Wanna do some chocolate...?

Chris Chung continues her look at the addictive power of chocolate ...

Facts and figures

It's interesting to note that of the vast variety of foods available to the human race, the food identified as being by far the most craved, is chocolate. Unsurprisingly therefore the terms 'chocolate addiction' and 'chocoholic' have been bandied about since the '80s but 'pizzaholic' or 'banana addict' haven't really caught on.

"Man cannot live by chocolate alone - but woman can." (Unknown)

More women than men experience food cravings in general while chocolate craving in particular is more than double in women. Such were the findings of a survey of 1,000 students at McMaster University, Canada which found that 97% of the female students experienced food cravings compared to only 68% of the men. 39% of the women craved chocolate in particular as opposed to only 14% of the men.

Chocolate craving is very specific, when the desire for chocolate arises, the urge will not be satisfied by another sweet food, there is no substitute, only chocolate will do.

The average Brit eats approximately 9kg of chocolate a year, that's about 3 bars a week. But how much do you eat if you're a chocolate craver?

Well, in a study of 75 self-confessed 'chocolate addicts' in Dundee, it was calculated that the average number of chocolate bars consumed by each in one week was 12 1/2 , though one addict admitted to getting through 70.

Chemical reactions

 
 

So what is it about chocolate that makes it irresistible? That makes it the most craved food on the planet?

 

Well chocolate brings instant comfort, acts as an anti-depressant and gives us that unmistakable 'chocolate high' as our serotonin and endorphin levels rise.

"Researchers have discovered that chocolate produces some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana... The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two, but can't remember what they are."
(Matt Lauer on NBC's 'Today Show' 1996)

Chocolate contains some chemicals in common with cannabis. Anandamide, N-oleoylethanolamine and N-lineoeoylethanolamine are all natural cannabinoids found in chocolate.

While you un-tangle your tongue ... chocolate contains a host of other natural chemicals such as caffeine and phenylethylamine (PEA) which both have a mild amphetamine-like effect. PEA is also produced naturally by the brain in certain emotional states, such as when we are in love.

The real deal

"The problem is that PEA present in food doesn't even reach the blood, let alone the brain" according to psychopharmacologist Dr M. Liebowitz in 'The Chemistry of Love'.

This suggests that the reality of chocolate addiction may lie not only in the measurable levels of certain chemicals in chocolate but also in the unmeasurable social and mental association of chocolate with reward, comfort, luxury and sensuousness. Additionally, as a carbohydrate, eating chocolate triggers the release of the calming neurotransmitter serotonin while at the same time the caffeine gently stimulates.

The dual action of simultaneously soothing and stimulating seems contradictory yet is strangely complimentary and only adds to the mystery of how chocolate does indeed work on the body and the brain in a way that cannot be so easily or neatly explained with references to brain chemicals or the constituent elements of chocolate.

 

© 2004 Chris Chung & seventypercent.com