Chocolate may make your depression worse!by Beth McHugh | More from this Blogger 05 May 2006 04:54 PM
Recent studies have indicated that, while chocolate still maintains its known "feel-good" effect on people who are simply having a bad day, for those who are severely stressed or clinically depressed, the effect may be to make the depression and stress worse. These disconcerting results go against all that we have believed about chocolate. Chocolate has long been regarded as a pleasant diversion, if not quite a magic bullet, for feeling low. And, for most people, this is still the case. But research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders sheds new light on why we eat chocolate and the effect it has on us. Researchers at Australia's Black Dog Institute at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney have divided loyal chocolate fans into two groups based on the reason why they consume this popular confectionary. The first group was found to crave chocolate and view it as an indulgence, while the second group have an emotional component to their consumption and eat chocolate in a bid to alter mood. The first group, the chocolate cravers, was found to react well to the dopamine- releasing effects of the chocolate, making eating chocolate a pleasurable experience. However, the second group, the emotional eaters, was found to be eating chocolate to obtain an opioid-like effect on the brain, in an attempt to alleviate depression. While there is a temporary relief in depression for the second group of chocoholics, the net result was a worsening of the original depression. While consuming certain foods does have a known mood-stabilizing effect on the brain, foods high in sugar, such as chocolate, appear to have a rebound effect, and may well deepen depression over time in susceptible people. The final message: moderation in all things, including chocolate! Learn more about Beth McHugh  Beth McHugh began her career as a geologist and worked both in industry and as a university researcher. Relevantmental health tags family | Kids | sex | relationships | pregnancy | christmas | Scrapbooking | parenting | marriage | children User Comments  Lisa P (24013) 06 May 2006 01:21 AMAh-hah! "Foods high in sugar" but semisweet and dark chocolate are not as high in sugar as the average, everyday milk chocolate. So the rebound effect is due to the sugar - not the chocolate. Don't take away my chocolate, Beth!  Nicole Humphrey (15757) 06 May 2006 06:53 AMWhat?!?!?! LOL I guess I'd live with the depression because I'm not living WITHOUT the chocolate. But Lisa is right! Dark Chocolate is OK and is known to have a lot of great things about it. I don't much care for milk chocolate anyway ;) Thanks for the info Beth! Edward Etter (13) 18 Mar 2007 10:03 PMGasp! Chocolate might be *bad* for my mood?! I agree with both Ms. Pietsch and Ms. Humphrey; "darker" chocolate is better for you and (hopefully!) less likely to be responsible for making depression worse. Like Ms. Humphrey said, [if this report is accurate,] "I'd have to live with depression because I'm not living WITHOUT the chocolate." That also seems akin to what Ms. McHugh said in her original message: "If this latest research is true we'll be sobbing all the way to the chocolate counter"! And I couldn't agree more. In any case, Ms. McHugh, thank you for sharing this genuinely important (if potentially painful) information. At the very least, we will know to be on our guard against the potential "rebound effect" and so perhaps can work around it. .o0( I hear exercise is good for fighting depression; maybe the chocolate will make me feel good enough to get outside and at least take a walk! Hey, that'd be good for using up the extra calories at the same time...I may be on to something here! ) ;~D meublog (6) 21 Jun 2007 09:57 PMI agree with this. Always I hear chocolate is good for fighting depression but all the time I had this I felt depression worse... and plus make me gain weight... (Sorry my bad english)  Beth McHugh |
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If ever there was bad news, surely this is it! Chocolate, that famous mainstay of the sad and depressed, has recently come under suspicion for making depression worse. Chocoholics beware! If this latest research is true we'll be sobbing all the way to the chocolate counter.
