Its bad news for most: the world is running out of chocolate. Yes, you read me right! Leading confectioners have warned that the world could be running out of chocolate and that too as early as 2020, as soaring demand continues to outpace the rate of production and increasing prices of cocoa beans.

When the world is only getting hungrier for chocolate, cocoa crops are being chopped down to make way for rubber plantations as cocoa farmers see more profits in growing rubber than cocoa. To add to that, in Ivory Coast and Ghana where more than 70 per cent of world’s cocoa is produced dry weather has ravaged cocoa plants; and global warming is only going to get worse.

Diminishing cocoa supplies could see chocolate transformed from the melt-in-the-mouth pick-me-up to a “sludgy” imitation as the future chocolate bars would be more like slabs of palm oil and vegetable fats packed with raisins and nougat to bulk them out and make them taste better.

If you want a few dozen more excuses to eat chocolate, read on ...

But let’s not fret for the moment — as long as we are getting the melt-in-the-mouth chocolate —and enjoy it and benefit from its many properties.

Over the years all sorts of health benefits have been associated with eating chocolate, especially dark chocolate. These include everything from aiding the circulatory system to stimulating the brain, fighting mental fatigue, making you more alert and generally making you a more efficient thinker preventing coughs and relieve tension. Some have even claimed that chocolate has aphrodisiac tendencies, but these aphrodisiac tendencies have yet to actually be proven by science.

Chocolate has been used as a gift on various occasions, especially on Valentine’s Day when heart-shaped chocolates are specially prepared, and a token of apology for having done something wrong. But that’s not all. It can be used in quite interesting ways.

Lift your mood: Reaching for the chocolate when you’re feeling low has become a cliché, but there is a reason people crave chocolate when they are down. It is a mild stimulant and makes you euphoric. One study found that even the chocolate’s taste, smell or texture make people happy. Chocolate helps support the production of dopamine (a brain chemical that helps to feel good) in the system.

Keep your teeth healthy: While dentists say that chocolate is bad for the teeth, according to new research an extract of cocoa powder found in chocolate could be an effective alternative for use in toothpaste than fluoride for keeping your teeth healthy.

Keep your skin happy: Cocoa butter is a marvellous stuff — rich, smooth and with an aroma. It does wonders for your skin. Yes, chocolate is known for keeping the skin happy and smooth. Leave it on your skin for 15 minutes and allow it to harden, it helps soften your skin.

As a spa treat, try this bath: Mix two cups chocolate milk, two tablespoons mild liquid soap and one tablespoon honey; pour the mixture into the bath. Lactic acid and antioxidants of the chocolate milk will smooth and soften your skin. The flavonoids found in dark chocolate offer protection from UV damage.

And here are some wacky ways people have used chocolate throughout history:

As currency: Contrary to the saying “Money doesn’t grow on trees!” once upon a time it did.

The Mayans, who are believed to have first discovered chocolate, actually used cocoa beans as money. The Aztecs did the same, even levying taxes in precious cacao … and of course producing the famous and no doubt expensive drink Xocolatl.

As fuel: The chocolate powered car! Scientists have used chocolate to feed Escherichia coli (more commonly known as E-coli) bacteria, which in turn produce hydrogen, which cwan be used as a clean power source.

Even if it can power the zero-emissions vehicle of tomorrow I wouldn’t want to share my chocolate with the car!

Haute couture: Le Salon du Chocolat’s chocolate fashion shows worldwide bring together chocolatiers and designers to make sweet outfits.

Novelty hotel: At the Chocolate Boutique Hotel in Bournemouth, England, the rooms are named after different words for chocolate, and some weekend packages include chocolate portraits.

Fake blood: Bosco chocolate syrup claims its product was used as blood in the shower scene of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror classic Psycho.

Longest sculpture: A Belgian chocolatier’s 111-foot, 8-inch chocolate model of a train holds the Guinness World Record for longest chocolate sculpture.

A word of caution

While chocolate has many health benefits and usages, it is not free of negative effects. Like other energy-rich food item, consumption of large quantities of chocolate without a corresponding increase in activity, increases the risk of obesity. There is also some evidence that chocolate may be addictive. Chocolate and cocoa contain moderate to high amounts of oxalate, which can cause some health concerns particularly for individuals at risk for kidney stones. As chocolate absorbs lead from the environment during production, there are chances of mild lead poisoning from some types of chocolate, while a few studies have documented allergic reactions with chocolate in children. Chocolate is also believed to cause heartburn because of one of its constituents: theobromine.

Theobromine — a bitter alkaloid of the cocoa plant — is harmless to us but highly toxic to our four-legged friends. So, don’t feed your pets the same bar that you are eating; if you want your pets to enjoy chocolate go for dog chocolates.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, December 14th, 2014