Researchers at UC San Diego and UC Davis have studied the chocolate consumption and other dietary intake patterns of 931 men and women, who were not using antidepressants and found a link between chocolate consumption and depression.
The researchers also subjected these 931 people to a depression screening test.
The participants who were screened positive for possible depression consumed an average of 8.4 servings of chocolate per month, while the people who were not depressed consumed 5.4 servings per month.
The participants who scored highest on the mood tests consumed an average of 11.8 servings per month. The mood tests is done to gauge the level of depression.
The researchers also study the effect of other dietary factors that could be linked to mood, such as caffeine, fat and carbohydrate intake, but they found that only chocolate consumption was correlated with depression. However, the researchers said that its not clear how the use of chocolate was correlated with depression.
