Around Christmas time, the amount of chocolate lying around the house increases greatly. Whether it’s advent calendars opened each morning, festive treats being baked or gift boxes of chocolates being shared out – chocolate is never far away.

Luckily, chocolate is more than just a sweet treat for your tastebuds, research found that the scent of chocolate has a significant calming effect on the brain. When a group of volunteers smelt chocolate, their brain waves showed a reduced attentiveness. The scientist who conducted the experiment explained that “It seems that the smell of chocolate really does make people less stressed and anxious, and more relaxed."

One of his earlier experiments also found that there was no need for chocolate snobbery either, the milk content of the bar produced no significant changes to the relaxation effect. With that great news, you can tuck into chocolate without any guilt this festive season.

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