Aztecs considered cacao beans more valuable than gold.
[UPDATED] You may love chocolate, but probably not as much as the Aztecs did. This Mesoamerican culture, which flourished in the 15th and early 16th centuries, believed cacao beans were a gift from the gods and used them as a currency that was more precious than gold. The biggest chocoholic of them all was the ninth Aztec Emperor, Montezuma II (1466–1520 CE), who called cacao “the divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food.” To say he practiced what he preached would be an understatement: Montezuma II was known to drink 50 cups of hot chocolate a day (from a golden goblet, no less). His preferred concoction is said to have been bitter and infused with chilis.
Needless to say, that was an expensive habit. Aztec commoners could only afford to enjoy chocolate during special occasions, whereas their upper-class counterparts indulged their sweet tooth more often. That’s in contrast to the similarly chocolate-obsessed Mayans, many of whom had it with every meal and often threw chili peppers or honey into the mix for good measure.
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The old wives’ tale about gum in the gut has alarmed children for generations. It might have originated from the scientific truth that gum’s base — like corn and seeds — cannot be digested, although our bodies are able to break down sweeteners and oil derivatives present in gum. An accidentally gulped piece of Dubble Bubble won’t stick to the stomach wall or intestinal tract: Gum drifts through your digestive system within a few days.
