How to Get Over Your Chocolate Hangover
By Nancy Lee Bentley, * Wholistic Health Expert. Posted on .
One Man’s Meat is another Woman’s Passion. While chocolate can promote feel good well-being in many people, it can trigger headaches, even migraines in people who are sensitive. The arginine in chocolate was even shown to promote herpes outbreaks.
Everyone is different. But You know your body better than anyone, so listen to it when it comes to this, and everything else you consume, for that matter.
Chocolate Overdose? While you’re more likely to hear about this in cats and dogs, the fact is if we eat enough chocolate, it can be toxic to us two-leggeds, as well. It’s called chocolate poisoning and is an overdose reaction to the alkaloid theobromine found in chocolate, tea, cola soft drinks and some other foods.
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Not usually fatal, but consuming large amounts of chocolate can be stressful and uncomfortable, and can produce serious side effects, mostly in the elderly. The first signs of theobromine poisoning are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and increased urination.
These can progress to cardiac arrhythmias, epileptic seizures, internal bleeding, heart attacks, and eventually death, according to the Hazardous Substances databank.. But this would require huge amounts, 2 oz to 1 pound for a dog, several pounds for an adult.
Chocolate can be Addicting. Since it’s high in a lot of those strong alkaloids, smaller amounts can disrupt neural pathways and promote dependency. Craving for chocolate, just like cravings for coffee, sweets, alcohol, drugs, nicotine, are all a tip-off that neurotransmitters, the chemicals in the endocrine system, are out of balance.
That’s your hormones, baby. Who doesn’t have cravings for at least one of these? What does that tell us about our overall health today? Read more details in my Addiction Pandemic: 7 Reasons We're Addicted to Everything article here on YourTango.com
But this is more likely to happen when you're in marginal nutritional shape, when you’re in “drive yourself” mode, your digestive or endocrine systems are out of whack, you’re under acute stress or anxiety.
Ever get that “stuck accelerator” feeling, like your engine is running on overdrive, but you can’t slow down or relax? This is a typical symptom of “adrenal exhaustion.” Another is rampant cortisol, producing belly fat. The sugars sweetening it can exacerbate this as much as the other compounds in the chocolate itself.
Okay, you had a wonderful, ecstatic, indulgent, chocolate-filled Valentine’s Day with your hubby or lover. Now you feel like crapola. What can you do?
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Don’t be too hard on yourself, but try some of the following
to get yourself back in balance:
