Does Chocolate Help In Mood Stabilization?
Chocolate for mood stabilization
People of all age groups adore chocolate. This is being the number one comfort food, eaten in many varieties too.
No one can resist a piece of chocolate cake. This is the first thing that comes into our minds when we feel low or get depressed.
Why do we crave this sweet thing? Emotional eating always starts with chocolate consumption.
Being a comfort food, it is likely to get a place in the list of foods people eat when they feel depressed or emotionally low.
However, identification and classification of depression have been made based on symptoms developed.
Loss of appetite is generally seen in people suffering from classic depression, and augmented craving for food is associated with atypical depression.
A new approach to the symptoms of atypical depression says that these signs are may not be the signs of mental illness.
This could be the attempt of the body to rebalance itself. In more precise terms, craving for food such as chocolate has deep roots embedded in physiology and mental or emotional health.
In Australia, a recent study has been done on the topic of overwhelming craving for chocolate.
Participants of this study stated that they feel less anxious and irritable when they have a piece of chocolate.
They even feel less depressed, and this makes chocolate a great stress-buster. Furthermore, researchers also come to know that this craving is not a sign of depression.
It is the way of a body to rebalance the equilibrium of the body. This has been concluded based on the evaluation done by the type of personalities participants have.
These participants have also been studied based on anxiety, irritability, sensitivity to rejection, and self-criticism.
People tend to eat comfort foods, including chocolate, to get a sense of well-being, though it is short.
Usually, depression makes one disinterested in anything they do, and that is why it becomes essential to uplift the mood. Playing games or reading a light story certainly helps the sufferer.
But it is easy to pop in a piece of chocolate to get rid of the sluggishness. This is a time-tested method and immensely useful. Women too have chocolates to reduce irritating symptoms of PMS.
Some women become depressed while going through PMS.
You will be amazed to know that chocolate contains over 350 chemicals. Some of these chemicals are known as tryptophan which augments the amount of serotonin.
This is a brain chemical, also known as a feel-good chemical, that makes one happy and content.
Even though tryptophan is present in small quantities, it has excellent effects on the well-being of an individual. Along with it, chocolate also initiates the release of endorphins and opioids.
These chemicals create a well-being feeling in an individual. Chocolate is also known to trigger the same brain receptors as marijuana, but this effect is almost negligible.
In a nutshell, chocolate does have soothing effects on those who have irritability and anxiety issues. It is possible that chocolate craving is healthy.
However, the chemicals present in this sweet temptation affect the mind only, and these have short lives.
Overeating chocolate is not good as it is related to obesity, elevated blood sugar.
