*sigh* Good help is so hard to find these days...
Posted on 12/11/2007 3:17:47 PM PST by blam
Chocolate Is The Most Widely Craved Food, But Is It Really Addictive?
ScienceDaily (Sep. 12, 2007) — Chocolate is the most widely and frequently craved food. People readily admit to being 'addicted to chocolate' or willingly label themselves as 'chocoholics'. A popular explanation for this is that chocolate contains mood-enhancing (psychoactive) ingredients that give it special appeal.
Polyphenol antioxidant Evidence and logic, however, find little support for this. Substances present in chocolate which have been highlighted as potentially pharmacologically significant include serotonin, tryptophan, phenylethylamine, tyramine and cannabinoids. However, many of these compounds exist in higher concentrations in other foods with less appeal than chocolate.
Professor Peter Rogers, from the University of Bristol, UK, explains: "A more compelling explanation lies in our ambivalent attitudes towards chocolate -- it is highly desired but should be eaten with restraint (nice but naughty). Our unfulfilled desire to eat chocolate, resulting from restraint, is thus experienced as craving, which in turn is attributed to 'addiction'."
A further observation is that the most widely preferred chocolate is milk chocolate and chocolate-covered confectionery. These contain a lower amount of cocoa solids, and therefore a lower concentration of potentially psychoactive compounds, than 'dark' chocolate which is not so widely craved.
It is therefore far more plausible to suggest that a liking for chocolate, and its effects on mood, are due mainly to its principal constituents, sugar and fat, and their related orosensory and nutritional effects.
The evidence as to whether chocolate can really become addictive is examined by Professor Peter Rogers from the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol, Uk.
Adapted from materials provided by University of Bristol.
“I agree. See my post below yours :)”
Heehee...
I’ll buy a few bags as gifts, and before I can give them, I eat them....
then back to the store....for more “gifts”....
Chocolate does nothing for me whatsoever. Carbs on the other hand, crave em like a junkie.
“Seems to be missing one. LJ?”
LJ?
Am I missing a good piece of chocolate?
Hey LJ! *FWWWWWEEEEET* over here!
“I’ve been eating chocolate every day for years, and never got addicted.”
LOL!
*sigh* Good help is so hard to find these days...
“Hey LJ! *FWWWWWEEEEET* over here!”
Okay, nully...
A lady? And I think I’m missing a piece of chocolate?
Perhaps an inside joke....
I’m outta here...
don’t ever speak to me again.....
unless....
Hey....
I can do that.
Tell me more.
(pictures. we want pictures)...
“Tell me more.(pictures. we want pictures)...”
Can’t you just take my word for it? Trust me...
Trust me???
Isn’t that New Joisy talk for...
Dark Chocolate Is Healthy Chocolate
Dark Chocolate Has Health Benefits Not Seen in Other Varieties
By Daniel J. DeNoon
WebMD Medical News
Aug. 27, 2003 -- Got high blood pressure? Try a truffle. Worried about heart disease? Buy a bon-bon.
It's the best medical news in ages. Studies in two prestigious scientific journals say dark chocolate -- but not white chocolate or milk chocolate -- is good for you.
Dark Chocolate Lowers Blood Pressure
Dark chocolate -- not white chocolate -- lowers high blood pressure, say Dirk Taubert, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Cologne, Germany. Their report appears in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.
But that's no license to go on a chocolate binge. Eating more dark chocolate can help lower blood pressure -- if you've reached a certain age and have mild high blood pressure, say the researchers. But you have to balance the extra calories by eating less of other things.
Antioxidants in Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate -- but not milk chocolate or dark chocolate eaten with milk -- is a potent antioxidant, report Mauro Serafini, PhD, of Italy's National Institute for Food and Nutrition Research in Rome, and colleagues. Their report appears in the Aug. 28 issue of Nature. Antioxidants gobble up free radicals, destructive molecules that are implicated in heart disease and other ailments.
"Our findings indicate that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants from chocolate ... and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate."
Translation: Say "Dark, please," when ordering at the chocolate counter. Don't even think of washing it down with milk. And if health is your excuse for eating chocolate, remember the word "moderate" as you nibble.
The Studies
Taubert's team signed up six men and seven women aged 55-64. All had just been diagnosed with mild high blood pressure -- on average, systolic blood pressure (the top number) of 153 and diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) of 84.
Every day for two weeks, they ate a 100-gram candy bar and were asked to balance its 480 calories by not eating other foods similar in nutrients and calories. Half the patients got dark chocolate and half got white chocolate.
Those who ate dark chocolate had a significant drop in blood pressure (by an average of 5 points for systolic and an average of 2 points for diastolic blood pressure). Those who ate white chocolate did not.
In the second study, Serafini's team signed up seven healthy women and five healthy men aged 25-35. On different days they each ate 100 grams of dark chocolate by itself, 100 grams of dark chocolate with a small glass of whole milk, or 200 grams of milk chocolate.
An hour later, those who ate dark chocolate alone had the most total antioxidants in their blood. And they had higher levels of epicatechin, a particularly healthy compound found in chocolate. The milk chocolate eaters had the lowest epicatechin levels of all.
Chocolate for Blood Pressure: Darker Is Better
What is it about dark chocolate? The answer is plant phenols -- cocoa phenols, to be exact. These compounds are known to lower blood pressure.
Chocolates made in Europe are generally richer in cocoa phenols than those made in the U.S. So if you're going to try this at home, remember: Darker is better.
Just remember to balance the calories. A 100-gram serving of Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Bar has 531 calories, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. If you ate that much raw apple you'd only take in 52 calories. But then, you'd miss out on the delicious blood pressure benefit.
A hint: Don't replace healthy foods with chocolate. Just switch all your other sweets for some chocolate, melt it all down to a nice creamy flowy texture . . .
oh my!
“Trust me???
Isn’t that New Joisy talk for...”
Yes, New Joisy talk for kisses...do you like Hershey’s kisses? Hershey, PA., isn’t far from here...
If I can remember, before I was distracted, I think this was a chocolate thread....
It would take me many enjoyable hours to consume that confection. The chocolate would be pretty good, too.
“It would take me many enjoyable hours to consume that confection. The chocolate would be pretty good, too.”
Okay, Andy. Settle down...
Thanks for your post. A good one!
You’re a TROOPER ... a true trooper I tell ya. ;-)
I use F.R. because I like to read the articles.
I use F.R. because I like to read the articles.
I use F.R. because I like to read the articles.
It’s not the pictures.
It’s not the pictures.
It’s not the pictures.
Sorry. I’ve always had a sweet tooth. ;-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.