How do chocolates make your brain happy?
You must have watched ‘Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban.’ There is an exciting train scene where Harry Potter is attacked by a Dementor, causing him to faint. Professor Lupin comes to his aid and casts a spell to make the Dementor run for his life. He then gives a bar of chocolate to Harry Potter, telling him to eat it. Dementors suck out all the happiness from the soul and fill it with sadness. And chocolates can only reverse this effect and make the soul happy.
The movie filled the hearts of all children and many adults with hope and love. But does chocolate in real life have a similar effect? Is there any scientific reason? One can’t tell about the soul, but it affects the mind. Let’s find out how.
The components of chocolates
Chocolate contains cocoa solids, butter, sugar, and sometimes nuts. These ingredients create an orosensory experience like a pleasant mouthfeel, a burst of sweetness, and a delicious taste. The aroma also plays a role in making chocolate desirable. You might have often heard people say they like a particular brand of chocolate. This particular brand might have some unique taste that stimulates the senses of these people.
All the ingredients are important in making chocolate a stimulant, but cocoa contributes most of them. Cocoa contains many chemicals that have magical properties. It contains Methylxanthines (MXs), Cocoa flavanols (CF), Fatty acid amide, and amino acids. All of these play with the brain like a pro. Some uplift the mood by relieving stress, while others create a sense of craving.
How do we feel happy?
Happiness is not just an expression of our feelings; it is an experience. An experience of many events that happen to us physically and neurologically. Any event or physical change our body perceives is immediately transmitted in the form of signals to a specific part of the brain. The brain receives the signal and decides on the action. But the brain uses special chemicals, neurotransmitters to pass on the signal.
Many neurotransmitters are at play, but Dopamine and Serotonin are the most important transmitters of happiness. Dopamine helps the brain to feel pleasure, focus and motivate. While Serotonin brings satisfaction, happiness, and optimism. Others, like Norepinephrine and endorphin, are also involved in the act.
How does chocolate help pass on happy signals to the brain?
A happy mind shows an elevated level of Dopamine and Serotonin. Chocolate aids the brain in getting to that level. It can be done in many ways, such as;
- Chocolate, or cocoa, contains tyramine. It is made from the amino acid tyrosine. The same amino acid is found in dopamine. When we eat chocolate, tyramine enters the blood after digestion. This increases the tyrosine level. The body starts producing more and more dopamine.
- Serotonin is made of tryptophan. It is an amino acid also found in chocolate. So, chocolate intake can uplift your mood through the serotonin pathway.
- Chocolate also increases endorphins in the brain. This helps the body to stop the pain.
Chocolates negate the effect of a bad mood
A bad mood or depression for a very long time can cause a series of brain changes. It can be in the form of physical changes in the brain, like changes in brain size and inflammation. The condition can lead to memory loss, bizarre thought processes, anxiety, and prior aging of brain cells.
When discussing the effects of a bad mood, MXs and CF are handy.
In cocoa, there are two types of MXs: caffeine and theobromine. As we all know, caffeine acts as a mild stimulant. But what about Theobromine? To be precise, it is a derivative of caffeine. It relaxes the muscle, protects the function of nerves, and is an anti-inflammatory.
When it comes to cocoa flavanols (CF), two compounds are responsible for their makeup: epicatechin and procyanidin. It acts in many ways. To list a few;
- It dilates the blood vessels and increases the blood flow. Which increases the nitric oxide (NO) level, a key signaling molecule, in the brain. This, in turn, improves brain activity. Our brains could work effortlessly in demanding work situations.
- The brain thrives on foods like oxygen and glucose. So, increased blood flow makes the brain get its supplies more often. It helps the brain perform well on challenging tasks.
- CFs are effective in improving brain health and memory.
- At times, it acts as an antioxidant.
The chemicals in chocolate bring so much goodness with them. But can also cause a craving or want for more.
Why do we crave chocolates?
Eating chocolate can activate the brain’s pleasure center and create a desire for more. This is because the opioid and cannabinoid systems are involved in this process.
- Opioids create a sense of wanting a particular drug or food by altering the palatability or food reward system. The reward system is the one that asks us to crave something. Many chemicals drive the opioid. In the case of chocolate, it is endorphin. When we ingest chocolate, endorphin levels increase in the brain. It binds itself to the opioid receptors. This causes dopamine production and, thus, pleasure. It conditions the mind so that we go back to chocolate in need.
- Cannabinoid creates internal bliss. The brain becomes highly sensitive. To trigger the pathway, it needs a compound like Anandamide. Chocolate contains N-acyl ethanolamines. These are a kind of Anandamide.
In short, we fail at work. Grab a bar of chocolate before heading back home. Laying on the couch, we try to forget about the miserable day. Put all our focus on that one bar of chocolate. With each bite, our minds calm down. We drift into a world of bliss. The entire process gets registered in our minds. The mind identifies the chocolate as a reward. Next time, when we go through a bad day. Our mind drives us to the bar of chocolate. This helps the mind cope and think better.
So, next time you feel low do not hesitate to grab a bar of chocolate. It makes your mood good and takes you back to your childhood memories. That, too, has a great impact on the mind.