Why Stress Makes You Want Chocolate: Which One Is Better to Choose If You Can't Fight It
You may have noticed in yourself or in those around you that when we are upset, our hands automatically reach towards a chocolate bar.
Blame it on the human instinct for self-preservation. Sit back – this will take some time.
So, in a person who is under stress, the adrenal glands produce the hormone cortisol.
Once it gets into the blood, all the energy of the nervous and immune systems is directed to suppressing it, as a result of which the brain receives a signal that it needs more glucose.
By the way, cortisol is produced not only when we are sad or worried, but also when we are angry. Its highest level, as a rule, occurs in the morning and is associated with the fact that food has not entered the body during the night, and this is also stress.
When blood sugar levels are low, a person chooses sweet, fatty, or high-carbohydrate foods.
Chocolate has a relaxing effect on the brain and generally helps improve mood due to its composition: it contains, for example, phenylethylamine, which increases self-esteem, and tryptophan, which causes a feeling of euphoria.
In order not to subject the body to a roller coaster ride, when sugar levels rise sharply and then fall just as rapidly, at such moments it is recommended to choose dark chocolate with a cocoa content of at least 70% and without impurities.
Earlier we talked about whether you should be happy if you have no appetite.
