Excerpts from the book....

Heartbreak

Recommendation: Unlimited dark organic chocolate baking squares as needed, call friends in the morning.  Avoid sappy movies about lovers , sad or melancholy music, depressing books and rain.

Supporting Evidence: Admittedly, a prescription to eat baking chocolate is extreme, but a broken heart calls for drastic measures and the darker the better.  Chocolate contains a very powerful amphetamine called phenylethylamine (PEA).  PEA triggers a release of natural opiates in the brain and induces a feeling of bliss. PEA is also the same chemical the brain emits when you experience the rush of falling in love.  And not surprisingly, there's even a substantial increase in PEA in the brain during orgasm.  Clearly it satisfies at least a few of our basic love needs without the arguments or frustration of trying to understand the opposite sex.  And at a trivial $3.00 or less per bar, it's a superb value compared to $150+/hour for therapy.  It's no mystery as to why it's a good idea to pamper a lovesick heart with a chocolate one. 

Food Cravings

Recommendation:  1 square milk chocolate, 1 square dark chocolate, one cup hot cocoa made with real cocoa power and sugar.  Repeat as needed until cravings subside, up to a maximum of 2 oz. of chocolate per day.  

Supporting Evidence:   This is hardly a surprising statistic--more than half of all food cravings are said to involve chocolate.  Another "astounding" fact--chocolate is the number one food women crave.  And of those who declared chocolate to be their top craving, 75% stated that only chocolate would curb their craving.  In other words, denying a craving or trying to curb it by eating something else isn't likely to work.  It's better to cave into a craving and not feel guilty about it than it is to eat hundres of additional calories trying to avoid it.  Not only will it provide peace of mind, but it will keep the body healthier as well. 

For example, if you eat 500 calories of sugar-free cookies and low-carb chips but still want chocolate, you're over the limit by 500 calories and still left with the original craving.  According to Debra Waterhouse, author of "Why Women Need Chocolate," a chocolate craving can be statisfied by consuming just one Hershey's kiss (25 calories).  Even a 10 kiss/250 calorie splurge is better than a binge on everything in sight while trying to avoid a craving. 

Chocolate's perfectly balanced blend of sugar and fat uniquely affects food cravings.  The brain contains an amino acid peptide called galanin that stimulates the appetite.  The fat in chocolate curbs the affect of galanin, reducing the need to eat.  People also biologically crave fat when endorphins are low.  Consumption of chocolate helps release both endorphins and serotonin into the brain.  Endorphins transmit energy and feelings of euphoria, and serotonin evokes calm and mood stability. 

If that's not enough to have you running to the nearest chocolate store, cocoa also contains more than 400 distinct flavor compounds. It's conceivable that by eating just one little piece of chocolate, all of your extraneous cravings can be contained. 

So please make a note when addressing cravings--it's best to just go right to the source of the problem.  Attempting to avoid it may cause you to consume every morsel of food within a six mile radius.  Follow the prescription and end the craving before monumental damage is done.