Connecting dark moods and chocolate

Chocolate lovers rejoiced when research tied their favorite food to heart health at least the dark kind rich in antioxidants. Now a new study hints that dark moods might be linked to eating more chocolate.Researchers from the Davis and San Diego branches of the University of California systematically tracked down any relationship between chocolate and mood. They turned to a cholesterol study that involved about a thousand healthy men and women. The participants were asked questions about their diet, including how often they ate chocolate. They also completed a questionnaire used to screen people for depression.

People who scored high enough to be considered depressed said they ate an average of 8.4 servings of chocolate per month, with a serving equal to one small bar, or about 1 ounce. That was significantly more than the 5.4 servings consumed by people not considered depressed. Those who appeared to have major depression reported higher amounts of chocolate: 11.8 servings per month.