The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behavior

Food Choice 57

Carbohydrates may influence mood but this effect is dependent on the
individual’s normal eating patterns.

Chocolate
The term chocoholism was coined at the beginning of the 1990s
(Hetherington and Macdiarmid, 1993) to describe the common craving for
chocolate, and the experience of needing chocolate and feeling better
when chocolate has been eaten. Those who define themselves in this way
have been shown to consume about 12 bars of chocolate per week, to crave
chocolate about six times per week, and to show higher levels of other forms
of eating-related problems. Studies also showed that “chocoholics” reported
an increase in arousal, greater craving, and lowered mood when exposed
to chocolate-related cues. The actual impact of chocolate on mood, how-
ever, is unclear. Macht and Dettmer (2006) explored the impact of eating
chocolate, an apple, or nothing and reported that both the apple and choco-
late reduced hunger and improved mood and levels of energy. Chocolate
was also accompanied by feelings of joy. In contrast, however, women in
particular also felt guilt. This supports earlier work which showed that
eating chocolate increased feelings of guilt (Hetherington and Macdiarmid,
1993; Macdiarmid and Hetherington, 1995; Tuomisto et al., 1999). But in
these studies, no effect on depression was found. Therefore, although people
may anticipate feeling better after eating chocolate, this may not always be
the case, as any positive consequences of eating chocolate may be quickly
accompanied by feelings of guilt.

Stress and eating

One psychophysiological approach to food choice has focused on the
relationship between stress and eating behavior. This section will explore
the link between stress and food intake. It will also describe mindless eating,
which occurs when the individual is not aware that they are consuming
food. (Parallels can be drawn between stress and eating and emotional
eating, which is described in chapter 8 with a focus on obesity although it
is also relevant to eating in general.)
The stress–eating link is complex and the research is often con-
tradictory. Some research has indicated that stress causes a reduction
in food intake. For example, animal studies using high levels of stress reported
a reduction in eating (Rowland and Antelman, 1976; Robbins and Fray,
1980), laboratory studies on humans reported that subjects ate less when