The MomSpeak

Everywhere we look, everything we read (assuming we have time to read), proclaims that women have trouble taking time for themselves. This is very old news. If you’re a mother, especially one with even one child in diapers, it’s pretty certain you have trouble even finding time for yourself, let alone taking it to indulge. We get it. But we also know that if we don’t treat ourselves once in a while, we’re more likely to respond to life’s unremitting demands by getting grumpy, impatient, and even more susceptible to stress. May we offer an unlikely and inexpensive path to joy: chocolate.

If you’re like most women, you think of chocolate as a guilty pleasure, emphasis on the guilt. You may lust for it, but try to resist for all the familiar, old school reasons – it’s fattening, bad for your heart, skin and teeth. Resist no more. Chocolate has joined red wine on the list of decadent things that are now actually good for you. Scientists have found that chocolate is good for the heart, the brain, even the libido. Certain natural substances in chocolate (called flavonoids) help lower blood pressure and slow the rate at which the body processes bad cholesterol. As if that weren’t good enough, some lab studies suggest that cocoa flavonoids not only act as antioxidants, preventing damage free radicals can cause in healthy cells, but may even reduce the growth of cancer cells.

But there’s more. In addition to tasting good, chocolate makes us feel good., because it contains a surprising number of positive psychoactive chemicals. By increasing the dopamine in the brain, these chemicals release endorphins, the same elements that contribute to runner’s high and good moods. Small amounts of caffeine in chocolate also supply an energy boost. Perhaps best of all, the serotonin in chocolate has been connected to an increase in sexual pleasure. A recent study by Italian doctors, funded by their university, not by the chocolate industry, suggested that women who eat chocolate regularly have a better sex life than those who don’t, and that women with low libido become “more amorous” after eating chocolate. A study done in Finland even found that babies born to women who had been eating chocolate daily while they were pregnant were more active and smiled more frequently than those born to women who hadn’t used chocolate to relieve their stress. Surely that’s enough carefully studied permission for anyone.

Obviously, moderation is called for here, but that’s just the point. A small bit of chocolate doesn’t cost very much and takes very little time to consume, but it offers just the small hit of pleasure that can save the day.