Taylor Lee

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
Charles M. Schulz

Valentine’s Day has come and gone but if you’re a Romantic Suspense writer like I am, love and romance is a 365 day a year adventure. While science and romance may seem to be at odds I love it when science studies issues critical to those of us who write (and love) Romantic Suspense. The scientific study below (reported by Diana Herrington@DancinginLife) asks: Which is a more powerful sexual turn on – a piece of chocolate or a kiss from the person you love most? Think you know the answer? Read on.

“According to a study at Mind Lab, chocolate stimulated the brain more intensely than a kiss with a partner. They had 6 couples in their 20s wear heart and brain monitors. Each person in the study placed a piece of dark chocolate on their tongue and let it melt without chewing. Later, the couples kissed in the way they normally would. What the study found was that when the chocolate melted in the mouth, all areas of the brain were stimulated far more intensely. Their hearts even beat faster for longer after the chocolate than the intimate embrace.

Chocolate is famous for containing a ‘Love Drug’ because it triggers feelings of attraction, euphoria and excitement, mimicking the brain chemistry of a person in love. Dr. David Lewis, one of the researchers at MindLab, said: “There is no doubt that chocolate beats kissing hands down when it comes to providing a long-lasting body and brain buzz. A buzz that, in many cases, lasted four times as long as the most passionate kiss.”

Chocolate contains approximately 380 known chemicals, some of which promote serotonin production which boosts our mood and eases depression. They give a hormone rush that is similar to the rush of love-making as the pleasure center of the brain is triggered somewhat similarly to the peaks during an orgasm.

Chocolate has had a reputation as being an aphrodisiac throughout history. This dates back to the Mayan period from about 250 AD to 900 AD. The Mayans were chocoholics and highly valued the cacao bean. A man could hire a prostitute for eight to ten cacao beans. Rumor has it that the Aztec emperor Montezuma, known for being a hot lover, drank 50 cups of cacao a day before heading off to his harem.

Nonetheless, the actual truth is cacao has never been fully proven to be an aphrodisiac. It does have the chemical composition, but in quantities so small you would need to consume as much as the emperor Montezuma did (which is not recommended).

Without question, chocolate has been proven to be a “Feel good food.” Research proves that its ingredients help relax us mentally and physically and brings a sense of wellbeing which can promote sexual interest. Since chocolate improves mood, it can improve sex; but it does not need to strictly be an aphrodisiac.”

Back to the question: “Which is more powerful —a yummy piece of chocolate or a kiss from the person you love the most?”  My answer:  Why choose?  Double your odds.  Have them both!

 

I admit that I am an exercise addict–seven days a week without fail. That’s my good side! However I’m also a confirmed sugar-holic and am always on the alert for ways to beat my sugar cravings. I love good food and eat out at least four nights every week. So what makes me unable to resist the high calorie menu entries determined to blow my daily calorie count? According to a research study I saw it’s not the gorgeous pictures or the lusciously erotic descriptions of that salted caramel indulgence. Are you ready for this? It’s your waiter! And not because he’s trying to inflate your check.

Nope, according to a study published in the journal Environment and Behavior in Dec 2015, the research found a link between your waiter’s body mass index and how much you’ll order. Researchers observed “497 interactions between diners and servers in 60 different restaurants for the study. They found that diners ordered more menu items when served by a server with a high BMI—specifically, they were four times as likely to order dessert, and they ordered 17 percent more alcoholic drinks.”

“No one goes to a restaurant to start a diet. As a result, we are tremendously susceptible to cues that give us a license to order and eat what we want,” lead researcher Tim Doering said in a press release from the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, which funded the study. “A fun, happy, heavy waiter, might lead a diner to say ‘What the heck’ and to cut loose a little.”

Now you know to request unhappy, non-smiling, obnoxiously skinny waiters, if you want to survive your meal without binging on dessert. But you also should know that eating foods prepared away from home on a frequent basis has been linked to obesity, higher body fat and a higher BMI—and women who eat food prepared away from home more than five times a week were found to consume an extra 290 calories a day on average.

BTW, even reading the above study I thoroughly enjoyed the chocolate mousse cake I ordered last night with the salted caramel topping oozing over the plate. And yes, my waiter was a riot–fun, happy and delighted when I told him about the study….

Okay, sign up my newsletter and I’ll give a $10 dollar gift card to the person who ordered the most outrageous dessert. And do tell us if your waiter was fun, happy and heavy…