Chocolate on Behavior

Abstract

This research is about chocolate and how it influences human's stress levels. The aim is to investigate to what extent chocolate can reduce stress levels. It has been found that nowadays stress is affecting most people in the world by different causes. Some hassles that cause stress are rising price of goods, home maintenance, too many things to do, misplacing or losing things, crime, physical appearance, and weight problem Kanner et al. (1981). In the future, stress is able to cause some serious diseases like heart disease and already cause deaths, so finding a way to reduce stress levels is an important thing to be done.

One of the solutions to reduce stress levels is by eating chocolate. Some researchers had shown that chocolate's ingredients like caffeine, theobromine, methyl-xanthine, and phenylethylalanie are able to lift moods and can be used as an anti-stress drugs. It is also able to uplift mood even though the person is not dealing with stress. However, some researchers show that caffeine in chocolate can in the other way increase stress levels, and it should be consume in a moderate amount since too much chocolate can increase moodiness. The conclusion is that it is not exact that chocolate can reduce human's stress levels since not all researches show it. In the other side, there are also another factors that can reduce that stress levels like uplifts and how the person copes with a certain problem.

Word count: 235 words

Introduction

There are various definitions of stress according to researchers. According to Richard Lazarus (1966), stress occurs when an individual perceives that the demands of an external situation are beyond his or her perceived ability to cope with them. It results from an imbalance between demands and resource. On the other side, S. Palmer (1989) said that it occurs when pressure exceeds your perceived ability to cope. By those definitions it can be said that stress happens when an individual demands for something but it can't be obtained as what they liked.

Doctors determined that stress could cause some major damage to a person's mind and heart. The physical damage of stress will not be visible for many years, thus it can kill someone suddenly, according to Nevid (2005). Psychologist who studied about stress also founded the link between stress, depression, and heart disease. Stress should not be considered a light thing since many people die every year from stress-related causes.

Nowadays it is very important to investigate deeper about this topic since stress levels are rising worldwide. A recent global survey of 1,000 corporations across 15 countries worldwide carried out by The Regus Group found that the levels of workplace stress have risen over the last two years. The survey founded that 6 out of 10 workers in significant global economies experiences increased in stress. The survey also founded that China had the highest rise in workplace stress (68%). Stress levels were costing the world billions of dollars in lost of productivity and health problems.

Stress levels are also high among world's entrepreneurs, not just the workers. A survey carried out by Grant Thornton's 2005 International Business Owners Survey (IBOS) shows that business owners in cities all over the world have more stress levels than past years. Research with more than 6,000 business owners in 24 countries shows that stress levels had raised more than a third. Because of those reasons above, which are so disadvantageous for people and their body, people tend to search for ways to overcome stress. There can be a lot of way to overcome stress, but eating is one of the easiest ways because it doesn't take too much time, and can be done in the middle of people's busy day. One of the foods that is said to be able to reduce stress is chocolate. Researchers at UC San Diego and UC Davis said that chocolate prompts the release of certain chemicals in the brain, such as dopamine, that produce feelings of pleasure in people who is having stress or negative mood. According to a research that is conducted by Beatrice Golomb, from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, chocolate can help to eliminate stress. From the research it can be concluded that the content of chocolate, which are caffeine, theobromine, methyl-xanthine, and phenylethylalanie are believed to improve mood, reduce fatigue that can be used to an anti-stress drug.

Even though there are many researches saying that eating chocolate can reduce human's stress levels, the real effect of it is still not exact. Gordon Parker, Isabella Parker, and Heather Brotchie from Australia's University of South Wales School of Psychiatry said that actually the concentrations of