Recent research shows that chocolate can provide natural health-promoting substances called flavonoids.
Since flavonoids seem to help prevent heart disease and cancer, the idea of eating chocolate sounds like a tempting and delicious way to better your health. Flavanoids in cocoa may protect the heart, but don’t overdo it.
Chocolate has phenylethylamine (PEA), which is similar to the neurotransmitter that circulates at higher levels when people fall in love, so chocolate may help soothe a broken heart.
Chocoholism
This type of effect is a possible scenario for the development of a physical dependency on chocolate. Current studies of psychoactive drugs show that addiction is associated with the formation and reinforcement of unusual neurotransmitter pathways in the brain. So it’s just possible that, with every binge, your brain is being gradually ‘rewired’ in order to make you love chocolate more and more!
All modern commercial chocolate products contain substantial amounts of sugar, a fact which may partly explain chocolate’s supposed addictive properties.
Sweet tooth
You can inherit a ’sweet tooth’ from your parents. Recent research at New York University suggests there is a genetic reason why some people crave sugary foods.
The study was based on two strains of mice, selectively bred according to whether the parents preferred sweetened or unsweetened water. The team located the gene that was different in the two groups of mice and then searched for similar genetic sequences in humans.
Sweet truth
An ability to identify sweet things, and a tendency to respond to them positively, would have been an advantage for our ancestors. Such a genetic trait would have made prehistoric humans seek energy-rich, highly nutritional food such as fruit, while avoiding bitter-tasting poisonous plant material. This ancient genetic preference is arguably less useful in the context of a modern supermarket.
Chocolate chemistry
General sweetness aside, there are various chemical elements specific to chocolate that may help to stimulate cravings. In fact, chocolate contains over 300 chemicals and it is not known how all of these affect humans.
Many women report particular chocolate cravings when pre-menstrual. This is possibly because chocolate contains magnesium, a shortage of which can exacerbate pre-menstrual tension. Similar cravings during pregnancy could indicate mild anaemia, which chocolate’s iron content may help to cure.Central nervous stimulants such as caffeine are also present in small amounts, and this has a mild effect on alertness as we know from drinking coffee. Another mild stimulant present in chocolate is theobromine, which also serves to relax the smooth muscles in the linings of the lung.
Like other sweet food, chocolate stimulates the release of endorphins, natural body hormones that generate feelings of pleasure and well-being.
Does chocolate cause acne?
Not according to studies performed by the Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the U.S. Naval Academy. Eating or not eating chocolate made no difference in the skin condition of the study participants. In fact, most doctors believe that acne is not linked primarily to diet.
Will the caffeine in chocolate make me jittery?
Probably not. Cacao does contain a number of stimulants, such as caffeine and theobromine, but in small amounts that are diluted even further when processed into chocolate. In fact, one ounce of milk chocolate contains about the same amount of caffeine as one cup of decaffeinated coffee. Interestingly, one study has shown that the smell of chocolate may actually relax you by increasing theta waves in the brain.
Can chocolate cause headaches?
There is little evidence of this, although some studies suggest that chocolate may trigger headaches specifically in migraine sufferers.
Death by chocolate
Dogs and other domestic animals like horses metabolise the chocolate ingredient theobromine more slowly than humans. Safe doses for us could be toxic or even lethal doses for our pets, affecting their hearts, kidneys and central nervous systems.
