Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Depressives Eat More Chocolate?

A study that just came out says that depressives eat more chocolate. Not me. I barely have one serving of chocolate per month. Chicken and beer are my comfort foods. How about you? Do you find comfort in a particular food?

24 comments:

cassie said...

Boy, the studies they will fund these geniuses.

Food and drink are mood shifters and obviously when people are depressed they will be drawn to things that shift mood. BUt because a depressed person needs much more than a slight mood shift, addictive behaviours can manifest(actually I should probably turn that thought into a "theory" for a new research funding proposal since they are wowed that depressives can sometimes eat more chocolate). Hey, doesn't chicken have something like tryptophan? OR Yum-ophan? And beer has alcohol. Chocolate has sugar and, depending on the quality, even flavanoids and antioxidants. They're all mood shifters.

PMS which also sets off or intensifies "mood" (read: once a month the end of the world is nigh for many) triggers all kinds of this sort of "depressives eat more chocolate" phenomenon. In fact I wonder if they took this extraneous variable into account in their study. How hormones link into it all. Because those of us in the know know that there are just times when your body is in charge and you will likely die without something like chocolate (each person has their own craving) right away. In my case, for one week a month I will seek and destroy HaagenDas ice cream products in a way that makes me realize I actually do have drive and ambition under the right conditions.

Good Lord how embarrassing. My comment is longer than the blog. Anyway. I'm going to the store to get some ice cream. I'm such a go-getter. :)

Nina said...

I'm defintely a chocolate eater when mildly depressed. Of course, this doesn't apply when I'm acutely depressed--then I can't eat. It makes me wonder if mild and severe depression are moderated by different mechanisms. Don't know, but it's interesting. I think caffeine is my comfort "food" which I know is bad because it can worsen anxiety. But I'm a lawyer, it comes with the job.
http://www.reflectionondepression.typepad.com

Expectingamiraclenow said...

I've been depressed most of my entire life (I've been on every anti-depressant ever made) and I never eat chocolate. I don't even like anything sweet at all. The more depressed I am the less I eat. I get asked all the time how I stay so thin and just answer that I don't know because the truth is just too sad. My situation feels so grim right now I just started a blog about it yesterday. The name is expectingamiraclenow (email is that at gmail.com)but I'm not really expecting one. Strangely I have no faith in anything except that things will get a whole lot worse before they get better. I like beer but don't drink it because my mother drinks enough for both of us. Her favorite past time is getting drunk and explaining to me what a disappointment I've turned out to be.
I do like coffee and drink about 10 cups a day.

Depression Treatment said...

Very well written...I have known for the past few years that the depressed persons eat more chocolates than the normal ones.Some depressed people take the eating chocolates as the best time they can ever go for.This helps them in reducing the depression a little bit.

Unknown said...

coffee is my greatest comfort.. no matter what... and chocolate actually I don't really like.. maybe hot cocoa on christmas but one cup is about it. I'm an exception to those studies.

D said...

cheese :)

Red Deception said...

I am a foodie. I have depression. My choice of comfort food is anything creamy...like pasta with cream sauce or a soft cheese.
When I need to regress, a toasted cheese sandwich and mushroom soup usually hits the spot :)

Unknown said...

I don't like chocolate but i eat it once a month.I agree with you that depressives can sometimes eat more chocolate.It happens to people .I just thanks God that I have found a way of overcoming depression.If I am depressed,I try as much as possible to control my eating habbit.

Unknown said...

Hi there

I think we eat chocolate to feel some kind of sweetness in life.

I have a free emotional healing course at http://www.healingemotions.net

H. Brown said...

Dear

Hello! I’m writing on behalf of Bloomsbury USA. We’ve noticed that your website has a great readership. We were hoping you might be interested in coordinating a giveaway of our new book, Unfinished Business, by Lee Kravitz. After losing his job, Lee Kravitz, a workaholic in his mid-fifties, took stock of his life and realized just how disconnected he had become from the people who mattered most to him. He committed an entire year to reconnecting with them and making amends. Unfinished Business describes ten transformational journeys, among them repaying a thirty-year-old debt, making a long-overdue condolence call, finding an abandoned relative, and fulfilling a forgotten promise.

Unfinished Business came out on June 1st. Since its release, it has been reviewed in TIME Magazine, O the Oprah Magazine, and USA Weekend, among others and last week, Lee appeared on the Today Show to talk about the book and completing unfinished business.

If you are interested, please feel free to send me an email at heather[dot]brown[at]bloomsburyusa[dot]com and let me know how many books you need and how you would like to conduct the giveaway.

Many thanks,

Bloomsbury and Walker Books
Marketing Department

Holistic Health said...

Dont get depressed.Enjoy life fully.Get busy in some sort of work and dont think of it.

Anonymous said...

I am hoping you get back to writing soon! I LOVE your blog, and want to hear more especially about the herbal treatments you're growing in your garden! :-/

GOJI BERRY said...

I also didnt like chocolate but I love coffee a lot.

Anonymous said...

I don't get the chocolate "thing" at all, as I can pretty much take or leave it. I've suffered from anxiety/depression to varying degrees for over 30 years now (I'm 51). I guess my favorite thing is coffee. I buy the best quality I can afford; it's my only real splurge. I honestly am completely unapproachable and non-functioning until I've had my morning cup. That's all I have too, is one good-sized cup of coffee. If I drank more my anxiety would be completely out of control.

The 12-steppers will gasp when they hear this, but I don't really care. I find a glass or two of wine when things get intolerable, but only drunk with a good healthy meal, lifts my spirits as well. I have been drinking this same amount for decades now and I find that wine does more good than any of the 20 or more psychotropic drugs I've tried in my lifetime, and without the nightmarish side effects/withdrawal symptoms of many of those drugs. Paxil, Effexor, and Klonopin being the worst offenders. This might not be the answer for everyone, but it works for me. Maybe the trick is to drink the wine with food, not by itself.

Unknown said...

oh definitely. brownies and chocolate ice cream are my go to. but I was just blaming it on being a woman!

sshowalter said...

Ann, I agree that a glass or two of wine can actually make my outlook more hopeful and my current state more enjoyable! How does our blogger feel? I know there was a time when he was battling with a perceived state of alcohol overconsumption...?

Greying Dog said...

Not always chocolate (but sometimes...) - definitely refined sugars in general though, usually a good indicator that things are going awry when I start eating more sweets and puddings. The spikes in blood sugar coincide with transient lifts in mood but the crashes that follow definitely make things worse and that is without the body issues that go with the extra calories - harder to remember that though when things are already collapsing.

http://mottleddog.blogspot.com

hanna said...

My apologies to the blogger if my previous comment regarding the use of alcohol was offensive to you. I was not aware of your "perceived state of alcohol overconsumption." SShowalter, thank you for pointing this out to me, and also being honest about the fact that yes, a glass or two of wine is helpful to you as well.

What is very upsetting to me is the puritanical attitudes toward alcohol in this country. Sometimes I think the guilt we are made to feel for consuming any alcohol here in the US is oftentimes more damaging than the alcohol itself. I find it interesting that most doctors in this country consider 14 drinks a week heavy drinking, which boils down to only 2 drinks a day. In Europe, a glass of wine is often drunk with lunch and dinner and is not judged to be heavy drinking. It is just something people do and no big deal is made of it. There is also no such thing as "Happy Hour" in Europe either because they don't feel the need to go crazy or "reward" themselves with alcohol on Fridays after a tough week at work.

I'm sorry for going on and on about this, but obviously it's a sore spot for me because I think this oppression regarding alcohol is damaging on many levels. And I just want to say to you that maybe you don't need to be as hard on yourself about your drinking as you think. Only you know if the alcohol itself is harming you or whether it's our society's dictates regarding alcohol that's detrimental. For myself, I know I cannot drink hard liquor because I get almost drunk after one drink (I'm 5'3" and weigh 108 lbs.), and it DOES make me depressed afterwards. But like I said earlier, wine has a completely different effect, which brings up another consideration, that maybe it's not the alcohol but what the beverage is made from. I can't drink beer either as it gives me an awful headache.

Didn't mean to go off on a tangent there, but I do get very upset by the fact that alcohol is seen as a big no-no while psychiatrists can dole out possibly life-threatening drugs with horrific side effects like candy.

I hope some of what I said has been helpful.

Unknown said...

I think you are right.Depressives have the tendency to eat more chocolate,We all face the problem of depression but we can overcome it, if we do not allow our problems to dictate the way we live our lives

Just Another Person said...

ohhhh!!! Same here. I only eat chocolate about once a month. Cuz I don't like sweets that much. And chicken and beer are definatelt my two favorite things too. Too bad I can't drink my favorite drink now cuz of my anxiety medication.

Atlanta Plastic Surgeon said...

Depression is a state of the mind and it is your own ability that will pull you out of the process.There are aids but ultimately what matters is how you react to them.

simon temprell said...

When I am really depressed I lose my appetite completely. It is a strange kind of empty hunger in the pit of my stomach; I want something to eat but I can't think of anything that I am hungry for. Slight nausea, snacking on simple stuff like crackers and nuts, lying on the bed just THINKING about what I should eat for hours and hours and then going to bed early to avoid the necessity.

doosra said...

I have a frighteningly long list. Spicy or salt-n-vinegar potato chips, pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, pretty stereotypical. I go for food that lasts longer, so the good feeling lasts longer too. Unhealthy? Yes. Pathetic? God, yes. But too often nothing else seems to work.

Sarah said...

Just found your blog, spent the past few days reading through it (still more to go!) but thought I'd add to this discussion.

I understand why depressed people eat more chocolate, because it makes you happy and stuff, but I don't.

When I'm depressed, I hardly eat. In fact, I go days on minimal amount of food (a couple of pringles one day, a couple of chips the next...)

Which is a shame, because I used to love eating. I used to love having healthy meals that taste great, a good roast dinner, stuff like that. (Unfortunetely in University, I don't have my parents to force me to eat so have, well, stopped.)

I'm staying alive from Pepsi Max and smoking.

My life is screwed.