Chocolate as a Mood Enhancer
Many people feel that chocolate makes them feel in a good mood. As a mood enhancer, chocolate is well known. But the reasons for this reputation are not exactly clear. According to some scientists, there are several ingredients that may be involved with lifting your spirits, such as caffeine, which wakes you up, and theobromine, which stimulates you, and phenylethylamine, which acts to make you alert, a little like the way amphetamines do, working on the part of the brain that helps people to pay attention, and anandamine, a chemical that is already produced naturally within the brain itself, and acts on brain cells to give you a little lift, or buzz, or high, and other chemicals that keep that high going, because they prevent the andamine from breaking down. As to the possible aphrodisiac aspects of the chocolate experience, research continues at the Mayo Clinic, as seen in this link: http://www.mayo.com/choco, a sensual site.
