Chocoholic Lament

Is this you? Things are bad, and then they get worse, so you reach for the chocolate. You chew on the sweet melting mass. The rich cocoa butter coats your palette, the aroma fills you with pleasure, and even before you swallow, you are already visualizing the next chunk that you'll slide into your mouth. You briefly feel better, but soon, you're back to the -- perhaps deeper -- depression, and you reach for more chocolate.

It's a cultural cliché that people eat chocolate when they feel gloomy. Why does chocolate impact mood? There are more than 600 chemicals in chocolate, and some of them influence the level of feel-good brain chemicals. For instance, studies have shown that chocolate stimulates the release of dopamine, otherwise known as the "love" hormone, and serotonin, which eases pain. Apparently, when you eat chocolate, the hypothalamus releases the neurotransmitter beta-endorphin which has an opiate effect on the body. According to Professor Gordon Parker of the Blackdog Institute in Australia, who led a 2007 study of the impact of chocolate on mood, "The opioids are morphine-like and lower pain and that also flows through into mental well-being." But the opiate effect of chocolate does not necessarily lead to bliss or even relief, a new study concludes. While it's clear that chocolate triggers the brain to release feel-good chemicals, the study found that chocolate may not really provide the relief that depressed people seek. >