It's no secret that when people are feeling depressed, they often turn to chocolate. In fact, people who screen for depression appear to eat more chocolate than those who don't screen positively for depression, U.S. researchers found. But the question remains: Do people who are depressed eat lots of chocolate? Or does lots of chocolate affect your mood and lead to depression?
Dr. Natalie Rose of University of California, Davis, and the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues examined chocolate and mood among 931 women and men not on antidepressants. Participants reported how much chocolate they ate and filled out food frequency questionnaires, while their moods were assessed using a depression scale.
The study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found those who screened for possible depression consumed an average of 8.4 servings of chocolate per month, compared with 5.4 servings per month among those not screening positive.
However, those who screened for probable major depression consumed almost 12 servings of chocolate per month.
Rose speculated depression could stimulate chocolate cravings and some may eat chocolate to improve mood -- or depression may stimulate chocolate cravings for unrelated reasons, or it may contribute to depressed mood.
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