Some people tend to get judgmental and come out with a statement that regular chocolate eating may become an addiction and you are likely to increase your weight due to that. But a peep into history shows that chocolates were used for their medicinal effects in the olden days. The Mayans and the Aztec people were using chocolate drinks for energy in battle. The Europeans and South Americans, on the other hand, found that chocolates could relieve diarrhea.
But it is not yet conclusively known if chocolates are good for our well-being or not, and researchers are yet to ascertain which substance in chocolates kindle the craving for them. Americans have so much craving for chocolates that an American consumes 12 pounds of chocolates per year.
Enhancing mood
When chocoholics declare that they get energized from eating chocolates and their mood undergoes a positive change due to that, you can find an element of truth in it. The energizing effect and the mood change are the initial effects of the alkaloids called phenethylamine (PEA) and theobromine in chocolates.
In 1982, Michael Liebowitz wrote “The Chemistry of Love” and said that PEA could trigger rapture in a person just like the first flush of being in love. The media latched on to this declaration and immediately gave the name “love chemical” to PEA, coming with the idea that frustration would develop in humans due to lowered PEA levels and it might also lead to sadness.
It has already been medically established that PEA and theobromine do improve heart rates, blood pressure and emotions of humans. Theobromine is present in cocoa beans, what’s at
the core of making chocolate candy, and it has a similar stimulating character to that of caffeine though of lesser impact.
Tryptophan, another substance present in chocolates, helps produce serotonin, fondly termed the happy hormone. Serotonin is pivotal in managing appetites, sleep, moods, anger, sexual desires, and other brain activities like learning and memory. Depression is triggered when serotonin levels dive.
Heart-healthy
Theobromine has also been used to facilitate blood flow in constricted veins, particularly in cardiovascular operations.
Just as flavanoids protect the plants from toxins, chocolate flavanoids are also good anti-oxidants and protect humans from free radicals. Flavanoids enable production of eiconsanoids, the hormone-like compounds that works on the heart. Dark chocolates are particularly excellent anti-oxidant sources as they have high levels of epicatechin, a flavanoids; and working in concert with gallic acid, enhances heart vigor by regulating blood pressure and improving blood circulation.
Hence it is quite evident that eating chocolates in limited quantities regularly offer great help to improve physical and mental health.
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