Why do we need chocolate?

Eating chocolate is good for you

It's many people's favourite vice - but if the latest evidence is to be believed, the last thing you should feel when you secretly tuck into hunk of chocolate is guilty.

Scientists have revealed that eating chocolate - in reasonable amounts - makes you feel emotionally better and so improves the smooth running of your body's endorphins. It even protects against heart disease. So here we tell you all you need to know and reveal why we should all, occasionally, indulge in a sweet treat...

Chocolate makes you live longer Researchers at Harvard University in the U.S. studied 8,000 men for 65 years and found that those who ate modest amounts of chocolate up to three times a month, lived almost a year longer than those who didn't eat any. They concluded that this is likely to be due to the fact that cocoa contains antioxidants called polyphenols, also found in red wine, which prevent the oxidation of harmful cholesterol. Antioxidants are also known to protect against cancer.

Chocolate is good for stress This is thought to be because it contains valeric acid, which is a relaxant and tranquilliser. Also, the sugar in chocolate may reduce stress - sugar has been shown to have a calming and pain-relieving effect on babies and animals because sweet tastes activate the opiate-like substances in our brain.

We all know that chocolate makes us feel better There are a number of scientific reasons for this. The smell of chocolate has been found to slow down brain waves, making us feel calm. Most of the time our brains are dominated by beta waves - normal waking frequency. When our brain activity slows to alpha waves, we experience a pleasant feeling of calm but alert relaxation.

Also, because most of us find eating chocolate so pleasurable, we release endorphins (also released during sex) in the brain. These have similar pharmacological actions as morphine, acting as pain-relievers and giving us a sense of wellbeing.

Chocolate does not give you spots Although many teenagers blame chocolate for their acne, there's no scientific data to confirm this link. Scientists at Missouri University even gave spot-prone subjects chocolate to eat and observed their skin for the next week - with no effect.

Nutritionists say that chocolate does not make you put on weight You can't blame any single food on weight gain. So long as you don't eat more calories than you burn off, you won't get fat.

Chocolate could boost concentration This can occur, for example, if you eat it mid-afternoon, when blood sugar levels get a bit low. Chocolate has a reasonably low glycaemic index (GI), which means it gives long-lasting energy because it doesn't raise blood sugar too quickly. For example, a typical bar of chocolate has a GI of 70 compared with 73 for a bowl of cornflakes. This means a chocolate bar will keep you going for longer. Also, chocolate is a good source of chromium, which helps control blood sugar because it is involved in making glucose available in the body.

Chocolate helps us digest milk This means it is good for those who are lactose-intolerant. Researchers at Rhode Island University have shown that cocoa stimulates activity of the enzyme lactase in the intestine. We need this to digest lactose, the sugar found in milk. Lactose-intolerant patients showed a reduction in bloating, cramping and diarrhoea when one-and-a-half teaspoons of cocoa were added to a cup of milk.

Chocolate boosts the appetite This could be because it contains cannabinoid-like substances that are known to affect the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls hunger. This isn't ideal if you're on a diet but, for those who need to put on weight or who are convalescing, chocolate could be just what you need to help get your appetite back.

Chocolate can make you more alert It contains a stimulant called theobromine, a caffeine-like substance that is thought to make us more alert. But theobromine doesn't have the side-effect of giving us the jitters, like caffeine, and chocolate contains only minute amounts of caffeine - a mug of coffee has about 85mg compared with just 1mg in three squares of chocolate.

Chocolate is nutritious A 50g bar of plain chocolate contains 1.2mg of iron, and 45mg of magnesium. And milk chocolate is a reasonable source of calcium - a 50g bar contains 110mg. However, we'd need to eat about seven bars to get the recommended daily allowances of these minerals.

read these stories and at the end I will tell you what chocolate has to do with theses you see how chocolate is one but many ways the government has tricked and lied to us.

FRIST ON ARE CONSPIRACY LIST WE HAVE THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

On 19 July 1775, the Rev. Dr. Ezra Stiles of Newport devoted a fair amount of his journal to recording a story that even he (who was a sucker for these sorts of tales) had deemed "incredible":

Capt. Jno. Hansen formerly of N York now of St. Crux a Danish Settlem’t where he has a Plantation, came to N York last Week. He says in settling some Accounts at Hispaniola on a Contract for supplying the Kings Timber stores he was obliged to go to Paris—where he became intimately acquainted with the Pretender’s Secretary.

Once while he was in his Office the Secr’y removed an unsealed packet which stepping out he left

chocolate is the thing that keeps us happy. without chocolate, everything will be burned in ash and flames. life on earth would not be able to withstand life without chocolate and will either a) become a psycho murderer or b) commit suicide. the whole economy would collapse if chocolate were to disappear suddenly. i would be very mad because that would mean my secret stash of chocolate would be gone forever and i would take a 3 week hike to DC and kill the president if i dont get my hourly dose of chocolate.

It makes you feel good and to smile. That is plenty right there.

I always have plenty of my homemade chocolate cake around. Here is a piece, and now you know why you need chocolate. lol

“A little chocolate a day keeps the doctor at bay”

Have you tried Ktarian chocolate puff! I don't know exactly what's inside, but I think it's made with seventeen varieties of chocolate...." D. Troi

S.T ;)

Chocolate is the best! If you were upset and didn't have chocolate what would you do? :O Haha. Well, here is a reason. It's a stress reliever sometimes. (Well, for me it is.) :D

Sometimes you just gotta let go and enjoy your food. Our brains are telling us to eat different types of food. Chocolate just fits the bill for something high fat, sweet and the mouth feel is incredible. Then if you mix it with other foods, it's even better.

Chocolate tastes really good.

We absolutely don't need any chocolate. It just tastes good, so no one gives it up :P

If I didn't eat chocolate every day, I'd have depression... I once ate two giant hershys kissing covered in Jif... and no, it wasn't PMS. People say I eat like a bird, but they haven't seen me with a jar of nutella. Got three in my pantry right now. (and no i'm not fat :P)

Chocolate is angel poop. Chocolate is the best thing.

P.s. : the person who has the big *** paragraph totally copy and pasted that ****.