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Why Do We Celebrate Valentine’s Day?

February 14, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages. In the US the first commercial Valentine’s Day cards were created in the 1840s.  February 14th has come to mean red hearts, candy, flowers and gifts all in the name of St. Valentine. But who was Saint Valentine?

Who Was St. Valentine?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different martyred saints named Valentine. One of them, a priest in third century Rome, defied Emperor Claudius’ decree outlawing marriage for young men and continued to perform secret marriages. When his actions were discovered he was put to death. Other stories suggest that Valentine was killed for trying to help Christians escape from the harsh Roman prisons.

In another legend Valentine sent the first “valentine” message to himself. In prison he fell in love with his jailor’s daughter. Before his death, legend says he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine.” Whatever the story, they all emphasize Valentine’s sympathetic, heroic, and romantic appeal.

Why February?

Some think Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate Valentine’s death around 270 A.D.  Others think the Christian church decided to celebrate Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an attempt to “christianize” the pagan Lupercalia, known as the beginning of spring festival.

British Valentine’s Day celebrations started around the seventeenth century. By mid eighteenth century all social classes exchanged tokens of affection or handwritten notes. Americans probably began exchanging handmade valentines in the early 1700s and mass-produced valentines in the 1840s.

Valentine’s Greetings

Women buy about 85% of the estimated one billion Valentine cards sent each year. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the US, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.

Over 50% of all Valentine’s Day cards are bought in the six days before the holiday (hedging bets?) and more than half of the people in the US celebrate Valentine’s Day by buying a card.

Teachers get the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, then sweethearts. Children from 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine’s cards with their teachers, classmates, and family.

And Flowers

110 million roses, mostly red, are sold and delivered within the three day period around Valentine’s Day. 60% of American roses come from California but the majority of the roses sold on Valentine’s Day are imported, mostly from South America.

15% of American women send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day although 73% of the people who buy Valentine’s Day flowers are men.

Happy Valentine’s Day

 

Filed Under: Food for Fun and Thought, Holidays Tagged With: food for fun and thought, holiday, Valentine's Day

A Box Of Chocolates

February 9, 2012 By Penny Klatell, PhD, RN Leave a Comment

In the US chocolate candy outsells all other types of candy combined, by 2 to 1.  Around seven billion pounds of chocolate candy are manufactured each year in the US and during the week before Valentine’s Day about 1.1 billion boxed chocolates,  about 58 million pounds, will be sold.

There are 2300 calories, 140 grams of fat, 270 grams of carbs, and 31 grams of protein in a pound of milk chocolate. A lot has been said about the heart healthy benefits of chocolate, especially dark chocolate, but it’s important to remember that chocolate is still a high calorie, high fat treat.

But Isn’t Chocolate Good For Me?

In moderation—and, depending on the type—the answer is yes. Chocolate’s health benefits come from cocoa and dark chocolate has more cocoa than milk chocolate.  White chocolate, without any cocoa in it, isn’t really chocolate. German scientists studied 19,357 people for a decade and found that those who ate the most chocolate (average 7.5 grams a day) had lower blood pressure and a 39% lower risk of having a heart attack or stroke than people who ate the smallest amount (1.7 grams a day).

Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, contains flavonols which have antioxidant properties. Those Valentine’s chocolates can be caloric and moderately high in fat, one-third of it the type of saturated fat that is not heart healthy. Extra ingredients like crème and caramel fillings can add lots of extra fat and calories.

If you see “Chocolate Liquor” in the ingredients list of chocolate candy, it is not alcoholic but a thick paste of ground cocoa beans, or nibs.  The higher the amount of chocolate liquor, the greater the amount of beneficial flavonoids and in chocolate vocabulary, “cocoa” and “cacao” are synonymous as are “beans” and “nibs.”

Just So You Know

A treat is something that’s usually associated with pleasure and on Valentine’s Day, with love.  To celebrate the occasion it’s just fine to enjoy a piece or two.

  • Hershey’s Kisses, 9 pieces:  230 calories, 12g fat
  • Hershey’s Special Dark Hearts, 5 pieces:  220 calories, 7g fat
  • Reese’s Peanut Butter Hearts, snack size:  170 calories, 10g fat
  • Russell Stover boxed chocolates, 2 pieces:  150 calories, 4g fat
  • Dove Dark Chocolate Hearts, 5 pieces:  210 calories, 13g fat
  • Godiva boxed chocolates, 4 pieces:  210 calories, 12g fat

Filed Under: Calorie Tips, Healthy Eating, Food Facts, Food for Fun and Thought, Holidays, Snacking, Noshing, Tasting, Takeout, Prepared Food, Junk Food Tagged With: calorie tips, chocolate, chocolate candy, food facts, food for fun and thought, holiday, holidays, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day candy

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