The Drug-Like Characteristics of Chocolate

Families are a strange phenomenon it can be a source of mutual and beloving kinship or a deep pool of antagonism that can potentially destroy connections between one another. In the story Tita is bounded by her mother's command with her freedoms handicapped to take care of her mother given her role as the youngest daughter in the family. ...Esquivel's novel is about the hardships and tribulations of a family, as it shows many characteristics and traits about the acts of undying loyalty to an authority, which plays into the abusive power of cruelty, as this leads to isolation and suffering, thus creating a victim.

It is believed that certain individuals are predisposed or vulnerable to addiction based on biological, psychological and social influences. The euphoric high produced by many addictive substances is the result of overstimulation of the “pleasure center” of the brain. This is the same area that controls emotions, fear, self-control and overall feelings of wellness. The presence of these foreign chemicals creates a response that the brain will crave as soon as it fades. The brain’s chemistry works against its own health, as it rewires its decision making faculties around the primary goal of finding and taking more of the drug” (1). Many people mistakenly believe that psychological addiction is somehow less serious or real than physical addiction. The psychological aspects of addiction are much more challenging to repair and recover from than the physical addiction. Psychological addiction can last for years or even a lifetime.

In this article, “The Extraordinary Science Of Addictive Junk Food”, written by Michael Moss there are several sources used to try and prove that the junk foods that we consume on a daily basis aren’t healthy for us and have become addictive. Moss tackles the argument in a way of using rhetorical devices and figurative language to get his audience, which would be the consumers, to understand that the big companies that we’re giving our money to don’t care about our health, just whether or not we’re still eating their products. Moss’ association when dealing with diet and nutrition is his prime topic. According to the New York Times, Moss is the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book Salt, Sugar, Fat and also a Pulitzer-Prize winner investigative reporter. When I read this article Moss really had me drawn in because of his credibility.

Based off the novel with the same name by Laura Esquivel, the film Like Water for Chocolate cleverly uses food in order to not only help viewers get to know its characters but also to convey their feelings for one another. The film follows the De La Garza family living in their ranch in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution and centers around Tita, one of the three daughters in the family who falls madly in love with a young man named Pedro. Continuing an old family tradition that states the youngest daughter must stay home and take of the mother until she dies, Tita’s mother Elena forbids her from marrying him when he comes to ask for Tita’s hand. Elena convinces Pedro to instead marry Tita’s oldest sister Rosaura. It isn’t until later that Pedro reveals to Tita the real reason he chose to marry her sister was so he could remain close to her. The rest of the film shows how Tita deals with the painful reality of having her love become her brother-in-law and how these two fight to stay in one another’s life.

Kelly McCarthy wrote an article “Cookie Monster” which she included that a person may be using food to change their mood. She questioned: When you’re feeling blue, is the cookie jar your best friend? What about when you’re happy? McCarthy stated we tend to think of emotional eating as only for the depressed, but new research indicates that even people who say they are happy tend to throw back a couple of chocolate bars if they think the sweets will help them stay upbeat. A study published recently in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology revealed that about twice as many university students ate cookies, pretzels and cheese when they thought the food would affect their mood. Some thought the snack would make them feel happier, but others thought it would simply keep them feeling good. Both of these articles summarize the findings of psychological

McLellan. David Nutt is a professor at Edmond J. Safra Fundation. Besides, David Nutt is the Director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Division of Brain Science. Thomas M. McLellan is the Chief Executive Officer and cofounder of the Treatment Research Institute. In addition, Thomas M. McLellan is a substance abuse researcher. Moreover, McLellan served as Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. “Can Neuroscience Improve Addiction Treatment and Policies?” is a research that explains that the brain is the primary objective of psychoactive drugs. In the paper “Can Neuroscience Improve Addiction Treatment and Policies?” the authors state, “drugs are self-administered because they make people feel different – usually better”. They explain that the majority of the modifications related with drug consume are fast changes. The alterations produced by drugs are faster than most changes created by natural stimulus. Numerous activities that produce amusement feelings release neurotransmitters such as dopamine. The consume of drugs manufacture quickly and higher levels of neurotransmitters like dopamine. An important fact about the ingest of drugs according to the authors is that “this rapid release of reward-inducing experience is a significant part of the transition from exploratory, to regular, to compulsive use (addiction).”

This may not be considered disturbing to some with the great strides that Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT) have made over the past years, but in 1998, this segment had teenage boys freaking out.

In a report written by food scientist Steven Witherly, PhD ‘Why Humans Like Junk Food’ (2) the science of food addiction is explained thus.

From the day Tita entered the world, her fate was sealed with the De la Garza’s family tradition, which lead to the cause of her pain and suffering from the hands of her mother, Mama Elena. Tita and Mama Elena’s estranged relationship was oppressed with complications from Tita’s premature birth and the sudden death of her father, which caused Mama Elena to reject her nurturing nature and discard bonding with Tita. Although Tita’s emotions would leave her in a weakened mind state, her determination towards breaking the brutal convention, she is faced with, would begin to display her strength, through her visualization of a fulfilled life without the criticism of Mama Elena. While Tita

Addiction is like all behaviours “the business of the brain”. Addictions are compulsive physical and psychological needs from habit-forming sustenances like nicotine, alcohol, and drugs. Being occupied with or involved in such activities, leads a person who uses them again and again to become tolerant and dependent eventually experiencing withdrawal. (Molintas, 2006).

It was my birthday. Two things that I never thought would happen. One was me getting a chocolate lab I named Hazel,the second was losing a loved one.These two thing happened on one day that I will love and hate for the rest of my life.

“The Dark Side of Chocolate” is a documentary that explores the underlying issues prevalent in the cocoa trade. For most first world countries chocolate is seen as an accessible treat, however in third world countries, the production of cocoa creates social issues that must be eliminated. Cocoa trade is one of the largest industries in West African countries, but the issues that arise from such trade do more harm than good. The cocoa plantations are trafficking humans to work on their plantations. Furthermore, most instances suggest that these workers do not receive any compensation for their work and most importantly some of these slave laborers are children. Thus, the three issues that the cocoa companies routinely commit in exchange for lower costs are human trafficking, slave labor, and child labor. These companies are aware of such issues but refuse to actively combat them because they are better off financially. It can be argued that these issues can be mitigated through various social, governmental and political policies aimed at combating these problems. The three main issues will be addressed and the various stakeholders affected by these issues will be analyzed. Then this paper will look at the possible solutions to these issues, whereby through government, social or political means.

Research by Prof. Selena Bartlet from Queensland University of Technology, shows drug used to treat nicotine addiction could be used to treat sugar addiction. Pointing that sugar addiction should be treated as drug abuse. The research stated that excess sugar consumption elevate dopamine levels in the reward and pleasure ventral cortex of the brain, in a similar way to many drug of abuse including tobacco, cocaine and morphine.

As stated in the description of the Conche activity: 1.400kg of semisweet chocolate contains 850kg of nibs, in other words, 1kg of semi sweet chocolate  850/1400=0,6071kg of nibs

There are medical explanations for this phenomenon, although some argue as to which is the most correct. It is believed that women crave chocolate because it contains theobromine and caffeine, which provides improved mental clarity, and phenylethylamine, which stimulates the nervous system, increases blood pressure and heart rate, and produces similar feelings to that of being “in love” (WebMD, 2001). Some also say that the craving is caused by the body’s need for nutrients, such as magnesium.