Is Chocolate Addictive?

Q.  I read somewhere recently that chocolate has been found to have an "addictive" affect similar to alcohol. Interesting, seeing my family has claimed an addiction to chocolate for years. The males are often addicted to alcohol, it seems to bypass the females...except for this chocolate thing. Diabetes is also onset. Is this chocolate "addiction" concept accurate? Are there types of chocoholics which parallel Jellinek's theory of 4 (?)  major types of drinkers? Lots of weird information out there...I want to verify with the experts.

A. Chocolate contains theobromine, caffeine, phenylethylamine and anandamide, chemicals that are known to effect the brain. Theobromine and caffeine are known to be stimulants. Their effectiveness as a stimulant depends on the amount consumed. It turns out that the amount of caffeine in a chocolate bar is about one-third the amount in a cup of coffee. Consequently, it might be thought of as a mild stimulant.  The phenylethylamine combines with dopamine in the brain to produce a mild antidepressant effect.

There is little reason to believe that the cannabinoids in chocolate are to blame for chocolate cravings.  Researchers have calculated that you would have to eat 27 pounds of chocolate at once to get a psychoactive effect from them.

Read the following article on the subject:

"Prescription-Strength Chocolate" by Science News Online

The anandamide also affects brain chemistry to produce feelings of calm and well being. The effect is quite small but noticeable.

The combination of sugar (carbohydrate) and saturated fat in chocolate also produce neurotransmitters called serotonin that act as an opiate or sedative in the brain.  Kind of like antidepressants. Small amounts of chocolate will produce serotonin however binging on chocolate can cause the serotonin to rise to almost a sedative effect and then crash.  This type of effect might cause an addictive response for more chocolate in pursuit of elevating the serotonin.

It would make sense to say that if you eat large frequent amounts of chocolate that it could possibly become addictive. The effects of the addiction we know would be obesity and weight gain for many people due the dense caloric content of chocolate confections.

There is still controversy about the extent to which chocolate is addictive or harmful. It would also be reasonable to say more women are attached to chocolate than men. Chocolate has been touted as the perfect food for women suffering from PMS. Women eat chocolate to elevate blood sugar, and increase serotonin 7-14 days before a period when hormonal changes cause blood glucose and serotonin to be lower than normal.

I do not know anything about different types of chocoholics.  We all however have slightly different blood chemistry.  For example, if some of us are more sensitive to sugar, have hypoglycemia, or are allergic or sensitive to milk products or to other foods, and some of us are not, then you could ask yourself the question "Could it be possible that some of us are more addicted to chocolate?"

If type II diabetes runs in your family it would be prudent to take preventative measures such exercising frequently, keeping your body fat and body weight at a healthy level for you (BMI <25), and try to moderate your sugar intake.  I hope I addressed the questions you had.  If I can be of further assistance please let me know.

I hope this helped.  Please contact me for further information or if you have another question!