By Erica Vandenbulcke '20
It’s been a particularly long and dreadful day at school, and as soon as you come home and enter your marble-themed kitchen, you pick up the neatly wrapped chocolate bar situated on the countertop. Or perhaps, you’ve just gotten into a big fight with your best friend, and instantly, the oh-so-familiar chocolate bar seems to be the perfect solution to your sour mood. Does all this sound familiar? Because if it does, there’s no need to worry — it’s a case of chocolate “addiction” many experience throughout their lives. And although this yearning may simply be because you’ve consumed too much chocolate, the chemistry behind chocolate and its molecules explain how at times, the craving we feel is just beyond our control!
Chocolate, which is mainly derived from cacao beans native to South and Central America, accumulated a grand total of $100 million in worldwide sales in 2016 alone. Many would brush this figure off, saying that the huge digits merely emphasize how good chocolate tastes. But have you ever thought about the possibility that perhaps, we eat chocolate not because we want it, but because we need it?
According to the American Chemical Society, chocolate is composed of a wide variety of stimulants, which include theobromine, caffeine, and phenylethylamine. With all these stimulating chemicals combined, the giddiness and relief we feel after eating a scrumptious cube of chocolate is no longer a surprise. For instance, phenylethylamine in particular has been dubbed the “chocolate amphetamine” because of its association with heightened giddiness and excitement. It also refers to how heavy consumption of phenylethylamine leads to activation of the brain’s pleasure centers.
Furthermore, chocolate is known to contain another chemical known as tryptophan, which plays a role in the production of a neurotransmitter known as serotonin. When levels of serotonin within the body are increased, one may experience increased feelings of euphoria as well as a “warm inner glow.”
Thus, because all these different chemicals present in chocolate may cause a slight elevation in one’s feelings of well-being, lack of chocolate consumption can lead to “withdrawal symptoms.” However, as such stimulants are found in extremely low amounts, there is no official condition referring to an addiction to chocolate. At the end of the day, however, it is still important to keep in mind the amount of chocolate we consume, and the impact it can have on our health. Containing excessive amounts of fat and sugar, adverse health effects that come with the overconsumption of sugar may be even more detrimental than suffering from “chocolate addiction.”
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