Chocolate DeStressing?

Am I the only one out there that finds that chocolate destresses them?  I feel like a smoker probably would feel about chocolate.  Does anyone know if that is psychological or a physiological response?

You are not alone. I find chocolate as a comfort food more than anything. When I am stressed or upset and I turn to chocolate. The only technique that seems to work for me is to not have it around me at all. I don't buy it and if I eat any chocolate it would have to be just the fat free Jello puddings that have very low calories. Every once in a while I'll cave in and have one of those mini chocolates (like the ones you buy for halloween) but I try to limit it to one. That one little piece is usually enough to calm my anxiety and stress.

hello. i also crave chocolate. it's like when i don't have it, i'm all gittery and then when i just get that one piece.....ahhh.... much better..... but then i get headaches after. my husband say i'm a chocoholic b/c i buy it and i hide it.....everywhere..... he used to find wrappers and ask me about them but now he doesn't.

i grew up in an environment that if you brought food into the house, you'd better it eat it right away or someone else was going to eat it on you. you couldn't 'portion control' b/c you had no time. not saying that is the cause of why i hide it, but i think it has a lot to do w/ it. even though i know that nobody is going to eat it on me b/c my kids are too young to reach the top cupboards and always have to ask for snacks and my husband doesn't like it all that much. i still feel the need to hide it. i feel so bad for doing it too.

Chocolate does have physiological destressing effects. It raises serotonin and endorphin levels in the brain which makes you happy.

You are certainly not alone. It's either all or nothing with me and once I break my good intentions and have some chocolate, the diet goes out the window for that day (I think 'what's the point?'). Then that day turns into that week and so on. It's to do with the sugar addiction and if you can control that, you've cracked it. I've been told that by eating protein with every meal, you suppress your craving for sugar (and therefore chocolate). I try to eat a handful of nuts mid morning and stave off the inevitable chocolate craving. And it actually works.