Why Do We Crave Chocolate?

Once a month, or more, chocolate cravings hit and it’s time to answer why.

We decide what to eat, when to eat, how to eat, and whether we will or won’t. More often than not our eating behavior is based on external cues. An instagram feed, a radio commercial, a billboard. Thousands of decisions are made each day when making food choices.

Getting a variety of foods is the best way to get our nutrition. In my opinion, that even includes chocolate every once in awhile.

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Why We Crave Chocolate:

Personal Preference

The first reasons we chose to eat what we do is because of how it tastes. Sounds obvious, but interestingly enough, sweet and salty are the most widely preferred tastes. A lot of research in evolution supports our desire to want these tastes because they mean energy and energy means life. High-fat foods are also craved. Chocolate is sweet and rich in fat. It’s a taste-winning combination.

Habit

A little thing called habit might make us crave chocolate. It doesn’t take much thought, actually habits are automatic responses. We experience a trigger, the behavior and then there is a reward. This behavior chain may be why every month you crave chocolate. You craved it last month, ate a piece, and now this month your body remembers that reward.

Tradition & Food Culture

Fond memories of our childhood make an impression well into our adulthood. How our families spend holidays, weekends together, and the foods that are served during these times make up our food culture. Every year Valentine’s Day is celebrated with what? Chocolate. Summertime means ice-cream shops and the most popular flavors are vanilla and you guessed it, chocolate.

Social Life

Eating is a social behavior. When groups of people gather, food is almost always present. They say alcohol is a social lubricant and while that may be true, food has just as much of comforting effect. Most people enjoy eating with friends and sharing food is part of hospitality, despite any hunger cues. We might be more likely to reach for something indulgent, like chocolate, at a social setting.

Convenience

People eat what’s quick and easy. Our food environment in the states, food is everywhere. I’ll never forget how hard it was to find a postcard in NYC but I could find food, mostly candy and soda, everywhere I went. Every checkout line caters to impulsive behaviors. Chocolate is almost always there.

Positive & Negative Associations

People like foods they associate with happiness. Have you ever been pissed off during or after eating something chocolate-y? People can associate foods with a favorite relative, like a grandma who always bakes the best chocolate chip cookies. At the same token, negative associations can make a person avoid food.

Emotions

Self-described emotional eaters or stress eaters may find themselves eating purely in response to worry, boredom, frustration, or anxiousness. Some people eat to unwind. Emotional comfort is reached with chocolate because it can influence the brain’s chemistry. Caffeine can excite us and tryptophan in chocolate stimulates the release of serotonin, the happiness neurotransmitter (1). Even cocoa flavanols have been studied for their stress-reducing effects on women (2).

Values

I feel that now more than ever people’s values dictate their food choices. Political, environmental, religious values are reflected through diets in many ways. People may buy only Fair-Trade Certified chocolate or chocolate that is endorsed by a favorite company.

Body Weight & Image

Many people chose to eat the foods they feel will improve their physique and avoid what might be detrimental. Nutrition and fitness-related knowledge based on fad diets or extremes can undermine good health. However, most people generally accept chocolate, especially dark chocolate. Even paleo-diet followers accept this delicacy (despite there not being any chocolate in caveman days, I can assure you).

Nutritional Benefits

Lastly, there are very nutrition-minded folk out there and you can tell by market trends. More people want to know how their food was grown, what ingredients were used to create it, and does it fit within their dietary restrictions. There are chocolate products made dairy-free and gluten-free. Dark chocolate itself proudly claims its health benefits. The medicinal uses of cacao or chocolate either as the main medicine or as a vessel to deliver medicine began in Mesoamerica, where it was consumed by indigenous peoples, and diffused to Europe in the mid-1500s (3).

The nutritional health benefits are no secret to the worlds’ leading nutrition and dietetic professionals. Both Today’s Dietitian and Food & Nutrition Magazine, publications authored by and marketed to Registered Dietitian Nutritionists, have written articles on the health benefits of consuming chocolate, in moderation of course.

Recommendations

In my opinion, enjoy chocolate and remember your nutrition goals. If weight loss is your goal, chocolate may not be the best way to spend your "calorie-buck" compared to other foods every day. 1 oz of 70-80% dark chocolate may up up to 170 calories. If you're in weight maintenance or gain, find a creative and enjoyable way to include it. Mindfully, if you can :-).

If you’re having a chocolate-y craving, 1 oz piece of dark chocolate has the same amount of calories as a bowl of oatmeal made with ½ cup dry oats (150 kcals), 3 dark sweet cherries (10 kcals), and 1 Tbsp. of dark baking cocoa (10 kcals).

1. Al Sunni A, Latif R. Effects of chocolate intake on Perceived Stress; a Controlled Clinical Study. International Journal of Health Sciences. 2014;8(4):393-401.

2. Wirtz PH, von Känel R, Meister RE, Arpagaus A, Treichler S, Kuebler U, et al. Dark Chocolate Intake Buffers Stress Reactivity in Humans. J Am CollCardiol. 2014;63(21):2297–9.

3. Katz DL, Doughty K, Ali A. Cocoa and Chocolate in Human Health and Disease. Antioxidants & Redox Signaling. 2011;15(10):2779-2811. doi:10.1089/ars.2010.3697.

#chocolate #nutrition #eatingbeahvior