Do You Have a "Chocolate Gut"?

Recently, quite a few people have been writing about the supposed addictive properties of chocolate. In fact, in mid-September Dr. Peter Rogers addressed members of the British Association for the Advancement of Science�s annual Festival of Science in York, England, regarding the findings of two such studies in particular.

Dr. Rogers noted that though chocolate can increase pleasure and lead to a reduction in stress and tension, that it does not appear to be addictive.

Enter Sunil Kochhar of the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland. He has co-authored a study that seems to tell a different story. Kochar believes that chocolate may, in fact, be addictive to humans...well, not really humans, but rather addictive to the bacteria that thrive inside the gut of humans.

Kochhar compared the blood and urine of 11 chocolate-eating men with 11 men who never ate chocolate (interestingly it took him a year to find 11 men who never ate chocolate).

What Kochhar found is that there were many different chemical differences between the two groups, and that some of them could be attributed to bacteria in the gut. Though more research needs to be done, it seems that some bacteria may crave chocolate and somehow impact the desire of their human host for that food.

As for Patric Chocolate's view on chocolate addiction, we believe that it can be simply explained:

Chocolate is incredibly delicious!

A bit more detail:

Chocolate is perhaps one of the most complex foods in terms of flavor. It is so complex that scientists, even moving into the 21st century, aren�t entirely sure what makes chocolate taste like chocolate. It is the intricacy of the texture, tastes, and aromas that lead to such great value from chocolate consumption, especially as higher quality chocolate is gradually coming to be available more often to more people. Ask almost anyone to choose between their favorite chocolate and any other item, and they will almost always choose chocolate. The experience is that powerful; Chocolate truly can be a sensory revelation.

To read more about Sunil Kochhar and his findings, view AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein's piece here.