Stress-Busting Chocolate
In accordance with dietician Silke Restemeyer, who is working for a Germany-based nutrition association, chocolate can indeed uplift the spirits. She says that chocolates contain plenty of fat and tryptophan. These substances make sure that higher amounts of the neurotransmitter serotonin are created in your brain, thus giving us happy feelings.
Many people link chocolate consumption to positive memories of childhood. The sensation that you get from chocolate as it melts in the mouth gives a warm feeling, which may actually give you temporary distraction from all the apprehensions of daily life.
Nevertheless, this little pleasure typically lasts only for a little while. “After all, you can’t eat that much chocolate for it to have a sustained beneficial effect – and nor should you,” Restemeyer said, pointing out the high calorie and fat content of typical chocolate.
A tiny amount of chocolate every day will help you deal with stressful moments. However you should stay away from other sweet treats or snacks. Snack alternatives like dried fruit or fruit and nut combinations will provide you with sufficient energy that you need to help you keep stress at work or the stress of personal relationships in check.
At certain moments that you need chocolate, keenly observe yourself. When you’re always craving chocolate, you must take particular measures to curb it. Some measures include basic things such as drinking a relaxing cup of warm tea, taking a brief walk, and practicing relaxation techniques, just to name a few. Do any of these thing, and you are sure to dispel the blues.
“It would of course be preferable to avoid the stressful situations where possible, or to learn to cope better with them internally,” Restemeyer says. That way, you eat chocolate while enjoying a quiet moment, rather than considering it as an antidote to stress. That, I believe, is the true essence of chocolate!
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: chocolate science, serotonin, stress reduction
Chocolate As Comfort Food
We all go through tough times, we get sick, we get sad and all that. And usually, at those moments in our lives, we tend to look for comfort. Comfort food always comes in handy. They just magically make us feel all the better. What is it with these foods, really? Why do they bring such magic?
Chocolates are known to be the universal comfort food. And chocolate’s reputation as a mood-lifter makes it a frequent and cherished gift, especially to people who are particularly rolling with the punches. It gives a lift to their spirits that most of us can relate to.
The term “comfort food”, which was added to the Webster’s Dictionary in 1972, is defined as “food that gives a sense of emotional well-being,” or “any food or drink that one turns to for temporary relief, security or reward.”
Research shows that when we eat chocolate, the brain elicits feel-good hormones into the body to make up for the bad vibes that overwhelm us in our everyday life like stress and fatigue. These particular hormones are also released when we feel happy such as when we hug someone. Interesting, I know.
One’s comfort food is another’s dieting archenemy. We all know how figure-conscious people muster everything they can just to avoid a bar of chocolate. Just so you know, completely depriving yourself of the things you love will just cause you to yearn for them even more intensely. The trick to this is to not totally rid yourself of them, but just have them in moderation.
People who are very uptight with what they eat often crumble down when they just can’t take it anymore, and the result? They go overboard with eating what they have been craving. So not ideal. So yes, it still boils down to having the things you want in moderation.
These comfort foods don’t essentially have reasons why they give us comfort and boost our moods, but they do make our lives a little better and get us back to our sense of self.
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Categories: chocolate articles Tags: chocolate education, chocolate lovers, Craving, Diet, learn about chocolate, stress reduction
Dark Chocolate Reduces Stress
Just an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day can reduce stress hormones and correct other biochemical imbalances in your body. It doesn’t just taste good. It really is good for, so eat up… and feel good.
For more details, here’s the story:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life/health-fitness/health/Dark-chocolate-helps-beat-the-blues/articleshow/5492043.cms
Categories: chocolate articles, chocolate in the news Tags: dark chocolate, healthy, stress reduction
