When Valentine’s day comes around, the first gift we think of giving to that special someone is a box of chocolate.  But why do we relate chocolate to Valentine’s Day?  Well if you think about it, chocolate gives people a feeling that is very similar to the feeling of falling in love.  The feeling of excitement, giddiness, and sexual arousal, flood our bodies when we fall in love, or eat chocolate.

So how is it that chocolate can increase sexual arousal, heighten excitement, and create an overall feeling of pleasure?  Neurologists and Molecular Biologists have discovered that chocolate contains several compounds that create chemical reactions in the brain that make us feel these ways. This sounds to me like some sort of “high”. But can chocolate actually make those who eat it high?

Multiple compounds in chocolate can potentially make a person high.  For example, the most widely known and uses psychoactive drug in the world is found in chocolate; 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, better known as caffeine.  Caffeine produces a stimulating effect by exciting the central nervous system which increases heart rate and contracts muscles.  This creates a fight or flight response sort of feeling.  Caffeine acts on dopamine receptors in the brain,  which results in a release of chemicals that causes pleasure.  Another compound found in chocolate that can cause a high are the fatty acids- cannabinoids.  Cannabinoids are related to an active ingredient in marijuana.  Cannabinoids act as a depressant, and hit receptors in the brain dealing with motor function and memory.  And when these receptors are hit by the cannabinoids, a person will start to feel a bit intoxicated and more relaxed.  Another proven belief, is that chocolate increases arousal when consumed.  This would make chocolate an aphrodisiac. Chocolate contains Phenethylamine, an endogenous alkaloid (also known as a ‘love chemical) that induces this sort of heightened sexuality and attraction.

Chocolate contains the same stimulating compounds in it as marijuana, morphine, and ecstasy.  So why aren’t hoards of people using chocolate instead of these other drugs?  The answer is because the amounts of most of these stimulating compounds in chocolate are relatively small.  And since humans consume more stimulants (such as coffee, cigarettes, and chocolate) than ever, our brains have become accustomed to these stimulating compounds.   So the low level of stimulating compounds in chocolate do not nearly have as large of an effect on us compared to marijuana and ecstasy.

Even if the compounds found in chocolate may be too minute for us to get a high, chocolate still has a slight effect on our brain chemistry which dictates how we feel.  In conclusion, chocolate cannot necessarily get us high, however, the low levels of stimulating compounds can react with our brain just enough to increase our sexual attractions and levels of excitement.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/chocolate-high2.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_chocolate