When I am feeling sad, the first thing I want to do is get my hands on some chocolate. I have come to realize that chocolate makes me feel happier. I thought this was just something I did, but my friends all claim that eating chocolate puts them in a better mood. So, what exactly is it about eating chocolate that makes people happier?
After researching this, I found that chocolate directly relates to our brains making people feel good as stated by CNN. These chemicals that go to our brains are called endorphins. Another article also goes to state that there was a study in 2007 that was done showing that people who eat chocolate are not as likely to feel depression than those who do not eat chocolate. So what exactly is the makeup of chocolate that makes people less stressed, more relaxed, and overall happy?
Chocolate contains caffeine so already that is an energy booster since it is causing the body to speed up by making the central nervous system more active. Caffeine releases “pleasure producing chemicals” as stated by Josh Clark, but this is not the only thing in chocolate that makes people happy. There is a chemical in chocolate that is very similar to the one in Marijuana so the saying, “Chocolate high” is not too far from what is truly happening. Then, there is the “love drug” in chocolate which is called this because the feelings you feel would be the same feelings of falling in love. Hence, why a common valentine’s Day gift is a box of chocolates. With all these chemical its no wonder chocolate can make people feel happier.
I love chocolate. It makes me feel better to know that it can actually be somewhat healthy for me! It’s really interesting how you said it can give you similar feelings to falling in love. I think that’s cool! Here is an article that talks more about that:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-128858/Scientists-prove-chocolate-better-love.html
This article says that eating chocolate is “better than falling in love,” but I’m not sure if I believe that!
Hi! I always wondered why chocolate did make people happy. I am commenting because I disagree, I do not like chocolate and it makes me feel sick. I get my endorphins through working out every single day. Although, it is interesting the science that goes into chocolate!