Valentine’s Day means more than the candlelit dinner with that special someone or even the self-pity fest with girlfriends over Bloody Marys at Chimes – believe me, I’ve been at both ends of the spectrum.
Hands down, the best thing about Valentine’s Day is the day after, when all the unsold Valentine’s Day chocolate is 80 percent off.
I’m not alone in this sentiment. According to a 2007 survey by The Nielsen Company, in the United States, more chocolate is sold during the week of Feb. 14 than any other time during the year, and chocolate generates roughly $300 million in Valentine’s Day sales.
In a culture where chocolate is synonymous with love and pleasure, this isn’t surprising. Americans crave chocolate more than any other food, and many claim to have an actual addiction to it.
A study by Northwestern University Medical School in 2001 reported that subjects who indulged their chocolate cravings without feelings of guilt had increased blood flow in the orbital frontal cortex and the midbrain – the same result as cocaine.
Cocaine is a highly addictive, illegal drug isolated from the leaves of the coca plant. The coca plant is in the same family as the cocoa plant that chocolate comes from. It’s a scary thought, but could the cocoa found in chocolate actually have some of cocaine’s addictive properties?
Chocolate contains more than 300 different chemicals, many of which are widely associated with mood, emotion and addiction.
Phenylethylamine is one of these chemicals. As an amphetamine – a group of substances characterized by adderall – it raises endorphin levels in the brain which cause feelings of excitement and euphoria.
Another chemical found in chocolate and naturally in our bodies is anandamine. Anandamine binds to the same cellular receptors as the chemical THC, found in marijuana. In combination with some of its derivatives also contained in chocolate, anandamine can mimic the effects of a marijuana-like “high” – but on a much smaller scale.
Chocolate also contains caffeine and theobromine, which boost mental function and alertness, and tryptophan which is a key regulator in the production of serotonin – a neurotransmitter responsible for feelings of relaxation, satisfaction and well-being.
Although these chemicals found in chocolate can induce mood-altering effects, they are present in amounts too small to fully account for chocolate’s addictive appeal. In fact, you would have to eat more than 25 pounds of chocolate in one sitting to get the same “high” as marijuana.
Some scientists suggest that because chocolate is rich in magnesium – a mineral deficient in 80 percent of American diets – our bodies crave it for its nutritional value.
This theory applies to women especially because their bodies need more magnesium during their menstrual cycles. It also helps to explain why women experience abnormally strong cravings for chocolate during that time of the month.
Furthermore, chocolate is rich in a type of antioxidants known as phenols. Cocoa phenols can block plaque formations that cause hardening of the arteries.
The health benefits from eating chocolate are often outweighed by the amount of sugar and fat it contains. But recent research suggests that eating dark chocolate containing 70 percent or more cocoa can be significantly beneficial.
—-Contact Amber Scroggs at [email protected] Too much of anything can be a bad thing, though. And this especially applies to chocolate. People who eat too much chocolate often develop high levels of HLDL triglycerides or excessive amounts of copper in their blood. Sooner or later, they can start to develop the health problems associated with it.
Scientists have not been able to fully explain why we get chocolate cravings. Chocolate is an ingenious combination of cocoa, sugar and fat. Each of these ingredients can at least be partially blamed for its appeal, but our obsession with the confection is attributed to these ingredients’ combined effects.
Chocolate addiction is more likely psychological rather than physiological. No doubt, chocolate is the ultimate “feel-good” food. Its melting temperature is slightly below the human body temperature, so it has that irresistible “melt-in-your-mouth” appeal. The sugar and fat alone are enough to fire up every endorphin-releasing nerve chemical in the brain.
There’s no denying that we eat chocolate to feed our emotions. As a self-proclaimed chocoholic, I can vouch for this.
In my diet, chocolate is the fifth major food group. It makes its way into every girls-only movie night with friends, and it is the only food I crave during those late-night study sessions before a test. More importantly, it was there to help me cope with the heartache of my first breakup.
Unlike most romantic partners, Dove never breaks its promises.
Tonight, while lovers celebrate their romance and singles bitterly lament its absence, I will be eating truffles from a heart-shaped box of Russels Stovers – indulging in a love affair that endures every hardship.