Improve your mood… with chocolate

Improve your mood… with chocolate

It’s not news that eating chocolate makes you feel good, butyou don’t need to eat it to benefit from the effects – the aroma of chocolateis enough to have mood-boosting effects. To prove this theory, Dr Neil Martin,a psychology lecturer from Middlesex University, exposed participants tochocolate, machine oil – which most people find unpleasant – and a lemony,pleasant-but-alerting odour, then monitored their moods. 

“The aim was to compare the effects of pleasant andunpleasant ambient odours on stress, anxiety, depression and mood,” explainsMartin. “And while we’re still continuing the experiment, so far it seems thesmell of chocolate really does make people less stressed and anxious, and morerelaxed. It’s definitely worth having a sniff for a minute or two (to benefitfrom) chocolate’s mood-enhancing qualities.”

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