title: The sweet life: The effect of mindful chocolate consumption on mood.
abstract: Chocolate consumption is anecdotally associated with an increase in happiness, but little experimental work has examined this effect. We combined a food type manipulation (chocolate vs. crackers) with a mindfulness manipulation (mindful consumption vs. non-mindful consumption) and examined the impact on positive mood. Participants (N = 258) were randomly assigned to eat a small portion (75 calories) of chocolate or a control food (crackers) in a mindful or non-mindful way. Participants who were instructed to mindfully eat chocolate had a greater increase in positive mood compared to participants who were instructed to eat chocolate non-mindfully or crackers either mindfully or non-mindfully. Additional analyses revealed that self-reported liking of the food partially mediated this effect. Chocolate appears to increase positive mood, but particularly when it is eaten mindfully.
authors.affiliation: Gettysburg College, USA. Electronic address: bmeier@gettysburg.edu.
authors.forename: Brian P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.affiliation: Gettysburg College, USA.
authors.forename: Sabrina W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Noll
authors.affiliation: Gettysburg College, USA.
authors.forename: Oluwatobi J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Molokwu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D002182:Candy; D000069956:Chocolate; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000523:psychology*; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D064866:Mindfulness; D010414:Pennsylvania; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Candy; Chocolate; Mindfulness; Mood; Positive affect