The More Severe the Depression, the More Chocolate is Eaten
According to a new study in the United States, it was found that people with depression eat 55% more chocolate than the general population, and the more severe the depression, the more chocolate they eat.
Although it is a common saying that eating chocolate can alleviate depression, no scientific literature has been able to prove the relationship between the two. Professor Golomb (Beatrice Golomb) from the University of California, San Diego, stated that her team's latest research can only prove what people in Europe and America often say: eat chocolate when you need a good mood. It is not clear whether people with depression eat more chocolate purely because they crave it, or if eating chocolate makes them more depressed.
Professor Golomb and her colleagues studied 931 men and women who were not taking antidepressants, investigating their weekly chocolate intake and overall diet, and assessed their emotional state using the "Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale."
The study found that people without depression consumed an average of 5.4 servings of chocolate per month (one serving is about 28 grams), while those with depression consumed an average of 8.4 servings per month, and those with severe depression consumed as many as 11.8 servings per month.
The researchers also considered factors such as calorie, fat, and carbohydrate intake, and ultimately found that only chocolate and depression had a unique relationship. The study also found that men, when feeling down, love to eat chocolate just as much as women. The report was published in the latest issue of the "Archives of Internal Medicine" on April 26.
Regarding the relationship between chocolate and depressive mood, Golomb stated that it is a classic "which came first, the chicken or the egg" problem. Animal experiments have shown that eating chocolate can improve mood, so people with low moods use chocolate as a form of self-medication.
While eating chocolate might make people with depression feel better in the short term, in the long run, frequent chocolate consumption may have negative effects on health and mood.