Can Chocolate Help Ease Headaches?

Chocolates have always been known for their mood-lifting properties. Even a small amount causes a person’s body to release serotonin, a feel-good chemical. The delicious dessert can help people feel better emotionally, but chocolate may also have additional medicinal properties.

Whether or not chocolates can help headaches depends on several factors. First, chocolate contains both sugar and caffeine, two ingredients that significantly affect the human body. People can become too attached to either of these ingredients, and sudden withdrawal of sugar or caffeine can cause migraines and headaches.

Caffeine and sugar aren’t necessarily bad for headaches, however. For example, people who experience migraines will often use a small amount of caffeine to help support blood flow. Caffeine alleviates headaches momentarily, but when a person stops their intake, a person’s nerves take on additional pressure.

Caffeine alleviates headaches momentarily, but when a person stops their intake, a person’s nerves take on additional pressure.

Chocolate only has roughly a quarter of the caffeine that coffee has, increasing the blood flow in the short term and preventing migraines from lingering. In addition, cocoa beans have the added benefit of lowering blood pressure, making chocolate a better way to caffeinate during a headache.

These benefits, alongside mood-improving characteristics, make chocolate a good option for alleviating headaches. Besides eating chocolate, headaches and migraines can be soothed by hydrating well, relaxing in a dimly-lit area, and relieving head tension.

Out of all the different chocolate varieties, dark chocolate is the closest to the cocoa bean. This means dark chocolate has the most nutrition and is the best chocolate to relieve a headache.

Dilettante Chocolates has many ways to help headaches, from hand-dipped truffles to chocolate-covered espresso beans. View Dilettante's selection of quality couverture chocolate and ensure a favorite flavor on hand when needed.

Ryan

Raised in the Pacific Northwest, Ryan has a fondness for the outdoors, music, and coffee. Some of his favorites are Dilettante's Chocolate-Covered Bing Cherries and L'Orange Truffles. Through his writing and content, he hopes to grow the Dilettante community.