Are you a chocolate fan? I am.

Eating chocolate is an after-dinner treat that many people enjoy indulging in. If you are a chocolate lover, then you’ll be pleased to know that the chocolate you eat, specifically the dark chocolate has beneficial effects on your mood.

Researchers have revealed that eating dark chocolate can actually help you to relieve depressive symptoms. The research was carried by the University College of London (UCL). Before going forward, you may wonder why this study is even important, right?

Why study the relation between chocolate and depression?

Around the world, depression is a sizable issue. Currently, medication and talk therapies are the most common forms of treatments used. Now, even the talk therapies are found not as effective anymore and many people are turning to antidepressants.

Despite having these medications, there are some people who don’t have a good response to these medications. Therefore, as you can see depression is an issue that really needs to be dealt with as it can lead to many serious health complications.

So, how was the study carried out?

About 13,000 US adults were asked about their chocolate consumption. The response or results was then compared with their scores on a questionnaire that assesses other factors that cause depressive symptoms. Such factors include weight, marital status, height, ethnicity, household income, education, chronic health problems, smoking, and physical activities.

Such factors were taking into account so as to make sure that they only measured chocolate’s effect on depressive symptoms. After taking all this into account, it was found that individuals who eat dark chocolate within two 24-hour periods had a 70% lower odds of having clinically relevant depressive symptoms.

Moreover, 25% of chocolate consumers who ate most of the chocolate – not necessarily dark chocolate – were also less likely to report depressive symptoms compared to those who hate no chocolate at all.

So, what is in the dark chocolate that makes it beneficial?

Chocolate contains mood-enhancing properties. It contains several psychoactive ingredients that produce a feeling of euphoria, which is similar to that given by cannabinoids found in cannabis. Nonetheless, it contains phenylethylamine, a neuromodulator, which is believed to be essential in regulating people’s moods.

Furthermore, dark chocolate contains high levels of flavonoids. These are antioxidant chemicals which improve inflammatory profiles and in turn play a role in the onset of depression. Researchers suggest that mood improvements only take place if the dark chocolate is palatable and pleasant to eat. Therefore, that means the experience of enjoying chocolate is an essential factor, not just the ingredients present in the chocolate.

Final Thoughts

Well, there you have it. There is a link between dark chocolate and depression. However, we will not fully back up this because some researchers stress the need for carrying out further research that will clarify the direction of causation. Here, causation maybe could be the case the depression makes one have an interest in eating chocolate, while others are less likely to eat the dark chocolate. While there are many muddled collection of findings and as we await further research, moderation in eating dark chocolate is the wisest path to tread.