Chocaholics can rejoice

We’re very short of proper food tradition days here in New Zealand. We don’t pay much attention to Pancake Day or Thanksgiving, or Cinnamon Bun Day (October 4, Sweden) or Melon Day (August 9, Turkmenistan.)

So today’s pagan link with chocolate is always something to look forward to, practising Christians included.

It’s a fantastic day for the chocaholics. When the first thing you see when you open your eyes in the morning is kaleidoscopic tinfoil, what’s not to like? It’s permission to indulge your addiction on a day where everyone’s doing it in spades.

Until you’re told that chocolate addiction is actually not a thing. Research from Finland found that people who call themselves chocolate addicts salivated more and were more anxious around chocolate; their behaviour looks like addiction. But while chocolate has mood-altering ingredients, they’re the same ones you find in even higher concentrates in foods like broccoli. It’s the combination of the sweet, sweet smell, taste and texture that leads to chocolate cravings, not addiction.

Never mind, by the time you read this I’ll probably be on my fourth because Easter Eggs are my favourite kind of chocolate and this day only comes around once a year.