I’ve been having an affair with chocolate practically all my life. What’s not to like about it?
The good thing is that a team of scientists at Cambridge University proved that us, women, actually need chocolate in our lives. How great is that? The researchers made a bunch of brain scans that revealed the simple answer as to why we crave this sweet lava so often. It seems that, the researchers said, “The scientific data suggests that the mood-enhancing effects are not pharmacological – the constituents of chocolate do not appear to affect the brain via a direct biological action.
“An alternative explanation is that the effects of eating chocolate are psychological – the unique combination of aroma, texture and taste makes eating chocolate a pleasurable experience that stimulates the emotional ‘feel-good’ centers of the brain. In short, it tastes good, so we feel good.”
The evidence also shows that eating your favorite sweet can be even more pleasurable than listening to your favorite music, winning the lottery, or falling in love. Which is not surprising at all if you come to think about it.
Unlike boyfriends, chocolate never pisses you off. EVER!
But the reason why women in particular need it is because it can heal possible hormonal imbalances. It seems that chocolate releases endorphins and it helps our body to properly function, even when we’re PMSing. Endorphins are chemicals that make you feel good so that’s why we always feel so much better after indulging ourselves.
Dr. Owen, who works at the university’s Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, said: “Both smelling and eating it activate areas of the brain that are known to be involved in creating feelings of pleasure.It seems it has a unique blend of sensory qualities which make us feel good, activating pleasure centers in the brain.
Chocolate also seems to be good for the heart and circulation. A recent study shows that eating dark chocolate helps restore flexibility to the arteries and also prevents white cells from causing artery clogging. This was found to reduce the risk associated with stroke. The study showed that consuming chocolate caused a staggering 17% drop in the risk of suffering stroke.
Chocolate can help your diet and help you loose wight. You might not believe us but Will Clower, a neuroscientist, says keeping a small pieces of chocolate for twenty minutes before a meal will trigger via hormones a response in the brain that say “I’m full”. Thus, you end up eating less food and keep your silhouette.
