More Chocolate, Less Stress

VEVEY, SwitzerlandA new study published online in the Journal of Proteome Research provides evidence that eating dark chocolate helps ease emotional stress. Eating chocolate is widely believed to uplift moods, and a clinical trial conducted by researchers at Nestlé Research Center, Lausanne, Switzerland, found that eating 1.4 oz. (40 grams) of dark chocolate daily for two weeks lowered levels stress hormones in the bodies of highly stressed people and also partially corrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances.

In the study, researchers correlated self-reported anxiety and biochemical changes in volunteers and found strong evidence that a daily dose of chocolate alleviated stress. The daily consumption of dark chocolate resulted in a significant modification of the metabolism of healthy and free living human volunteers with potential long-term consequences on human health within only 2 weeks treatment. This was observable through the reduction of levels of stress-associated hormones and normalization of the systemic stress metabolic signatures, the scientists say.