Monday, November 10, 2008

Sweet tooth

I am a chocolate addict.

Such a hopeless addict that I can polish off 2 bars of Cadbury's Fruit & Nut or Hershey's Symphony in a day and still crave more. I normally eat Cadbury's & Hershey's bars, because I can buy them in large quantities without going bankrupt. I like sweets in any shape or form, but am partial toward the sticky, milky goodness of chocolate.
Every time I buy a bar of chocolate, I try to delude myself into thinking I can make it last. I break off a piece (about 6-8 blocks - anywhere from 300-600 calories) and settle down in a cosy nook to nibble my chocolate and read a novel. Very soon, I am licking gooey chocolate off my fingers, and staring longingly at the refrigerator, where more is in store. I get up to break off another piece...and this goes on till my entire stock is depleted within a day or two.

I blame the marketing departments of the chocolate companies. I can never restrict my purchase to a single bar. There is always some deal or special price on 3 or more bars...how can an average penny-pinching, deal-watching, frugal-living middle class individual like me pass up the deal?

I am not partial to these brands, though. If providence presented me with a box of expensive Belgian chocolates, I would have no qualms about wolfing these down too, in a matter of minutes. What a waste, you might say. But though I gobble them up posthaste, be reassured that every ounce of chocolate is immensely appreciated by my sensitive palate.

So, when we got a gift hamper with this box of delectable Belgian chocolates from a friend over the weekend, I drooled over them, then opened the box up and promptly popped one, then another into my mouth.

Then, I stopped.

I had read that according to a study conducted by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, chocolates can contain toxins like tyramine, histamine, and phenylethylamine. Some foods have more biogenic amines than others but they are not listed on the food labels. And these biogenic amines can cause headaches...which I have been getting a lot of, lately. I have no doubt who the culprit is.

So, I decided to make this box last a fortnight. 1 piece of chocolate per day...14 chocolates in 2 weeks. I trained myself to run a marathon...it took determination and mental toughness. I should have enough will power to stave off a box of chocolates, no?

Stay tuned as I journey through chocolate rehab.

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