Say What?

The Born Loser
 
How do you feel about chocolate? I’m not a fan but I know a lot of people who are.

Many people use chocolate to lift their spirits, but according to a recent article about chocolate and depression this hasn’t been scientifically proven yet. That came as a surprise to me, I had assumed that was true. I’m also surprised by another statement in the article….research has shown that people who eat at least one chocolate bar a week are more apt to be depressed than people who eat chocolate less often.

 
Do you believe this? If so do you think they’re eating chocolate to self-medicate? Or maybe chocolate gives temporary relief with rebound effects. I still remember my husband getting a headache every afternoon and for some reason a Sunkist orange soda relieved it. This went on for month and months until we read an article that Sunkist had caffeine in it. Ah! Who would have guessed? So once he stopped the soda the caffeine headaches went away after a few days.

Anyway, what do you think about chocolate? Scientists have decided more research needs to be done. I personally think it’s a fun topic.

Thanks to Mike, gaelikaa, Ursula and Rummuser for commenting on last week’s post.
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21 Responses to Say What?

  1. Mike says:

    Generally, I “research” chocolate a little bit every day.
    .-= Mike´s last blog ..A stunning, artistic video of Eyjafjallajökull volcano =-.

  2. bikehikebabe says:

    Milk chocolate is bad for you. 72% cocoa-chocolate is good for you.

    I dislike milk chocolate, like Hersey bars—too sweet.
    I ADORE the 72% chocolate. Ummmmmm I do a lot of “research” on that. It must have a lot of caffeine, because if I eat it late in the day, I don’t sleep.

  3. Evan says:

    I prefer the higher proportion chocolate too.

    My guess is that chocolate is often a comfort food – hence the link to depression.

    My weakness is caramel. (A sugar junkie I)

  4. Jean says:

    Mike and bikehikebabe,
    Do you eat at least one bar a week? Do you think it elevates your mood…in addition to tasting good?

    Your talk of “research” reminds me of Sandra Boyton’s Chocolate the Consuming Passion. It’s a cute book and, according to Boyton, an over-researched one.

    Evan,
    It would be interesting to see if chocolate behaved differently from other comfort foods. I’ve heard talk of kids getting sugar highs.

  5. bikehikebabe says:

    I eat 2 squares a day,from a big bar that has about 20 squares of very dark, semi bitter chocolate. It’s highly recommended. Watch Dr. Oz on TV. It elevated my mood. I’m not depressed in any case.

  6. Kelly says:

    I think the the correlation with chocolate and depression is that the more health conscious people won’t eat a chocolate bar weekly. But people who don’t take as good care of themselves are more likely to eat chocolate on a weekly basis.

    I think it is just a correlation not a cause and effect relationship.
    .-= Kelly @ Impowerage´s last blog ..Why You Should Monitor Your Heart Rate During Exercise =-.

  7. Mike says:

    Actually, I just have my chocolate in a mix of M&Ms, various nuts, and raisins. I usually have a cup of this mix every day, sometimes two.
    .-= Mike´s last blog ..A stunning, artistic video of Eyjafjallajökull volcano =-.

  8. bikehikebabe says:

    Won’t speak for M&Ms , but your taste in videos (Eyjafjallajokull volcano) is excellent

  9. Mike says:

    bikehikebabe – Thanks.

    My wife sometimes has a “secret” stash of dark chocolate that I’ll “sneak” some from.
    .-= Mike´s last blog ..A stunning, artistic video of Eyjafjallajökull volcano =-.

  10. Jean says:

    bikehikebabe,
    That means you eat less than a bar a week, so according to the theory that wouldn’t be correlated with depression. I agree that you’re not depressed. 🙂

    Mike,
    Thanks to you I knew about the volcano before it hit the news. What great videos you told us about.

  11. bikehikebabe says:

    These dark choc. bars are from Trader Joe’s, called Pound +. They are 500 gm. which is a little over a pound. I could easily eat the whole thing in a week, but try to make it last 2 weeks.

  12. Cathy in NZ says:

    http://leftofzen.com/brain-food/2008/01/04/
    according to this website, chocolate is one of the necessarities for brain-fuel…not a lot though 🙂 moderation.

    there are oodles of websites toting whether it’s good for you, which types and so on.

    next week though the media/researcher will have discovered something else that is ‘bad’ for you…

    if we really worried about the millions of things we can’t do, shouldn’t do…we would have completely wiped out this human race 🙂

    yes I like dark chocolate but I am also fond of white chocolate!
    .-= Cathy in NZ´s last blog ..surprises! =-.

  13. Rummuser says:

    I love to eat chocolates but not as a regular habitual thing. Ranjan has a way of sensing that a bar of chocolate is what his old man needs and provides it. Call it intuition or whatever, it does change my mood!
    .-= Rummuser´s last blog ..Modern Myths. =-.

  14. Jean says:

    bikehikebabe,
    You raise an interesting point. We buy Milka white chocolate bars for Andy and they’re 100 grams each, which seems to be a “normal” size. From what you say you would be eating about a half of one of our sized-bars. That’s the amount Andy eats when he has it. The researchers didn’t say how big a “bar” of chocolate was.

    Cathy,
    Yes! White chocolate. 🙂 I’m sure few health people would say it’s good for us, except for the fact that pleasure is good for our immune systems.

    Rummuser,
    When my mother was in a harried or sad mood I would give her a banana and suggest she take a nap. It helped. I’m guessing it wasn’t the particular suggestion, just the fact that someone really cared about her. I’m thinking Ranjan’s love helps you as much as the chocolate.

  15. bikehikebabe says:

    When I was a child my mother had cocoa-butter sticks to rub on our elbows for softening them. I ate those. yum yum! They were the same as white chocolate without the sugar.

  16. Jean says:

    Kelly,
    bikehikebabe is health-conscious and eats the equivalent of more than one bar a week. As she points out it’s very dark chocolate, which has some health benefits.

    I agree that study wasn’t detailed enough. It didn’t talk about the size of the bar, what kind of chocolate was eaten, the health habits of the people studied, etc. One of our favorite sayings is, “Correlation is not causation.”

    bikehikebabe,
    I just had a piece of white chocolate and tried to imagine it without sugar. Mostly I don’t like fatty food so my guess is I would pass on your cocoa butter. My sister loved pure butter when she was little so she probably would have agreed with you. 🙂

  17. Evan says:

    White chocolate contains no caffeine. In my opinion is not worthy of the name.

  18. Jean says:

    Evan,
    Yes, white chocolate has all of the disadvantages of chocolate (fat and usually sugar) without the caffeine and health benefits. I agree with people who say it doesn’t deserve the name chocolate. Maybe they should call it Cocoa Butter Bar.

    My husband wouldn’t miss the name chocolate…chocolate is much too strong for him. I don’t eat either very much.

  19. Kelly says:

    Like Cathy said there are always new studies coming out contradicting each other. Studies can find correlations between a lot of things but that doesn’t mean that one or the other causes it.

    I try not to focus on what specifically to eat or not to eat and just try for a balanced diet with lots of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

  20. gaelikaa says:

    I adore chocolate and it can lift me out of a bad mood like magic. The only other thing that does that for me is music. But since I became a mother, I give whatever chocolate I get to my children.

    Irish chocolate is my favourite. In India, the chocolate isn’t as lavish as what I was accustomed to in my native place. It’s a bit on the thin side.

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