Friday 30 April 2010

Depressing new scientific study: chocolate lovers are more depressive

I always believed that chocolate lifted your mood. All the serotonin and what not. But according to a new scientific study reported on BBC News, people who regularly eat chocolate are more depressive. People who eat at least a bar every week are more glum than those who only eat chocolate every now and again and there isn't much scientific evidence for the theory that chocolate lifts mood.
Hmmmm, what does this mean for someone who eats chocolate every day?
Dr Natalie Rose, from the University of California, led the study and admits that this is rather a chicken and egg situation. They cannot tell if chocolate is the cause of depression or if people who are depressive tend to eat more chocolate believing this will cheer them up.
I've never been on anti-depressants or anything like that but I have long been a believer in the effect of healthy eating and mood elevation, so I have decided to conduct a little experiment.
As of tomorrow, I will not be eating chocolate for the entire month of May. It's a little experiment to see if not eating chocolate has any effect of my mood whatsoever, if it makes me feel better or turns me into a grumpy lady desperate for serotonin. Also it will be interesting to see when I crave chocolate the most, if I'm feeling sad, or grumpy or stressed, or just a bit hungry.
Of course I am aware that my experiment is totally useless in the scientific field. You may need to stay away from chocolate a lot longer than a month to see the true effects, it may not be the chocolate itself causing the depression but perhaps, if you believe in the theory of GI, the sugar the chocolate contains (N.B. I will probably still eat cake, I have a lot of birthdays in May) causing glucose highs and crashes. Or perhaps depressive people just tend to have a sweet tooth, the two are not linked and it's a random coincidence. Also, I'm just one person and in the grand scheme of things, my experiences don't amount to much in the way of evidence.
Ah, the perils of science.
All this aside, I am intrigued to see what effect it will have on me if I kick my bar a day habit. I imagine I will find this pretty tough. To be honest, the most likely outcome is that chocolate will be replaced with some other sugary confection... then again, I should have more faith in myself. Maybe I will feel happier at the end of it. Perhaps I won't miss chocolate at all. Maybe I'll get that washboard stomach I've been dreaming of forever!

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