Does chocolate have caffeine in it? Does it stop the build-up of cholesterol in your arteries? Does it cause love? And, are sugar rushes generated by chocolate or is that an urban legend? Some university students honestly believe that chocolate will ruin their concentration, and others swear that it keeps them functioning during studies and exams. What is true?
Sugar Rush and Sugar Crash Myths
The people in the meat industry paid scientists to show that sugar is the main cause of all your health problems, and the sugar industry did the same to the meats and fat industry. It is now difficult to figure out what is good for you and what is not, so here is a little common-sense logic to debunk the sugar-rush and sugar crash myths.
Are University Students Affected by Sugar Rushes and Sugar Crashes?
Sugar only affects the body negatively in extremely high quantities, or if the person in question is in poor health. People with very little body fat and people who are ill (or diabetic) are very sensitive to sugar because its presence or lack of presence has a direct and immediate effect on their system, but so do most things. For example, if such a person were to swallow bleach, overdose on paracetamol, or whatever, these people have less tolerance for such things and will be negatively affected in a bad way.
Students Are Immune to The Negative Sides of Chocolate and Sugar
Children, toddlers, students and people in their early twenties have such a fast metabolism that sugar doesn’t bother them in any way. People who are overweight and/or have high blood pressure will suffer sugar rushes and sugar crashes because their body has a hard time producing the enzymes needed to metabolize sugar or break down fat cells into sugar.
How Does Chocolate Relate to Sugar Rushes and Sugar Crashes?
Unless your body is in a fragile state, such as the states mentioned in the previous section, then sugar will not affect you negatively useless you are a mature student with high blood pressure or severe weight problems.
Chocolate has surprisingly less sugar in it than it used to. Chocolate manufactures used to put a lot of sugar in chocolate because chocolate tastes quite bitter, but since the invention of milk chocolate making techniques, there is no need to put as much sugar in chocolate.
Why Do You Feel Sugar Rushes with Chocolate?
Actually, you do not feel sugar rushes when you eat chocolate. The idea that people get sugar rushes from chocolate is an urban myth that is so common that people have psychosomatic symptoms. By the time the sugar in your chocolate actually reaches your intestines, it has mostly been processed. Plus, much of your body actually burns energy while turning the sugar into fat, but even despite that fact, people have more sugar in their coffee than they have in their chocolate bar.
Is There Caffeine in Chocolate?
Cocoa butter is a big chocolate ingredient, and it has no caffeine in it. The part of cocoa nibs (aka the plant parts) are called cocoa solids and they contain caffeine. There is a tiny amount of caffeine in chocolate, and some people believe that the caffeine and sugar in chocolate are the reasons why children become hyper when they eat it, but this is all urban legends yet again. There is more caffeine in lettuce, fish, and even in beer than there is in chocolate.
Caffeine is only apparent in high quantities if you eat lots of dark chocolate. There are dark chocolates with 84% cocoa solids and they are so concentrated that eating 450 grams (1 pound) is the same as drinking half a can of Red Bull. Most chocolate bars, especially white chocolates, have so little caffeine in that it has no effect on the human system at all.
Why Do I Get A Headache After Eating Too Much Chocolate?
Chocolate a natural diuretic because it contains lecithin. Lecithin improves blood circulation, and it restricts cholesterol build-up on arterial walls, which leads to less fluid retention. The downside is that if you dehydrate then you get a headache. If you have a headache from eating chocolate, then drink a glass or two of water and you will be fine in 45 minutes.
High Levels of Chocolate Generate Oxytocin in Your Body
There is a great scene at the end of the Devil’s Advocate movie were Al Pacino gives this big, long and awesome speech. At one point, the brilliant Keanu Reeves says, “What about love?” and Al Pacino says, “Overrated. Biochemically, no different than eating large quantities of chocolate.”
Despite what see in movies such as Devil’s Advocate or TV shows such as Rick & Morty, Oxytocin is not the body’s love drug, nor does it stimulate love. It is your body’s natural way of drawing you to something else (bonding). That is why it is released when you hold a baby, when you are in love, or when you have an orgasm. The fact it appears in chocolate is just a happy coincidence. Saying that Oxytocin is a love hormone is like saying that endorphins are a happy hormone.
Chocolate and Oxytocin Have Nothing to Do with Love
Oxytocin has nothing to do with love over than the fact that love may stimulate it. Oxytocin is a reaction, it is not a cause. If you eat large quantities of dark chocolate, then you may feel feelings that are similar to what you feel when you are in love, but it doesn’t feel like love, just like eating large quantities of chocolate doesn’t feel like an orgasm, nor does it feel like holding a baby. Love generates Oxytocin, just like jogging generates endorphins. Oxytocin or the lack of it has nothing to do with love. The idea that people fall in love for about a year and a half until the Oxytocin finally stops pumping is a myth. The body stops producing Oxytocin after a while because your body and mind are sufficiently bonded to the spouse or child in question, so your body stops creating biochemical triggers to generate bonds.
Conclusion – I Am A University Student, Should I Eat Chocolate?
Yes, you should. Chocolate has plenty of health benefits. In fact, the only time it is bad for you is if you eat it in excess or if you have a per-existing health condition. Yet, the same is true for most things. Salt, oil, and even radioactive potassium is good for you in moderation but bad for you if you eat too much. There are even aquaholics who have died because they drank too much water, and water is just about the best thing anybody can put into their body. Yes, you should eat chocolate if you are a university student.
