Gabrielle Wilson Professor Rothwell Food Project April 19th, 2014 Chocolate and !

otions "arrati#e $a#e %o& e#er wondered wh% %o& cra#e chocolate or so!ethin' sweet when %o&(re sad) *r, what is it in chocolate that ca&ses people, !ainl% wo!en, to 'or'e the!sel#es on chocolate when the% are sad and+or depressed) , wonder this all the ti!e beca&se when ,(! sad all , want to do is de#o&r so!ethin' chocolate%- With the help of .essica /r&so 0and others1, , will tr% to answer the 2&estions of how chocolate has been 3nown to ele#ate %o&r !ood and c&t stress, an4iet%, and depression 0/r&so1Accordin' to the research of /r&so and Ra!narace, chocolate is a 3nown jo% sti!&lant 0Ra!narace15 b&t how) 6here was a st&d% done co!parin' the effect of cons&!in' an apple, chocolate, or water, and fo&nd that chocolate ca&sed people(s !oods to be !ore ele#ated than when eatin' an apple or water 0/r&so1- 7ris 7ilha!, an ethnobotanist who has tra#eled the world in search of traditional, plant8based !edicines, states that, 9Cocoa boosts serotonin le#els- Al!ost e#er% sin'le antidepressant ai!s at either enhancin' serotonin or 3eepin' it in the brain lon'er- Chocolate or cocoa does that #er% well-: A lot of ti!es, this is fo&nd to happen in wo!en !ore than in !en- 7ilha! also sa%s, 9A lot of people self8!edicate with chocolate- Wo!en do that prior to and+or d&rin' !enstr&ation, when brain serotonin 'oes down- Chocolate will help to boost serotonin le#els bac3 &pAnd a lot of people j&st plain li3e the !ood that it p&ts the! in-: Accordin' to ;iana Walc&tt, dar3 chocolate has also been 3nown to be 'ood for %o&r blood press&re, help lower %o&r cholesterol, pre#ent cancer, and can fi4 nearl% an%thin' that is wron' with %o&---e4cept that e4pandin' waistline- *ne of the in'redients in chocolate is res#eratrol, an antio4idant 0i!!&ne s%ste! booster1, fo&nd in cocoa, red wine, and other prod&cts 0Walc&tt1- 9Chocolate has been 3nown to boost brain le#els of endorphins 0nat&ral opiates1 and serotonin 0a !ood8alterin' che!ical1,<

e4plains Walc&tt- /eca&se it can increase serotonin le#els in the brain, dar3 chocolate also !a% increase serotonin prod&ction in the '&t, and th&s help %o&r i!!&ne s%ste!- 6he reco!!ended dose of dar3 chocolate is one o&nce per da%- ,t doesn=t so&nd li3e !&ch, b&t it !a% help red&ce blood press&re and increase arterial blood flow, red&ce the chance of blood clots and lower >;> 0bad1 cholesterol$owe#er, while eatin' an o&nce of dar3 chocolate a da% can help %o&, if %o& drin3 a 'lass of !il3 with that o&nce of chocolate, it ne'ates e#er%thin'- Research has shown that !il3 interferes with the absorption of the antio4idants- When this happens, all %o& are 'ettin' fro! the !il3 and the dar3 chocolate are all of the calories 0Walc&tt1,n her article Chocolate and the Brain, 7risten Co#eles3ie sa%s, 9Chocolate can affect the brain b% ca&sin' the release of certain ne&rotrans!itters- "e&rotrans!itters are the !olec&les that trans!it si'nals between ne&rons- 6he a!o&nts of partic&lar ne&rotrans!itters we ha#e at an% 'i#en ti!e can ha#e a 'reat i!pact on o&r !ood-< ?o!e of these ne&rotrans!itters we ha#e alread% !entioned before, the !ain ones bein' endorphins and serotonin- ndorphins can help red&ce stress and lead to feelin's of e&phoria- ?erotonin is 3nown as an anti8depressant- *ne of the che!icals which ca&ses the release of serotonin is tr%ptophan fo&nd in, a!on' other thin's, chocolate 0Co#eles3ie1- Co#eles3ie sa%s, 9*ne of the !ore &ni2&e ne&rotrans!itters released b% chocolate is phen%leth%la!ine- 6his so called (chocolate a!pheta!ine( ca&ses chan'es in blood press&re and blood8s&'ar le#els leadin' to feelin's of e4cite!ent and alertness- ,t wor3s li3e a!pheta!ines to increase !ood and decrease depression, b&t it does not res&lt in the sa!e tolerance or addiction- Phen%leth%la!ine is also called the (lo#e dr&'( beca&se it ca&ses %o&r p&lse rate to 2&ic3en, res&ltin' in a si!ilar feelin' to when so!eone is in lo#e-< 6he thin' that , fo&nd !ost interestin' is that, accordin' to Co#eles3ie, the lipid ananda!ide is fo&nd in chocolate- Ananda!ide is #er% si!ilar in rese!blance to tetrah%drocannabinol 06$C16etrah%drocannabinol is a che!ical fo&nd in !arij&ana---- /oth acti#ate the sa!e receptor which ca&ses the prod&ction of dopa!ine, a ne&rotrans!itter which leads to feelin's of well bein' that people associate with a hi'h- 6herefore, when eatin' chocolate, %o& are 'ettin' so!ewhat of the sa!e effects

of people that &se !arij&ana to 'et hi'h- #en tho&'h the ananda!ide in chocolate helps to create feelin's of elation, the effect is not the sa!e as the 6$C in !arij&ana- 6etrah%drocannabinol reacts with receptors !ore widel% dispersed in the brain and is present in !&ch lar'er a!o&nts- ,t wo&ld ta3e twent%8fi#e po&nds of chocolate to achie#e a si!ilar hi'h to that of !arij&ana5 therefore, that is wh% %o& don(t reach a 9hi'h< when eatin' chocolate 0Co#eles3ie1,n all of !% research, , ha#e fo&nd a lot of thin's that ha#e tr&l% s&rprised !e- , ne#er 3new eatin' chocolate was li3e s!o3in' !arij&ana to so!e people- Chocolate releases so !an% ne&rotrans!itters in the brain that ph%sicall% and !entall% !a3e %o& happier and feel better abo&t %o&rself- Who wo&ld ha#e 3nown that all of these thin's co&ld happen j&st b% eatin' a little bit of chocolate)

Wor3s Cited /r&so, .essica- :Feel8Good ffects of Chocolate-: Healthy Eating- "-p-, n-d- Web- 22 Apr- 2014@httpA++health%eatin'-sf'ate-co!+feel'ood8effects8chocolate829BC-ht!lDRa!narace, C%nthia- :Can Food Affect Eo&r Food): CNN- Cable "ews "etwor3, 2B "o#- 201GWeb- 22 Apr- 2014- @httpA++www-cnn-co!+201G+11+2H+health+&pwa#e8food8!ood+DWalc&tt, ;iana >-, Ph-;- :Chocolate and Food ;isorders-: Psychcentral.com- "-p-, n-d- Web- 22 Apr- 2014- @httpA++ps%chcentral-co!+blo'+archi#es+2009+04+2B+chocolate8and8!ood8disorders+DCo#eles3ie, 7risten- :Chocolate on the /rain-: "-p-, n-d- Web- 22 Apr- 2014@httpA++serendip-br%n!awr-ed&+bb+ne&ro+ne&ro04+web1+3co#eles3ie-ht!lD-