Debbie Noda

Image courtesy of MCT Campus

Chocolate: an antidote to a broken heart, a child’s cries or a stressful day.

It’s splattered across dessert menus, glistening from television screens and melting in the mouths of millions.  There is no escape from the power of chocolate, and it’s obvious why.  The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) reports that melting chocolate on one’s tongue causes an increase in brain activity and heart rate that is more intense and lasts four times longer than a passionate make-out session.

If the BBC’s word isn’t good enough, take it from me. When I take a bite of chocolate, my cheeks flush with pleasure. The negative aspects of my life shoot away in a firework of endorphins. My heart thumps with an intensity only matched by watching Cops or Gossip Girl. A section of my backpack is literally filled with emergency chocolate. Actually it isn’t, but I’ll get on that ASAP.

Some “physicians” claim that compulsive chocolate-eaters like me are prone to obesity. But according to research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, people who eat chocolate on a regular basis have a lower BMI (Body Mass Index) than those who eat it less often. The Huffington Post explains that chocolate is packed with filling fiber, so regular chocolate consumption can help ward off hunger and actually encourage weight loss.

Even if chocolate causes obesity, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Just look at some of the fantastic fat folks who changed the world: Henry VIII, Winston Churchill, Catherine the Great. Even Elvis Presley went to the fat side later on in life.

So here’s to a guiltless double chocolate milkshake, a sinless Reese’s peanut butter cup, an innocent Dove bar with every meal. Here’s to one of the greatest pleasures in the Milky Way and the center of my life: chocolate.