From Wired:
Scientists Explain Chocolate Cravings
By SETH BORENSTEINWASHINGTON (AP) -- If that craving for chocolate sometimes feels like it is coming from deep in your gut, that's because maybe it is.
A small study links the type of bacteria living in people's digestive system to a desire for chocolate. Everyone has a vast community of microbes in their guts. But people who crave daily chocolate show signs of having different colonies of bacteria than people who are immune to chocolate's allure. . .
. . . this isn't part of an effort to convert a few to the dark side (or even milk) side of cocoa, Kocchar said.
In fact, the study was delayed because it took a year for the researchers to find 11 men who don't eat chocolate.
Well, no surprise there. But why didn't they use women as subjects?
. . . a dozen substances were significantly different between the two groups. For example, the amino acid glycine was higher in chocolate lovers, while taurine (an active ingredient in energy drinks) was higher in people who didn't eat chocolate. Also chocolate lovers had lower levels of the bad cholesterol, LDL.
I'm tempted to make a Google alert for 'chocolate' -- it will be interesting to see where this research leads.
Maybe chocolate will be the new (old) aspirin!