Essay 2

Marie
Professor Mathew Jolly
English 102
March 15, 2007

Evalutating Chocolate

We have all heard chocolate is bad for you. But who would have thought that chocolate could be good for you. In this paper we will explore some of the ingredients, myths, and benefits that chocolate has to offer.

There are some ingredients in chocolate that are real mood changers, and some that help improve your health. These are three key ingredients that make us feel the way we do. Caffeine, theobromine, and phenyethylamine have been to show that they intensify feelings of love. Phenyethylamine is a mood elevator and acts like and anti-depressant for people. Theres also an ingredient called phenols which Harvard studies show reduce the risk of getting heart disease (health).

So some people believe that eating chocolate causes acne but that isnt true. Studies have shown that it actually has no effect on your skin. There is also another myth out there that chocolate is high in caffeine but that is also false. The amount of caffeine in chocolate candy is significantly lower than that in coffee (chocolate facts).

I never knew that chocolate could be good for you, and that it is a mood elevator. My boyfriend keyed me in a couple of months ago. He told me when or if I'm feeling sad to grab a piece of chocolate, and suck on it, and I would feel better. I asked him why he just said that it releases good endorphins. So I tried it not believing it would work, and it did. Within five minutes of eating that piece of chocolate I felt a little uplifted about my whole life situation. I later looked it up on why and found that phenyethylamine one of the ingredients in chocolate was the reason for this.

In my survey I found of men and women they said they felt different after eating a piece of chocolate. I didnt ask how big the piece of chocolate assuming that they ate a big enough piece to get a result form it. Most of the people I surveyed preferred milk chocolate over dark. Although they both have benefits dark chocolate has more benefits then milk. Dark chocolate appears to raise good cholesterol and slow down bad cholesterol (Clark). It also raises antioxidants in the blood by 18% (Clark).

Overall in all the research I've done its my opinion that chocolate could be good for you. As long as you dont over indulge yourself you should experience some pretty good benefits. Heres one more thing I want to leave you with in a study conducted by Harvard University men who ate chocolate three times a week versus those who dont lived a year longer then those who dont eat chocolate at all.

Boutin, Lanney. "Favorite Indulgence has some Little Known Benefits." Master File Premier.

GateWay Community College. 6, March 2007.

Clark, Jane B. "Seduced by the Dark Side." Academic Search Premier. GateWay Community College. 5, March 2007.

Chocolate Questionnaire. Personal survey. 7, March 2007

"Myths about Chocolate." 8, March 2007.