Mood and energy effects of coffee and chocolate

Question
Hi Tanya,

After drinking coffee I get a boost but later feel a little jittery or even a slight bit depressed.

I've tried drinking cocoa, sugar, & water since I heard cocoa has mood elevating chemicals in it & it supposedly contains a chemical that's a cousin of caffeine,(theobromine?), that gives one a boost but doesn't give one the jitters.

I've found this seems to be true. The cocoa drink gives me a slighter, more mellow boost & even improves my mood. The coffee gives a stronger energy boost but I get some elevated anxiety later on & my blood pressure goes up if I consume over a 16 oz. cup per day.

Have you run across any other persons having similar experiences?

Thanks for any advice.

Mike E.

Answer
Mike,

On one hand, you are not alone in your reactions to caffein versus theobromine, on the other hand, theobromine seems to have less consistent effect across individuals than caffein though for one person, the effect is highly reproducible as was shown in Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Unlike theobromine, caffein has strong effect on heart and blood vessels, which is similar to ephedrine effects, this can explain the difference.

Theobromine is not the only active ingredient of cocoa, caffein is present there's too though in much smaller quantities that in coffee: Dark chocolates contains 1.22 percent of theobromine and only 0.21 percent of caffeine.


Chocolate mood-energy effect has been attributed to rewarding effects of phenylethylamine or magnesium contained in chocolate. The chocolate craving is specific to chocolate and cant be satisfied by sweets in general or even white chocolate, which doesn't contain active ingredients known for their effect on mood and energy.

Read more:


Dark chocolate: benefits and calories
http://atkinszone-recipes.blogspot.com/2007/11/dark-chocolate-benefits-and-calor...

How does the caffeine in my daily coffee affect my body?
http://atkinszone-faq.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-does-caffeine-in-my-daily-coffee....

Is Chocolate a Health Food?
http://atkinszone-recipes.blogspot.com/2006/12/is-chocolate-health-food.html

Conquer the sweet tooth
http://atkinszon-lowcarb.blogspot.com/2007/09/my-plan-to-conquer-sweet-tooth.htm...

Tanya Zilberter

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