How Does Chocolate Affect A Person's Mood?

For people who can't get enough of it, chocolate might seem like a drug. In addition to its addictive taste, chocolate's role in boosting your mood can be irresistible. While you might attribute this to your sweet tooth, chocolate owes much of its mood-enhancing properties to a number of drug-like chemicals. Containing safe, healthy compounds similar to the potentially dangerous ones in marijuana, caffeine and amphetamines, chocolate can help to boost your mood without damaging your health.

Anandamide

Marijuana owes its effects to THC, a chemical that binds to sites in your brain to produce a "high" feeling. While chocolate does not contain this chemical, it contains a compound called anandamide that binds to the same sites as THC. As THC and anandamide have different chemical structures, the two do not have the same effects on your brain. Rather than behave the same as the drug, anandamide can help to make you feel happier without the negative effects of THC. While your brain naturally produces this chemical, other compounds present in chocolate help to prevent it from breaking down quickly, thus leading to long-lasting positive emotions after eating chocolate.

Theobromine

While the husks of cocoa beans contain caffeine, there is little to none of this drug in a bar of chocolate. Instead, chocolate owes its caffeine-like effects to a compound called theobromine. Unlike caffeine, which can be addictive, the stimulant effects of theobromine are not associated with a risk of chemical dependence. With few of the risks of caffeine, theobromine is milder, longer lasting and has benefits that caffeine lacks, such as antidepressant effects and an increased feeling of well-being.

Phenylethylamine

Similar to the relationship between caffeine and theobromine, phenylethylamine is like a non-addictive, milder version of amphetamines. While both cause boosts in your pulse, blood pressure and energy levels, the effects of phenylethylamine are subtle and safe, unlike those of amphetamines. By causing the release of endorphins, phenylethylamine can reduce pain, help you to feel happier and decrease feelings of depression. Mimicking the rapid pulse and elation felt by people falling in love, the physiological and psychological effects of this compound are the basis for claims that chocolate is an aphrodisiac.

Pharmaceutical Use

As people with clinical depression tend to self-medicate with chocolate, you also might be able to use this compound's positive mental health effects to improve your own depressive moods. While you should try to avoid eating excessive amounts, feeling bad about indulging can prevent you from reaping the benefits of this wonder food. In the May 2006 issue of "Appetite," researchers at the University of Würzburg, Germany, note that feeling guilty about eating chocolate might negate its positive effects on mood.