3 Reasons You Should Love Chocolate

               

                                  3 reasons you should love chocolate.

I have always wondered why people love chocolate so much that while thinking of things to put in a gift basket for a friend, chocolate comes to mind. Whenever a friend or a sibling travels abroad,we demand they get us chocolates on returning and there’s this happiness people express when eating on chocolate bars. So,does chocolate make a person happy I asked? I decided to do some research.

Intrigued,I turned to the internet and searched painstakingly on “Chocolates”. What I discovered left me flabbergasted, as I discovered that over 300 chemicals that compose chocolate have numerous and varied effects on our bodies through the nervous system. Chocolate can affect the brain by causing the release of certain neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are the molecules that transmit signals between neurons. The amounts of particular neurotransmitters we have at any given time can have a great impact on our mood. The proper neurotansmitters can trigger certain emotions. Continue..


  The research and my discoveries has lead me to deduce reasons why you should eat (love) chocolate. So without further ado,here are the 3 reasons you should love chocolate.

#1: Chocolate makes you happy(mood-enhancer).

Chocolate has a long history associated with feelings of well being. It seems to be true that eating chocolate can increase feelings of euphoria as well as decrease stress and pain. There are many people out there (Chocoholics) who consider themselves to be addicted to chocolate,partly because of it’s mood-enhancing qualities. Lipid ANANDAMIDE is a compound found in chocolate and has a resemblance to THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), found in Marijuana. Anandamide and THC cause the production of dopamine which is a neurotransmitter that leads to feelings of well being that people associate with a ‘high’. The feelings of elation created by anandamide in chocolate is not the same as the THC in marijuana.It would take twenty-five pounds of chocolate to achieve a similar ‘high’ to that of marijuana. So,HAPPINESS ALSO COMES WITH EATING A CHOCOLATE BAR.

#2: It is an aphrodisiac

Chocolate has been known as an aphrodisiac for long. Most men buy chocolate for their spouses,some guys give it to their girlfriends on visit. But I know they don’t really know why or the effect. Probably they think it’s the taste of the chocolate that has got the girls coming back for more ‘loving’ (lol)
A unique neurotransmitter released by chocolate is PHENYLETHYLAMINE. This is also called the “love drug” because it causes your pulse rate to quicken resulting in a similar feeling to when someone is in love. Phenylethylamine works like amphetamines to increase mood and decrease depression.
With this in mind,you now know that charming a girl is rather easier than you thought. *winks*

#3: It gives Mental alertness

Students do all sort of things to study during exams probably so they can understand better, even scholars who ordinarily would get bored reading literally books or novels go to smoke or stuffs like that. I would wonder also why my momma always asked me to take beverages whenever I’ve read for long periods. Now,I know!
Theobromine, another chemical found in chocolate can affect the nervous system leading to mental and physical relaxation. It also acts as stimulant similar to caffeine. Taking chocolate before an academic exercise or any other mental work would lead to feelings of excitement and alertness and theobromine is solely responsible for the caffeine-like effects. It is important to remember that not all chocolate is created equal. It seems that in diluted chocolate,the effect would be minimal.


The names associated with chocolate imply it’s power. Anandamide is derived from the word ‘Ananda’ which is sanskrit for bliss and Theobromine can be traced back to the greek word ‘theobroma’ meaning “Food of the gods”. I do however instinctively find myself reaching over to the chocolate stash whenever I start feeling a little depressed or overwhelmed and it always seems to make me feel better.