Have you ever wondered why you crave Dairy Milk bars so often? Why you are so thrilled by the prospect of Nutella and brownies? Why a particular man called Jean-Luc Decluzeau sculpted a cottage made entirely of chocolate? Here’s why.
Chocolate contains many chemicals. Each reacts with the receptors in our brains differently. They influence the production of chemical messengers (called neurotransmitters & hormones) which are associated with happiness and pleasure.
In layman’s terms, ‘Dopamine’, or the 'Happy Hormone', is a neurotransmitter associated with the brain’s reward system (called the Mesolimbic Dopamine System). Sugar and dopamine are closely linked. Sugar stimulates our brains to produce vast amounts of dopamine which activate the brain’s pleasure centers.
Similarly, when we eat chocolate, the brain releases ‘Oxytocin’ and ‘Phenylethylamine’ (PEA), the very hormones produced when a person falls in love. Phenylethylamine promotes feelings of attraction & excitement, stimulates the brain’s pleasure centers, and is believed to influence dopamine production as well.
The most interesting of all, Anandamide. It is a stimulant belonging to the THC family (the active ingredient in Marijuana). However, don’t be alarmed, chocolate contains it in extremely small quantities! Anandamide binds to certain receptors of our brain, thus producing feelings of happiness and calmness.
There are multiple other compounds in chocolate. Tryptophan is a chemical used by the brain to make serotonin. Which in turn is a neurotransmitter linked with happiness. Anxious and depressed people tend to have less serotonin. This chemical improves our mood, satisfaction, and overall well-being. Theobromine simulates a small ‘high’ which relaxes and relieves stress, whereas Caffeine provides an energy boost as well as freshness.
The effects of sugar and highly addictive drugs on the brain are quite similar. Both affect the hormones in our body, causing pleasure and satisfaction. This explains why we crave them so much!
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