most people. Here are a few fun facts you may not know about chocolate.

• Ancient Aztecs thought chocolate had magical powers; like the ability to give them strength.

• Chocolate was consumed by the ancient Aztecs as a frothy beverage, somewhat like hot chocolate we drink today.

• Chocolate contains over 300 mineral properties that are beneficial to your health.

• Chocolate comes from a plant, called Theobroma cacao, which translates "Food of the Gods".

• Dark chocolate has more antioxidants than green tea and just as many as blueberries.

• White chocolate really isn't chocolate. It's made from cocoa butter, the substance you get by pressing cocoa beans. Cocoa butter is absent of the cocoa solids used to make chocolate.

• Chocolate does contain chemical elements that really do boost your mood and produce a euphoric feeling.

• Eating chocolate gives you the same feeling as falling in love. This is probably why Valentine's Day and chocolate go hand in hand.

• Chocolate comes from the Aztec word "xocolatl" which means "bitter water".

• Switzerland is one of the top countries for chocolate consumption. The Swiss consume about 22 lbs of chocolate, per person, per year.

• Cocoa beans were used as currency by the Mayan and Aztec cultures. Perhaps this is where they saying "Money grows on trees" came from.

• Allowing chocolate to melt in your mouth produces the same or even stronger reactions as passionately kissing.

• Hershey is the oldest and largest chocolate company in the US.

• Cadbury is the most popular chocolate in the UK.

• Most cocoa comes from West Africa.

• The most expensive chocolate in the world is $2,600 per pound. It's called Madeleine and is made by Fritz Knipschildt, a chocolatier in Connecticut.

• Craving chocolate when a woman is on her menstrual cycle may have more to do with the fact that chocolate is known for helping ease menstrual symptoms.

• Eating chocolate can also reduce the symptoms of stress.

• Chocolate is beneficial for proper blood flow to the lungs and other organs.

• The minerals in chocolate help to increase brain power and function.

• An English doctor prescribed chocolate to pregnant women as he believed it helped the fetus and embryo's development.

• Thomas Jefferson, third president of the US, was quoted as saying "The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain."

• One of Hershey's ads reads: More Sustaining Than Meat."

There you have it, twenty-three fun facts about delicious chocolate.