Psychiatric Times' amazing findings on Dark Chocolate

Dark chocolate lowers the risk of depression, according to a cross‐sectional survey of over 13,000 US adults.1 The study compared self-reported chocolate consumption with self-reported depressive symptoms, as measured by the PHQ-9. People who ate dark chocolate in the past 24 hours were 70% less likely to report depression. The same effects were not seen with milk chocolate, suggesting that the benefits were not simply due to the pleasures of the food. Indeed, most people rate milk chocolate as the more pleasurable of the two. There is also the possibility that people who strive for a healthy lifestyle are more likely to consume dark chocolate. This treat, after all, has well-publicized health benefits, including prevention of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cognitive decline.2 To disentangle those confounding variables, the researchers controlled for other lifestyle factors like physical activity, smoking, alcohol, and total sugar and caloric intake, as well as age, sex, marital status, education, income, weight, and presence of chronic medical problems. In the end, the association remained. Once more, those who ate the largest quantities of chocolate had the lowest rates of depression. It did not take much dark chocolate to achieve these antidepressant effects. On average, the consumers of dark chocolate ate only 12 grams a day, a little less than half an ounce. The cut-off for “dark” chocolate was ≥ 45% cocoa. In contrast, the optimal dose for physical health is 1 to 2 ounces a day of ≥ 70% cocoa. Keeping the percentage high and the ounces low maximizes the healthy ingredients while minimizing the calories and sugar. Chocolate has long been associated with depression. Almost half (45%) of patients in a depressed episodes report craving for chocolate, and many believe that it relieves feelings of anxiety and irritability.3 Chocolate cravings are particularly high during atypical depression, winter depression, and premenstrual dysphoria. Two previous epidemiologic surveys arrived at the opposite conclusion of the current one, finding that chocolate consumption was associated not with mental health but with depressive symptoms. However, those studies did not look specifically at dark chocolate, and they did not control for confounding variables as well as this new study did.1 There are several mechanisms that may explain the putative antidepressant effects of dark chocolate.1,4 1. Flavanols. These brain-protecting nutrients are particularly prominent in dark chocolate. They are also found in red wine, berries, apples, citrus, and green and black teas, all foods that are associated with improvements in mood and cognition. 2. Caffeine and theobromine. These adenosine-agonists have rapid effects on energy and cognition. Cocoa is the main source of theobromine, while caffeine is found in many foods. 3. N-acylethanolamines. This fatty acid is an analogue of anandamide, an endogenous cannabinoid with anxiolytic and euphoric effects. 4. Phenylethylamine. A natural monoamine that increases the release of norepinephrine, dopamine, and acetylcholine.