According to the Virginia-based Chocolate Manufacturers Association and National Confectioners Association, Americans eat approximately 12 pounds of chocolate a year.
"Chocolate is the number one craved food, so this is sort of an in-house model of addiction," says cognitive neuroscientist Dana Small at Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago.
But the label “chocoholic” doesn't theoretically mean that you're addicted to the stuff. Scientists have found that, unlike alcohol or other addictive substances, chocolate does not actually produce the chemical changes in the brain or changes in the body, like tolerance and withdrawal, that are associated with addiction.
Yet to the self-confessed chocoholic, the addiction is very real. Some chocoholics may find themselves pacing the floor, wondering where their next chocolate “fix” is going to come from, or obsessing about chocolate, day in, day out.
It is possible to cure your cravings, without suffering the terrible withdrawals that you may fear. Some people may even be afraid to beat their cravings because they fear a life without chocolate! But it doesn't have to be like this – you can enjoy a small piece of chocolate every now and then without needing to eat the whole block.
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