High stress can lead to cardiovascular disease, reproductive issues, and even cancer (Veen et al., 2009). Sunni and Latif wanted to conduct a study to understand if perceived stress in medical students could be reduced with commercially available chocolate or not. Chocolate was selected as cocoa polyphenols are shown to decrease stress in individuals that experience high stress. A group of 60 female and male students were divided into groups of three: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and white chocolate. They had to consume chocolate for two weeks while answering PSS-10, Perceived Stress Scale, survey at baseline, and after consuming chocolate. The study concluded that an effective way to decrease perceived stress is by having 40 grams of dark or milk chocolate for two weeks in females( Sunni & Latif, 2014). Stress does not reduce if you consume white chocolate because it doesn't have flavonol antioxidants. This study is important as intense academic demand and workload can lead to burnout in students.
Al Sunni, A., & Latif, R. (2014). Effects of chocolate intake on Perceived Stress; a Controlled Clinical Study. International journal of health sciences, 8(4), 393–401.
Veen, G., Giltay, E. J., DeRijk, R. H., van Vliet, I. M., van Pelt, J., & Zitman, F. G. (2009). Salivary cortisol, serum lipids, and adiposity in patients with depressive and anxiety disorders. Metabolism: clinical and experimental, 58(6), 821–827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2009.02.009
Interesting topic Jimisha! I would have never thought that chocolate would be as useful as it is. I am really interesting in trying this approach on myself, since I would love to get rid of the stress produced by school and fix it in a very sweet and tasty way.
ReplyDeleteLooking into this more in detail I found an article that talks about cocoa and its benefits. It discusses how our ancestors used these seeds to produce or aim to create a cure or solution to many of their health problems. Among those attempts very useful properties of coca were discover. i.e. The antioxidant properties that you discussed in your post, and how beneficial these properties can be in the average person. Also its involvement in blood pressure regulation and atherosclerosis.
This is the article I found. I hope you find it as helpful as I did.
Latif R. (2013). Chocolate/cocoa and human health: a review. The Netherlands journal of medicine, 71(2), 63–68.
Really nice blog Jimisha! I often noticed that when I am studying, I consume a lot more sugar than usually and just have this conscious craving for sweets so this makes sense. I also found an article that supports the study you mentioned because in this article, it talked about how carbohydrates help us endure stress because it allows our brain to produce serotonin. Serotonin plays a huge part in regulating our body but specifically our happiness. More serotonin then more happiness which means less stress. So when you eat that chocolate, your brain is releasing serotonin which allows you to be less stress and hopefully more happy. I also find it interesting that in the article, it mentioned how protein has no positive effect on lower our stress which is interesting. I thought that amino acids serves as the building blocks for neurotransmitter synthesis which plays a part in the production of serotonin but that's something to research if interested. Overall, really enjoyed your blog article!
ReplyDeleteArticle about carbs and serotonin if you're interested in reading!
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-antidepressant-diet/201106/carbs-will-diminish-stress-while-dieting
This is super interesting to think about Jimisha! I have always noticed that whenever I am stressed out or worried about something I crave chocolate, so it is nice to see that there could be a scientific explanation for it. I also found it interesting that white chocolate would not have similar effects. While looking into this more, I found an article that was mainly for eating chocolate but did point out an important downside. It stated that the high sugar content within chocolate is not only bad for your health as it is but can also lead to the onset of migraines. The article (albeit at the very end) mentioned that some people have had issues with migraines after eating chocolate because of the aforementioned sugar content. When eating large amounts of chocolate without eating other more nutritious foods before, the high sugar content can cause an extreme increase in blood sugar levels, causing a "peaks and trough" effect that has been proven to cause migraines. So, I think it would be super interesting to look at how many of these students may have developed headaches after their consumption of the chocolate. While the chocolate could bring temporary relief, I cannot help but wonder if it could have some longer-term implications. Just something to think about!
ReplyDeleteHere's the link to the article I was talking about if you'd like to check it out!
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20120518/The-truth-about-chocolate-does-it-really-contain-flavonoids.aspx