The Conundrum
Cravings usually begin in the brain. Whether real or imaginary, self or chemically induced, they are a fact of life. That’s our story anyway and we’re sticking to it. Chocolate does contain substances that mimic the effects of endorphins. Those are the “feel good” substances that we get from sexual contact and also exercise.
Since the cocoa bean is the source of the antioxidants and other beneficial compounds, it would stand to reason that eating a purer chocolate would fuel cravings right? Actually the opposite is true. Eating darker chocolate has been shown to reduce cravings. While it is chocolate, darker chocolate is less sweet than the candy bar variety we usually eat. It takes less to fill us up and keep us satisfied.
With milk chocolate, there are other ingredients added. You have sugar, milk, added fats and other little odds and ends. It can be theorized that we are addicted to the sugar and fat instead of the chocolate itself. It’s just a coincidence that when combined with chocolate, these other things have a wonderful taste that we can’t seem to get enough of.
The chocolate that people eat to satisfy their cravings is indeed milk chocolate or other varieties that have a low percentage of cocoa solids in them. That could also be another reason why our beautiful craving leaves us wider around the middle. But, that’s another story.
So, why do we crave chocolate? Experts say it has nothing to do with chocolate itself physiologically. We see chocolate advertised for most major holidays in some form or fashion so our brains say different.
