How does chocolate make you feel? According to a new study published in the April 26, 2010 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, eating more chocolate may actually make you feel depressed.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego studied 1018 adults without diabetes or known coronary artery disease, 694 of whom were adult men and 324 of whom were adult women. Of these study participants, 931 were not using antidepressant medications and they were given chocolate in order to examine the relationship between chocolate consumption and depressed mood. Mood was assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The researchers found that those study participants whose CES-D screening was positive for possible depression had higher chocolate consumption, with an average of 8.4 servings per month. In addition, CES-D scores increased with increasing chocolate consumption. 

Although this study suggests a link between chocolate consumption and depression in both men and women, further study is needed to verify a causal relationship.

Source:

Arch Intern Med. 2010; 170: 699-703.