Chantico - Goddess of beverages?

Recently, Starbucks has introduced a chocolate beverage branded as Chantico (pronounced as Shan-TEE-ko). A few weeks back I decided to give it a shot. The rest is history. I have really taken a liking to this new drink, that I no longer order my Mocha at Starbucks. Priced at $2.85, a short cup of Chantico is nothing but a melted bar of chocolate served to you in a cup. Absolutely delightful....

An article on usatoday concisely reports the difference between Chantico and hot chocolate. According to the report, "Unlike hot chocolate, which is made from cocoa powder, Chantico is steamed with cocoa butter and whole milk. It's no diet drink: A 6-ounce cup has 390 calories, 21 grams of fat and 51 carbs". Hmmm.. may be this is not for the diet conscious folks out there (I know quite a few :)).

Chantico is the name of an Aztec goddess. Her name means "She who dwells in the house" and she is the goddess of hearth in Aztec mythology. Legend says that she broke a fast and was turned into a dog by Tonacatecuhtli the god of fertility and food.

So what about the health benefits or losses by drinking Chantico (or any kind of chocolate based drink). Is Chantico - drinking chocolate also cursed to cause ill-health? My research on the web yielded this page that gave a summary of the effects due to consumption of chocolate/cocoa based products. The biggest health loss is that chocolate is calorie rich than most foods. The good news is that the saturated fat in chocolate is stearic acid that doesn't increase blood cholestrol levels. Catechins present within chocolate helps the body protect against degenerative illnesses and catalyzes oxidation of cholestrol.

So happy 'Chantico'ing.....

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