http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkup/2010/04/chocolate_and_depression_linke.html?wpisrc=nl_health
Chocolate and depression linked, but how? (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) This afternoon, with the publication of this study, we know more about the relationship between chocolate and mood. But not much more. Researchers at the University of California analyzed just over 900 men and women's self-reported chocolate consumption and assessed those people's symptoms of depression (if any) using a standard screening survey. They found that those who ate the most chocolate were also those with the most symptoms of depression. The more chocolate eaten, the worse the depression. That held true for men and women alike. Alas, as is so often the case, the data couldn't demonstrate whether chocolate plays some role in causing depression or whether depression causes increased chocolate consumption. The researchers were able to pinpoint, though, that it's the chocolate itself -- not the fat, carbs or caffeine therein -- that was related to mood. More research is needed, they conclude, to determine which of five potential scenarios best explains the chocolate-depression connection. Those scenarios include everything from the possibility that depressed people self-medicate with chocolate to the notion that both chocolate cravings and depression may be triggered by some underlying physiological factor such as inflammation. I find it amazing that science has not yet pinned this all down yet. It seems obvious to me that we reach for the bag of Hershey's kisses when we feel blue -- but apparently that's not been established after all. I would like to volunteer to take part in the next study -- if it involves lots of chocolate, that is. By Jennifer LaRue Huget | April 26, 2010; 5:08 PM ET Categories: Mental Health , Nutrition and Fitness , Psychology
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