Chocoholics Anonymous

Well, I've been trying to get my mind off that damn Popeye's fried chicken all day!! For the most part, I was pretty successful and when my mind tricked me into thinking I smelled fried chicken, I just made myself think of my beloved. Chocolate.

As I was eating a chocolate pudding and enjoying the creamy texture combined with the saisfying bite of the chocolate flavor, I got to thinking. I've loved and eaten chocolate my whole life, and I joke that I'm addicted to it. But can people really be addicted to this Food of the Gods...this wonderful ambrosia?!!

So I googled my question. Wow, lots of websites about the Chocolate Addiction. And there was one website that I visited run by some Mormons that said that chocolate is evil and you should keep it away from your kids. Evil? That's a might bit dramatic!! I think there's plenty of real evil out there to where we don't need to be adding something as trivial as chocolate to the list.

I found plenty of websites both medical and non-medical that discuss chocolate, its component constituents, potential benefits or detriments, and whether the addiction is psychological or physiological. Here's a news flash! One of the detriments of chocolate discussed was that if you're an addict and are dieting and give in to your cravings and eat too much of it, it will sabotage your weight loss efforts. No, Really? The same could be said of Twinkies! I hope that one wasn't a government funded study!

There were also several personal pages where people talked about their terrible addiction to chocolate and how it adversely affected their lives. What?! This is chocolate that we're talking about. And can you really be addicted to chocolate? Oh wait, I do have a flash back to my early 20s and it was late at night and I was having a really bad craving. I frantically looked in all the cupboards and drawers for a candy bar or toll house morsels or even a hershey's kiss. Doh nothing! I checked the freezer for chocolate ice cream. Damn there was none. I really had to have something chocolatey, and it was almost midnight too late to go out. Then I saw it. A can of Nestle Quik powder. But I was jonesing bad for some strong chocolate and chocolate milk was not going to cut it. I grabbed a spoon and took a heaping scoop and put in my mouth and swirled it around to make a nice chocolatey paste. Ahhh. One more scoop and I was satisfied. Ahhhh. I took a swig of milk, brushed my teeth and went back to bed to fall instantly asleep...and satisfied. Nah...that's not addiction that's just crazy and I only did that that one time. Really! No really, uh huh!

My intent is not to trivialize anyone's struggle or pain even if it's with chocolate. I do admit that reading that some people have a real problem with it in much the same way that someone would have with alcohol or drugs did surprise me. But upon further reflection, I guess this is another illustration of human nature and relativity. One person's ambrosia is apparently another person's poison.

I do eat chocolate every day, but not much. As long as I get a taste, that's really all I need. Mid-afternoon everyday, I eat one small piece of chocolate like a hershey's kiss or dove heart or ghiradelli square. And I'm satisified. I know when to stop and I'm not overweight. I just really like the sensory experience of chocolate. So until there's a Surgeon General's warning pasted on the side of my chocolate bar, I will continue eating it to my heart's content! And even then, I'm not sure I'd stop! But that's not addiction...nope...nu uh.

Hey...well at least this got my mind off that damn fried chicken for a while!