Eating chocolate affects our cortisol levels which, in turn, influences our body’s stress response.
Cortisolis the body’s primary stress hormone.
Among its many functions, it prepares your body to respond when faced you’re with a stressful situation.
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Fortunately, chocolate can come in and save the dayand our taste buds!
One study involving dark chocolate and stress looked at 65 healthy men.
Their stress hormones were measured before and after these stressors to see if the chocolate had an effect.
They also released smaller amounts ofepinephrine(adrenaline), another stress hormone.
In simple terms, this means that their body reacted less severely to the stress.
We know it’s a little bitter, but reducing stress might be worth the bitterness.
How Do Other Types of Chocolate Compare?
The study mentioned above suggests that dark chocolate is better than white chocolate forrelieving stress.
But what about other types of chocolate?
Can they also help the body better respond to stress?
According to one study, the answer may be yes.
However, milk chocolate seemed to help.
Researchers also found that the stress-relieving effects of these two chocolates were greater for females than males.
It is also often lower in fat and sugar.
But, How Much Chocolate Can I Eat?
Try a Chocolate Meditation (Yes, That’s a Thing)
Try eating chocolate mindfully.
Don’t do anything else when you’re consuming the chocolate.
Don’t scroll social media and don’t try and talk with your mouth full either!
Instead, really savor the taste of it in your mouth.
Relish the flavor and the texture.
Take stock of what it smells like and immerse yourself in the experience.
This is what some people refer to as a chocolatemeditation.
While you’re examining each aspect of the chocolate-tasting experience, practicedeep breathing exercises.
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Insights from flavonoid targets and their evolutionary history.Biochem Biophys Res Commun.
2014;17(4):512-6. doi:10.1089/jmf.2013.0110
