High Time for Coffee and Chocolate
A new piece of research from the University of Ohio has shed light on why certain foods such as coffee and chocolate can affect your mood.
“The distinction of what is a drug and what is food is blurring completely. Natural things are also drugs,” said Gary Wenk, an Ohio State University and Medical Center professor and the author of the new book ‘Your Brain on Food.’
Just as people crave a cup of coffee early in the morning and when chocolate makes them feel better when they feel low, the new study demonstrates how food and spices can heighten or have a calming effect on the senses just like alcohol or drugs.
Different food types trigger reactions in different regions of the brain, causing a release of chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin – both well-known for the uplifting impact on mood. At the other end of the equation, a lack in certain substances such as amino acids can cause depression and other associated illnesses.
The positive feeling associated with chocolate and coffee is not merely related to the caffeine that both commodities contain, but also due to their ability to prompt an increased supply of dopamine to the body. Chocolate is also said to release an opiate-like chemical, as well as a small amount of a substance that is likened to marijuana.
Meanwhile, spices such as saffron, fennel, dill, anise, cinnamon and nutmeg, some of which are blended with coffee beans, possess properties that are chemically similar to mescaline and, in significant volumes, can cause feelings of euphoria.