Chocolate and Anxiety: Can Chocolate Help Alleviate Anxiety?

Surely you have read many times that chocolates are beneficial for health. Chocolates help in anti-aging, are aphrodisiacs and relieve stress. Chocolates have a certain kind of effect on the way of people.

Most people also experience a strong desire for chocolates at times. Although this is sinful, it is an integral part of life.

However, there are many people who do not know that stress and anxiety can be relieved by eating or drinking chocolate. Chocolate has beneficial levels of magnesium. It’s easy to find around 50 mg of magnesium in a 50 gram chocolate bar.

This explains the debatable sedative effect of chocolate on stressed people. The magnesium in chocolate makes it easy to restore the overall balance of the body’s magnesium balance.

When experiencing stress, the body tends to deplete its supply of magnesium. This results in an imbalance of the body’s biochemistry. Chocolate also has a direct stress-reducing effect on the body. It consists of a compound known as anandamide. This compound is also known as the ‘happiness chemical’.

It works to bind to some specific receptors within the brain to promote relaxation. Chocolate also contains certain enzyme inhibitors that reduce the body’s ability to metabolize anandamide. This prolongs the “high” experienced by the individual.

Chocolates are nice foods. Phenylethylamine is another mood-altering compound found in chocolate. This chemical is released by the brain when one is in love. Most researchers believe this is a mood-altering factor. The phenylethylamine level was found only in sausage and cheese.

Chocolates have a high fat content. This triggers the natural production of opioids in the brain. A regular chocolate consumer tends to feel a calming effect on sensory pleasures such as smell, taste, and mouthfeel.

Here are some other benefits of eating chocolate:

a) Chocolate brings happy memories to people.

b) Most people tend to associate happy memories with chocolate, Valentine’s Day or childhood.

c) Some people believe that chocolate gives you an emotional high.

d) Relax the body.

e) High carb chocolate tends to increase endorphins and serotonin. These affect sleep patterns.

Dark chocolate is healthy for the heart. These are rich in antioxidants. Stearic acid helps prevent cholesterol buildup in the circulatory system. Reduces the symptoms of high blood pressure.

Eating chocolate gives a lot of health benefits to the person. Chocolate has a direct stress-reducing effect on the body. It consists of a compound known as anandamide or the ‘happy chemical’. These bind to some specific receptors within the brain and promote relaxation.

This is quite similar to the effect produced by the components of marijuana. The effect may not be as high as taking marijuana. Chocolate also contains enzyme inhibitors that tend to decrease the body’s ability to metabolize anandamide. This tends to prolong the ‘high’.

With so many benefits of eating chocolates, especially when it comes to lowering your body’s stress levels, you should be especially careful about adding chocolate to your diet.