New Study Links Chocolate and Depression?

A new study links chocolate and depression! Researchers said today that overindulging in chocolate could be a marker for depression and that people who eat more chocolate are more likely to be depressed!

The Los Angeles Times reports that researchers at UC San Diego and UC Davis examined chocolate consumption and other dietary intake patterns among 931 men and women who were not using antidepressants. Per the LA Times:

The participants were also given a depression screening test. Those who screened positive for possible depression consumed an average of 8.4 servings of chocolate — defined as one ounce of chocolate candy — per month.  That compared with 5.4 servings per month among people who were not depressed.

Those who scored highest on the mood tests, indicating possible major depression, consumed an average of 11.8 servings per month. The findings were similar among women and men.

The researchers say it could be that depression stimulates chocolate cravings as a form of self-treatment. Chocolate prompts the release of certain chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine, that produce feelings of pleasure.