Does Chocolate Addiction Exist?
By Jane Collingwood
Chocolate craving is very common, but can we actually be addicted to it? Can these powerful urges to eat truly be classed as an addiction?
We generally crave foods due to external prompts and our emotional state, rather than actual hunger. We tend to be bored, anxious, or depressed immediately before experiencing cravings, so one way of explaining cravings is self-medication for feeling miserable.
Chocolate is the most frequently craved food in women, and many women describe themselves as ‘chocoholics.’ Chocoholics insist that it is habit-forming, that it produces an instant feeling of well-being, and even that abstinence leads to withdrawal symptoms.
When we eat sweet and high-fat foods, including chocolate, serotonin is released, making us feel happier. This partly explains the cravings common in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and pre-menstrual syndrome......Although there are similarities between eating chocolate and drug use, generally researchers believe that chocolate “addiction” is not a true addiction. While chocolate does contain potentially mood-altering substances, these are all found in higher concentrations in other less appealing foods such as broccoli. A combination of chocolate's sensory characteristics — sweetness, texture and aroma — nutrients, and chemicals, together with hormonal and mood swings, largely explains chocolate cravings.
Chocolate is seen as “naughty but nice” — tasty, but something which should be resisted. This suggests that the desire is more likely a cultural phenomenon than a physical one. The inability to control eating may be a result of inborn traits and today's environment.
Well for me chocolate is an addiction. I can't go a day with out eating it. I suffer withdrawal symptoms: I get angry, annoyed, sad, all shaky and nervous.
If that isn't an addiction, I don't know what is. Here's an example, an average day consists of either a bag of chocolate éclairs, plus a chunky caramel KitKat. Or a variety of chocloate bars plus a KitKat... see the pattern. Its more than addiction for me. I don't eat it out of boredom, or depression or even when its that time of month. Its not a want, its a need. I just eat it. In fact, Im off to the shops for a bar of chocolate.
