Now it’s official. A scientific study has found that
chocolate is not an anti-depressant.
To all my fellow addicts, the following information may come
as a shocking and disturbing revelation to you all. It seems
that the warm fuzzy feeling that you get when you bite into
a “Cadbury Dairy Milk” is all in your head! There
is apparently no truth in the theory that a good dose of chocolate
will give you a lift.
“In a review, undertaken by Professor Gordon Parker
and colleagues at the Sydney-based Black Dog Institute and
the School of Psychiatry, University of NSW, a study has discounted
the theory that chocolate is cheaper than therapy and while
it might provide a ‘comforting’ role it is more
likely to prolong the dysphoric / restlessness mood causing
depression. Chocolate lovers around the world have long associated
the consumption of chocolate, manufactured from the simple
cocoa bean, with enjoyment and pleasure. Popular claims are
those chocolate acts as a stimulant, a relaxant, a euphoriant,
an aphrodisiac, a tonic and an anti-depressant. The last claim
relating to chocolate being an anti-depressant stimulated
this latest review.
Professor Parker, Executive Director of the Black Dog Institute,
said the study looked at chocolate’s various properties
and were able to distinguish the differences between food
cravings and emotional eating as well as the mood state effects.
“Chocolate can provide its own personal pleasure by
satisfying cravings, but when consumed as a comfort eating
or emotional eating strategy, is more likely to be associated
with prolongation rather than cessation of a depressed mood,”
the Professor said. The researchers concluded that any mood
benefits from chocolate consumption are short-lived.
A previous study by Professor Parker, published in 2002, noted
the capacity of carbohydrates (including chocolate) to have
a comforting effect and to promote ‘feel good’
sensations through the brain and stomach. Others have argued
that carbohydrate craving (including chocolate craving) in
atypical depression and in a seasonal affective disorder is
a form of self-medication.
The latest study argues that chocolate ‘craving’
and chocolate ‘emotional eating’ are two separate
phenomena — although they can co-exist in the same individual.
“Any mood state effects of chocolate are as ephemeral
as holding a chocolate in one’s mouth,” according
to Professor Parker.
It is well known that humans have innate taste preferences
for sweets, fat and salt. Topping the list is chocolate, which
is the most commonly craved food and, for most chocolate cravers,
non-chocolate substitutes are inadequate.
The conclusion from this study is that for most people chocolate
invokes anticipatory and consummatory pleasure and is therefore
a pleasurable indulgence. When taken in response to a depressed
state as an ‘emotional eating’ strategy it may
provide some transient ‘comforting’ role but it
is more likely to prolong rather than abort the depressed
mood. It is not, as some would claim, an anti-depressant”.
(A summary brief is available on the Black Dog Institute website
provides additional detail about the study while the full
review is also published: website www.blackdoginstitute.org.au)
April 12th 2006 AEST
So there you have it, all our chocolate beliefs deflated in
one small insy-weensy study. I don’t know about you
but I stand unmoved in the faith! I would still rather reach
for a Picnic Bar than a Prozac, and that pre-menstrual syndrome
would be unbearable without a hit of the extra dark, rich
gold bar! WORDS OF A TRUE ADDICT’– CHOCOLOHOLICS
UNITE!\
“Kim Patra is a qualified Registered Nurse and Midwife
that has been living and working in Bali for almost twenty
years. She now runs her own private practice and medical referral
service from her Kuta office. Kim is happy to discuss any
health concerns with you and she may be contacted via e-mail
at info@chcbali.com”.
