26 replies to this topic

[Johan]

Yesterday I had a really strange reaction to dark chocolate. I ate some sugar-free 100% cocoa dark chocolate, and for the following seven hours, all sorts of things started happening:

• Almost immediately afterwards and for some six hours following, I felt really giddy and hyper-energetic, like I expect one would feel after ingesting too much caffeine (I never drink coffee or any highly caffeinated beverage, so I don't know, but that's my guess).
• After a few hours, I started to feel nauseous. This lasted for two or three hours, with varying intensity.
• When I was at the bathroom, I had this sudden bowel movement, and my heart rate suddenly jumped for a few minutes before settling down gradually.
• I also felt like I had a fever of some kind, though that passed within an hour or so.

I feel completely normal now, but I had to call 911 and talk to a toxicologist at a point, because I thought I was going to have some serious problems.
Does anyone know what might have been the cause of this? I've never had a reaction like this to anything else in my life.

[salamandyr]

Yesterday I had a really strange reaction to dark chocolate. I ate some sugar-free 100% cocoa dark chocolate, and for the following seven hours, all sorts of things started happening:

• Almost immediately afterwards and for some six hours following, I felt really giddy and hyper-energetic, like I expect one would feel after ingesting too much caffeine (I never drink coffee or any highly caffeinated beverage, so I don't know, but that's my guess).
• After a few hours, I started to feel nauseous. This lasted for two or three hours, with varying intensity.
• When I was at the bathroom, I had this sudden bowel movement, and my heart rate suddenly jumped for a few minutes before settling down gradually.
• I also felt like I had a fever of some kind, though that passed within an hour or so.

I feel completely normal now, but I had to call 911 and talk to a toxicologist at a point, because I thought I was going to have some serious problems.
Does anyone know what might have been the cause of this? I've never had a reaction like this to anything else in my life.

if you are taking anything that's a MAO-inhibitor, chocolate might trigger these kind of symptoms.
did you feel any heart racing, flushing, ringing in your ears (any obvious changes in blood pressure)?

and there is caffeine in chocolate - more in dark than milk, of course.
maybe you just had a strong reaction to the caffeine, since you don't drink "strongly caffeinated beverages". the hyperactivty, bowel mvmt, nausea and heart palpitations can all be explained by that.

[Johan]

I'm not taking any kind of medication, and I have never done, so that can be safely excluded.

My conclusion is that it was probably the caffeine. The only thing I drink that might contain some caffeine is white tea, so as you say, I might be really sensitive to its effects.

[salamandyr]

I'm not taking any kind of medication, and I have never done, so that can be safely excluded.

My conclusion is that it was probably the caffeine. The only thing I drink that might contain some caffeine is white tea, so as you say, I might be really sensitive to its effects.

ya, and the 6 hr effect also suggests caffeine.

[Matt]

I wrote back in 2006 that I become more sensitive to caffeine after almost a year of calorie restriction. Also more sensitive to the effects of drugs/medications in general.

Edited by Matt, 16 September 2008 - 09:33 PM.

[Johan]

No more dark chocolate for me, then. I hope I can still drink white tea, though - I haven't felt any significant effect due to tea consumption so far.

[Matt]

Then maybe it was something else other than the caffeine. I still drink green tea and dark chocolate. I know vegetables like broccoli can increase a P450 enzyme to help eliminate caffeine faster from the body.

Edited by Matt, 16 September 2008 - 10:13 PM.

[lucid]

Well that is very bizzare. It doesn't sound like you had an allergic reaction to the chocolate: did you turn red or have hives?

I have felt slightly nauseous after eating lots of pure chocolate on a rather empty stomach. One of the nice things about cocoa is that it is supposed to alleviate hunger (I recall that this is done by acting as a base in the presence of the acidic stomach acid).

As to the caffine, cocoa has very little caffine in it. It does however have another generally more mild related stimulant: Theobromine. This stimulant more weakly affects the central nervous system but more strongly affects the heart as a stimulant.

A quote from wiki about theobromine:

Theobromine can cause sleeplessness, tremors, restlessness, anxiety, as well as contribute to increased production of urine.[33] Additional side effects include loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting.[35]

Advanced theobromine poisoning can produce seizures and arrhythmias, so you were probably right to call 911. Varieties of cocoa beans can differ by 4 fold in the amount of theobromine they produce so maybe you could find a bean that better suits you.

I would hate to give up my 100% pure cocoa where as I have about 20+grams per day, but in your case, im not sure what I would do. How much did you take?

Edited by lucid, 16 September 2008 - 10:26 PM.

[VictorBjoerk]

Yesterday I had a really strange reaction to dark chocolate. I ate some sugar-free 100% cocoa dark chocolate, and for the following seven hours, all sorts of things started happening:

• Almost immediately afterwards and for some six hours following, I felt really giddy and hyper-energetic, like I expect one would feel after ingesting too much caffeine (I never drink coffee or any highly caffeinated beverage, so I don't know, but that's my guess).
• After a few hours, I started to feel nauseous. This lasted for two or three hours, with varying intensity.
• When I was at the bathroom, I had this sudden bowel movement, and my heart rate suddenly jumped for a few minutes before settling down gradually.
• I also felt like I had a fever of some kind, though that passed within an hour or so.

I feel completely normal now, but I had to call 911 and talk to a toxicologist at a point, because I thought I was going to have some serious problems.
Does anyone know what might have been the cause of this? I've never had a reaction like this to anything else in my life.

How much chocolate did you consume? more than 100 g?

Dark chocolate contains little coffein compared to eg coca-cola so one would expect that you couldn't even manage to eat such large quantities of dark chocolate to induce caffeine poisoning.
Even let's say you are sensitive because of CR and never consuming caffeine otherwise your tolerance should still be at least 50% of the average person. (which still makes it unlikely to get caffeine poisoned by "some dark chocolate")

What about your food intake otherwise during that day? what about anxiety? what did your toxicologist say?

[Johan]

[...]did you turn red or have hives? [...] How much did you take?

No, I didn't. And I would guess at somewhere between 40-50 g.

What about your food intake otherwise during that day? what about anxiety? what did your toxicologist say?

My food intake was otherwise completely normal (for me): breakfast consists of oatmeal porridge and soy milk, topped with blueberries, almonds and cinnamon, as well as a kiwi fruit and a whey protein shake. Same for supper in the evening. For lunch, I had spinach, chickpeas and a pair of tomatoes, along with napa cabbage and almonds. To this I had a glass of soymilk with added whey protein. Dinner was salmon with brown rice, avocado and broccoli.

I've never had any significant anxiety as far as I know, apart from the fact that I did feel pretty anxious when all these things started happening after I ate the chocolate. The toxicologist I spoke to basically told me to take it easy, and call back if it got worse.

[methuselahAD]

[...]did you turn red or have hives? [...] How much did you take?

No, I didn't. And I would guess at somewhere between 40-50 g.

What about your food intake otherwise during that day? what about anxiety? what did your toxicologist say?

My food intake was otherwise completely normal (for me): breakfast consists of oatmeal porridge and soy milk, topped with blueberries, almonds and cinnamon, as well as a kiwi fruit and a whey protein shake. Same for supper in the evening. For lunch, I had spinach, chickpeas and a pair of tomatoes, along with napa cabbage and almonds. To this I had a glass of soymilk with added whey protein. Dinner was salmon with brown rice, avocado and broccoli.

I've never had any significant anxiety as far as I know, apart from the fact that I did feel pretty anxious when all these things started happening after I ate the chocolate. The toxicologist I spoke to basically told me to take it easy, and call back if it got worse.

Hi Johan,

From my personal experiences, I have had an adverse reaction to a 'chocolate overdose'. Several years ago I tried a fruit juice and cocoa powder drink mixture ( I was trying to determine whether the antioxidants in chocolate would produce a noticeable effect on the body). It was a very large dose of cocoa powder!

I experienced several hours of strong nausea and toxic effect in my head. My reactions were sluggish and I felt the overwhelming need to sleep. Chocolate also contains theobromine. You might want to google a link about chocolate chemistry for more information. Also I think I read about some of the ingredients in chocolate being related to the cannabinoid family of plants.

Not going to try that one again that's for certain!

Edited by methuselahAD, 18 October 2008 - 10:40 AM.

[dagger]

I'm not taking any kind of medication, and I have never done, so that can be safely excluded.

You sure you do not take anything at all? No herbs, nothing? There can be maoi activity in many kinds of herbs, like St. John's Wort.

[Johan]

You sure you do not take anything at all? No herbs, nothing? There can be maoi activity in many kinds of herbs, like St. John's Wort.

Well, I do take 500 mg of rhodiola per day - that's all. Wikipedia says that "Rhodiola rosea's effects potentially are related to optimizing serotonin and dopamine levels due to monoamine oxidase inhibition and its influence on opioid peptides such as beta-endorphins, although these specific neurochemical mechanisms have not been clearly documented with scientific studies." It doesn't provide any references, and I haven't read any studies reporting that result.

[dagger]

Well, I do take 500 mg of rhodiola per day - that's all

It seems like rhodiola might possibly be a mao inhibitor, but the info seems inconclusive. So, it might be possible that the two of them interacted in some way. Probably some potentiation of something in the chocolate.

From the book "The rhodiola revolution":

Be aware though, that if you are taking a stimulating medication, rhodiola rosea may increase its stimulant action.

Edited by dagger, 24 October 2008 - 06:49 AM.

[JackChristopher]

I have similar psychoactive and physiological effects, but they're not as intense: low euphoria, increase libido (and heart rate/BP), and eventually foggy brain from the overwhelm. This was particularly pronounced when I first tried 100%s. It doesn't happen much now.

But I think the other factors mention in the thread probably contributed to how you reacted more intensely.

[Matt]

I had a whole bar of dark chocolate last night, tried to sleep an donly slept for 3 hours, with 3 nightmares!? lol. maybe it was the dark chocolate =/ My heart rate was increased for hours also.

[quasi13]

I had a whole bar of dark chocolate last night, tried to sleep an donly slept for 3 hours, with 3 nightmares!? lol. maybe it was the dark chocolate =/ My heart rate was increased for hours also.

Most people seem to blame the caffeine, but I think it's the theobromine. Chocolate/cocoa seems to have a much stronger effect on me than getting around the same amount caffeine from coffee, so that's my reasoning. I always crash hard (harder than a caffeine crash) after about 6 hours on a cocoa buzz.

For a treat, I add cocoa powder to my blueberries + coconut milk + vanilla whey protein breakfast.

[Skötkonung]

I had an issue with 99-100% dark chocolate reducing my quality of sleep so I made a rule to not consume it after noon.

I've had some bad reactions to caffeine before and it sounds like you could have been experiencing symptoms of too much stimulant. Once before a workout, I had a VISO energy drink that contains 300mg of caffeine per container. It was great at first, but as the caffeine continued to metabolize, I experienced most of the symptoms you listed in your post with exception of the GI distress.

My recommendation is that you perform a little test: try consuming the same relative amount of chocolate and see if the results are replicable. If you don't feel comfortable doing that, try consuming half the original amount. If that proves safe, consume thee quarters the original quantity.

[debu]

I have similar psychoactive and physiological effects, but they're not as intense: low euphoria, increase libido (and heart rate/BP), and eventually foggy brain from the overwhelm. This was particularly pronounced when I first tried 100%s. It doesn't happen much now.

But I think the other factors mention in the thread probably contributed to how you reacted more intensely.

At or over 1 1/2 bars of 80plus cacao does this same thing to me.

[adamh]

You say it was sugar free chocolate. Sugar free usually means sugar substitute. What did they put in in place of sugar? That might be what you are allergic to or that in combination with something else. Have you never eaten chocolate before? I just doubt that such a small amount of caffeine would produce such a big reaction.

[nameless]

I agree with adamh. It sounds more like a side effect to whatever they sweetened it with. Aspartame + sugar alcohols could cause some of the problems you mentioned.

*Realizes after posting that we are replying to a thread started almost a year ago*

Edited by nameless, 04 August 2009 - 03:24 AM.

[kenj]

I've heard about reactions to dark chocolate before, the regular dark kind w/o aspartame/sugar substitutes, - I don't think aspartame etc. is the major culprit behind this, - as mentioned, perhaps theobromine and caffeine is likely to cause adverse effects; maybe even a novel elevation of dopamine may be percieved as uncomfortable/odd.

[Matt]

I've never had issues with aspartame, probably one of those you mentioned kenj. I do notice increase in heart rate after consuming dark chocolate.

[JLL]

I also notice increased energy and heart rate from dark chocolate. When combined with coffee, the effects sometimes seem to last even until bedtime, making it difficult to fall asleep.

[adamh]

The OP didn't say it was the first time he had eaten chocolate so it's very doubtful he is allergic to chocolate or to caffeine. He did say it was sugarless. Allergic or toxic reactions to aspartame are not at all unheard of and we don't know what was in it to take the place of sugar. Assuming it's because it was dark chocolate is a big assumption. If he had eaten regular dark chocolate with regular sugar in it and not had a reaction or did have one, then that would pretty much prove what it was or at least narrow it down a lot.

[Johan]

Well, I did eat some regular dark chocolate (86% cocoa or something) a few days ago and noticed (subjectively) an increased heart rate, but nothing else. I have consumed aspartame-sweetened things before with no ill effects, so I don't think that was the problem. And coffee doesn't have the same effect, on the few occasions that I drink it (again, my subjective opinion). Perhaps I'm sensitive to theobromine but not caffeine? On the other hand, I would expect some sort of effect from caffeine as well, since the two molecules are quite similar. Wikipedia states that theobromine has a more pronounced effect on the heart than caffeine, though. It would be interesting to do some experimenting with coffee, to see if I react to it in a similar way as to dark chocolate (as long as I don't risk my good health, of course).

Edited by Johan, 05 August 2009 - 08:32 PM.

[Babak]

You say it was sugar free chocolate. Sugar free usually means sugar substitute. What did they put in in place of sugar? That might be what you are allergic to or that in combination with something else. Have you never eaten chocolate before? I just doubt that such a small amount of caffeine would produce such a big reaction.

I had the same reaction to Dark 85% Chocolate today. I had 100gr's of it last night and woke up nauseated and a little woozy. I took Gravol and slept it off. It's 9pm the next day now and I'm still a little nauseous. I researched it and this is what I can tell you with relative certainty. The nauseating effect is from 2 factors: 1st the massive dehydration of your stomach tissue and 2nd the mild toxins in dark chocolate whose effects are exaggerated by the dehydration. I'm a coffee addict so I can tell you it has almost nothing to do with the caffeine. Dark chocolate in large quantities dehydrates and thickens the blood resulting in migraines and nausea. DO NOT EAT MORE THAN 100gr of 85% DARK CHOCOLATE IN ONE SITTING ...