Chocolate—the secret of happiness for many across the world—is a booming industry worth an estimated USD 50 billion a year; however, the so loved treat worldwide has very humble beginnings.
The cocoa bean begins life inside a fruit called a pod on a tree in the tropics; primarily in remote areas of West Africa, Southeast Asia, as well as Central and South America. These delicate, flower-covered trees need much tending; when farmed using sustainable methods, they grow in harmony in tropical forests beneath other cash crops such as bananas, rubber, or hardwood trees. Grown on small family farms, the beans are moved from farms by hand, in carts, on donkeys, or by rugged trucks to be sold to a local buyer and then to processors abroad.
Chocolate, indeed, contains several compounds that have been shown to act on the brain in myriad ways, most inducing pleasure. There is also a widely held belief that chocolate can produce a euphoric feeling akin to a runner’s high. Our understanding of euphoria-producing compounds, put together with the modern concept of addiction, has even led some to believe that one can be a chocolate addict.
Chocolate Chemistry
There is actually more than one compound in chocolate that could potentially make a person high. For starters, the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world is found in chocolate; 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine is the basic component of caffeine and is a naturally occurring chemical. This compound produces a stimulating physiological effect by exciting the central nervous system, which, in turn, increases heart rate and contracts muscles; it is a lot like the fight-or-flight response. Caffeine acts on dopamine and adenosine receptors in the brain, which then release their respective pleasure-producing chemicals.
Moreover, chocolate contains fatty acids known as “cannabinoids” that hit two types of brain receptors, “CB1” and “CB2”, found most predominantly in the frontal cortex and in parts responsible for motor function and memory. When cannabinoids hit these receptors, a person starts to feel intoxicated and relaxed as a result.
Chocolate also packs another surprise; phenylethylamine, often called the “love drug”, releases the same chemicals that are introduced into the human body when love comes to call. The compound produces a similar effect to the one produced by amphetamines(1), and is classified as a hallucinogen—a group of chemicals that are hallucination related. It also facilitates releasing the pleasure-producing chemicals dopamine and serotonin; the combination produces an exciting high.
With all of these wonderful chemical compounds triggering a flood of endorphins and other pleasure-inducing hormones, one cannot help but wonder why people are not in the streets looking for a chocolate fix, which raises the question: Can chocolate actually get you high?
Chocolate on the Brain
Truth be told, chocolate has all the ingredients needed to make it a wonder drug; by all rights, eating a bar of chocolate should send you into orbit. So, why is not chocolate regulated by law or classified as illegal substance? Why are chocolate bars not sold from locked cabinets behind the pharmacy counter? The truth is, while there are indeed pleasure-inducing and stimulating chemical compounds in chocolate, the amounts of most of these compounds are relatively small.
As a result of energy drinks, coffee, cigarettes, and yes, chocolate, humans consume these days, our brains have become quite accustomed to the effects of drugs that release pleasure-inducing chemicals. Compounds that act on receptors in the brain that release pleasure-generating neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, work in two ways. They either bind to the receptor, causing it to release the neurotransmitters, or they bind to the site to prevent the re-absorption of those neurotransmitters. Either way, there is a lot more of the chemical floating around in your bloodstream.
This process is how chocolate—or any other substance for that matter—gets its eater high; it is also why chocolate does not have much of an effect on us. As the brain is exposed over and over to a barrage of compounds, the number of receptors available to bind these compounds actually decreases and the ones that remain are less easily triggered.
The reason for this reaction to drugs is the body’s natural state of seeking equilibrium—a balance between all of the processes and chemicals found in the body at any one time. In other words, there is supposed to be so much dopamine or other pleasure-producing chemicals in the body; when hormones are released artificially by the compounds found in chocolate or any other drug, the body seeks balance by shutting down the receptors that release the hormones. As a result, we become desensitized to the effects of these compounds over time.
Considering the worldwide fervor for chocolate and the cravings for it that many people experience, it clearly has an effect on some people. Perhaps, one should live a relatively clean life to gain all the benefits that chocolate can bestow.
Chocolate and Emotions
Even though the compounds found in chocolate may be too minute for some of us to get a chocolate happy high, the beloved food can still affect our happiness. Psychologically speaking, happiness is the goal of our own self-interests; the category of self-interest that encompasses our pursuit of happiness—hedonism(1)—definitely includes eating chocolate. When we eat chocolate, we gain feelings of pleasure, comfort, and gratification from it; the act of eating chocolate is, thus, hedonistic, because when we eat it, we are seeking pleasure and alleviating pain, which are the hallmarks of hedonism.
Based on the aforesaid, measuring the exact effect of chocolate on our happiness can be difficult; most people, however, believe that such an effect exists. In fact, happiness pills that resemble pharmaceuticals made from chocolate are available for sale. Moreover, one Canadian study examining the link between chocolate and happiness ended with no conclusive results, because the control group that received no chocolate ended up raiding where the chocolate used in the study was stored.
While scientists are yet to discover what causes the relationship between chocolate and happiness, studies have managed to turn up correlations. A 2007-study surveyed 1,367 respondents—all men in their 70s with similar socioeconomic backgrounds—and asked questions about their health, satisfaction in life, and emotions like happiness and loneliness. They also snuck in a question that asked what kind of candy they preferred. Those who preferred chocolate showed lower frequencies of depression and loneliness, and had a more optimistic outlook on life.
Chocolate and Health
Chocolate has also been proven good for the general health and well-being. Research has confirmed that chocolate is a good source of the kind of antioxidants found in tea; however, the antioxidant content of chocolate is four times that of tea. Moreover, the fat in chocolate can help your immune system and outwit cytokines by reducing your susceptibility to infections and inflammation.
Chocolate is also rich in phenolics—heart protective antioxidants—which help lower the risk of heart disease and prevent clot-like substances from clogging arteries. Stearic acid—a saturated fat found in red meat and chocolate—does not raise cholesterol levels compared to other saturated fats. Cells treated with stearic acid, which are normally found in beef and chocolate, appear to cut the liver’s output of fat and work to help pull “bad” cholesterol out of the blood.
Dark chocolate has been identified to have high Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC); there is a high correlation between high antioxidant capacity and the free-radical theory of aging, meaning foods high in ORAC help combat the effects of aging due to free-radicals. In every 100 grams of dark chocolate there are 13,120 ORAC, compared to 5938 in one cup of strawberries, or 13,427 in a cup of blueberries.
One of the most remarkable things said about chocolate was on Valentine’s Day of 2008, when the British chef and author Nigella Lawson appeared on the National Public Radio show “All Things Considered” to discuss chocolate. During the interview, Lawson gave several reasons why she believed chocolate is so thoroughly intertwined with Valentine’s Day: “It gives people a feeling that is meant to be comparable to the feeling you get when you fall in love”, she said. “It is like giddiness, feeling of excitement, feeling of attraction. So, in other words, perhaps without knowing it, we are giving people a love drug”.
Glossary
- Amphetamines: A potent central nervous system stimulant of the phenethylamine class that is used in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy.
- Hedonism: a school of thought that argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure (pleasure minus pain).
References
science.howstuffworks.com
www.thestoryofchocolate.com
www.facts-about-chocolate.com
Cover image by Freepik