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The magical sugar and fat combination

Compared to many other types of candy, such as marshmallows or pastilles, a piece of chocolate is usually very high in both fat and sugar content. This might be one of the reasons behind chocolates widely alleged mood altering abilities. According to research, sugar is able to elevate moods while fat has the ability to calm us. Consumed apart from each other, their effects are comparatively small, but when you combine them you get a very powerful mood altering substance. Studies also show that our sensitivity toward this fat/sugar mix varies greatly, not only between individuals but also during different parts of our life and, for women, even during different stages of the menstrual cycle.

A piece of chocolate high in sugar as well as in fat is actually able to create a burst of endorphins and serotonin in our brains. Endorphins are naturally occurring substances in our body that is responsible for producing feelings of pleasure. They are also very potent pain killers. Serotonin is sometimes referred to as ‘a molecule of happiness' since it regulates our mood and other aspects of our behaviour. Serotonin is however capable of doing even more, and scientist agree that to this day there are fee other identified physiological substance that can compete with serotonin when it comes to regulating a vide spectrum of very diverse bodily functions. Serotonin works as a neurotransmitter, a substance used by our cells to communicate with each other. It can affect memory, learning abilities, hunger, sleep, sexuality, body temperature, muscle contraction, cardiovascular functions and endocrine regulation, and it plays an important role in the treatment of depressions, anxiety and bipolar disorders.

It's not easy to increase our serotonin levels, since serotonin taken orally never reach central nervous system (CNS) because of the blood-brain barrier. This barrier is a way for our bodies to prevent serotonin in the blood stream to affect the serotonin levels in the brain, and it is an absolutely crucial barrier since serotonin plays such different roles in different parts of the body. Injecting serotonin is even worse, as it will cause pain, a tingling and prickling sensation, nausea and even coughing, gasping and cramps. They venom used by wasps and scorpions actually consists of serotonin. There are drugs available that can increase the amount of free serotonin in the nervous system by decreasing the cells ability of serotonin re-uptake. These drugs do however come with considerable side effects and you usually don't notice any change until after several weeks of treatment. So, if you wish to perk up your serotonin levels a bit you have to take a detour and do something that causes you body to produce more serotonin all by it self – like eating a piece of chocolate!

The fact that chocolate seem to work better than many other kind of food, equally rich in sugar and fat, may be explained by the cocoa beans naturally high levels of phenylethylamine, one other mood altering substance that is able affect the release of dopamine. To conclude, the chemical make-up inside a piece of chocolate has a unique ability to stimulate and sooth us at the same time.