Chocolate Cravers Unite - It's A Brain Thing!
Photo Credit: Stu Spivack
I knew there had to be a perfectly logical explanation as to why some people just don't crave chocolate like I do. Now this new research sheds some light on it. All brains are not created equal.
One word of advice to fellow chocolate cravers. If you want to have your daily chocolate dose and want to try to get some of those valuable antioxidant flavanols found in cocoa and dark chocolate plus some nutrient-rich nuts, you do have options:
- Hershey's Dark Chocolate Nuggets with Almonds (just enjoy a couple of these)
- M&M Dark Chocolate Peanuts (just enjoy an ounce of these)
[This research study by E.T. Rolls, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, United Kingdom is currently submitted for publication, but was discussed in a recent article in Obesity Reviews 2007 8 Suppl. 1, pages 67-72, Rolls E.T. "Understanding the mechanisms of food intake and obesity."]
Related Topics: Technorati Tags: chocolate, craving, healthy diet
22 Comments:
That is so crazy! I am studying to become a nurse and thought that all brains were the same. I am also a chocolate fanatic. The craving is highly intense during the menstural period of the month. Do you happen to know why?
I am in menopause. I crave chocolate during the evening hours. Having Fybromyalgia and menopause are two good excuses to indulge. The thing is I can't control the quantity. I know that it is not good for the waist but it is certainly good for My brain!.
I also crave a bite of dark chocolate during the evening hours. It doesn't take much of a bite to sense a kind of homeostasis. Light chocolate does not do the trick and often causes a bit of coughing.
maybe I missed something. I didn' see any information about the effects on the brain.
that was the absolute worst comment i have ever read... i think a third grader could have written something better
sorry i didn't mean to say comment, i meant to say "article"
If you like chocolate, I just read a healthy chocolate recipe you might like:
http://buzz.prevention.com/chocolate-pudding-with-bananas-and-graham-crackers/
Enjoy!
I used to crave chocolate...then I started taking magnesium to level out my blood sugar & the chocolate cravings went away. I actually pass chocolate up now on a regular basis. It's crazy. Once of the reasons people crave chocolate is that it is high in magnesium.
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I crave dark chocolate from the time I get up in the morning until the time I go back to bed. I can't seem to stop eating it. It IS the first thing I eat in the morning. Worse than cigarettes! I take extra magnesium (to the person who posted that) I keep a jar of Ghiarardelli's double chocolate chocolate chips next to my computer and grab them as I type. I have Hershey's with almonds, Dove nuggets, Hershey's extra dark squares (many varieties), any dark chocolate that is on sale, and for my very very special occasions I have Les Truffes originals from Wild Oats that absolutely melt dark chocolate IN your mouth. I also have many varieties of dark chocolate cookies. I have an entire shelf in my refrigerator dedicated to dark chocolate (and always have). I wish someone would post something that could help me stop eating so much of it. Instead I find the articles that tell me dark chocolate is much better for me than milk chocolate (which I don't even like) and I console myself with that info. For some of us this IS a huge problem. I often wonder if some brains are just truly *wired* to be addicted to most anything.
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i have a very strong craving for chocolate. there are not many days that i don't eat chocolate in some form. my major weakness is reese cups!
I finally got it Joan. Those www's made the difference! LOL
*Xocai products are produced with the Acai berry and blueberries*
I have head about Acai as I have a friend who sells MonaVie. I also know that blueberries are one of the best things we can eat (antioxidants). I have Hepatitis C and I pay a lot of attention to what I eat (except for dark chocolate! LOL) I am, however, on disability and all of these MLM things are WAY out of my price range. Thank you though for posting it. I didn't know that Acai came in other forms. They all seem to be in the same price range though. Oh well. I did see that Oprah said good things about it. Maybe Oprah will buy me a year's worth ROFLOL
Why are the comments all disappearing about as fast as they are posted? What kind of site does that? Either you want comments or you don't. GEEZ!
Thank you all for leaving comments. However, as our terms of service state, we do remove comments which advertise products or services.
Thank you for your understanding.
Thank you for the clarification. I am glad, however, that I was still looking at the page as the other comments were posted because I had never heard of Xocai. Perhaps Joan will just remember to talk about it in the future and not post a link to her specific page. I have read a lot about Acai berries and know, of course, about the antioxidant properties of blueberries (well really most any berry) but didn't know that might help chocolate cravings. Actually I found blueberries wrapped in DARK CHOCOLATE so that made me feel really good about eating them! ROFLOL I am a chocolate ADDICT and probably do need something like Chocolate's Anonymous! LOL
I'm a wellness counselor and use iridology and
sclerology as analytical tools--I've found that people who eat chocolate regularly, often have red lines in the kidney areas.
These red markings are most noticeable in the sclerae (whites of the eyes), beneath the irises, and to the inside of 6 o'clock i.e. towards the nose. Often the lines are forked or complex, rather than simple straight lines--indicating that more dis-ease is present.
When I question these people about symptoms, many report urinary bladder problems or back pain--usually low back pain or pain in the kidney area. Many report that these symptoms go away when they kick the chocolate habit.
Chocolate contains oxalic acid and excito-toxins which no one is talking about. Oxalic acid can prevent mineral absorption--especially calcium-- and can cause kidney and bladder stones in susceptible people. Excito-toxins affect the brain and nervous system.
Low on Magnesium? I used to crave chocolate all the time but when I started taking magnesium supplements it went away. I only occasionally crave chocolate when I have PMS too. Magnesium helps to control my migraines and makes me sleep better at night. A good book is The Miracle of Magnesium by Carolyn Dean who is a medical doctor. I reserved it from the library and read it several years ago so I am not sure when it was published. You could also try doing a search on magnesium.
Some years ago there was an article in the paper about the death of a French woman at age 126 I think. She was the oldest woman to ever live. The article said that she climbed down 15 flights of stairs every day to buy a pound of chocolates, then back up the stairs. Can you imagine eating a pound of chocolate every day and living to 126? Her name was Jeanne. I may be off a year or two on the age and the stairs.
Char
I have been on Zoloft for 9 months and I crave chocolate alot. I have read that this is common. Anybody else out there experiencing the same thing?
Looks like chocolate is a popular topic in the blogosphere!
I did want to respond to a couple of the anonymous posts however:
* "maybe I missed something. I didn' see any information about the effects on the brain."
Response: The study I was mentioning wasn't about an effect in the brain per se--it was about how some people's brains (certain parts) show responses (activity) to chocolate (chocolate cravers) compared to non chocolate cravers.
* "that was the absolute worst article i have ever read... i think a third grader could have written something better"
Response: Wow...why do you have to be so mean? This wasn't an article, this was a BLOG. It wasn't meant to be an in depth analysis of chocolate craving. I was simply mentioning what some British researchers found in a recent study. Thought it might interest some of my blog readers--and apparently I was right.
Thanks goodness there are kind blog readers out there who appreciate the time and effort I put into my blogs and my articles for WebMD.
--Elaine Magee
I have no addictions except CHOCOLATE...I eat it every day...and in large quanity. I can go through over 3 pounds of M&M peanuts in 2 days and Mint Choc-Chip ice cream (lg. container) in one sitting. I wish I could stop...the longest I've been able to go without it has been 3 weeks on a diet. It's only gotten worse as I get older.
Sharon R.N.
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