心情難過的時候,來塊巧克力吧

The secret to why a bar of chocolate and even a cup of tea can make us feed good may finally have been discovered.

心情難過的時候，來塊巧克力就能讓我們心情好起來，有時候簡單的一杯熱茶也能讓我們倍感溫馨。衆多事實表明食物能改善我們的情緒，而其背後所隱藏的奧祕可能即將被研究人員所最終揭示出來。

Researchers today revealed that some flavours found in commonly eaten comfort foods are chemically similar to mood enhancing drugs – and could have a similar effect.

研究人員今天發表聲明稱，他們在通常被認爲是所謂的“安慰性”食物中發現了某些口味成分，其在化合組成上同某些緩解情緒的藥物相似——而且也具有類似的功效。

The team found natural ingredients bearing what they describe as ‘a striking chemical similarity’ to valproic acid, a widely used prescription mood-stabilizing drug.

該研究小組在某些天然食物原料中發現了被他們稱之爲“在化學上同丙戊酸（valproic acid）驚人相似”的成分，而丙戊酸是在醫學上被廣泛應用於情緒穩定的處方藥物。

Researchers believe the flavours in foods such as chocolate is chemically similar to a mood altering drug, and could explain why some food makes us feel better

研究人員相信在巧克力等食物中含有某種成分，其化學組成類似於情緒調解類藥物，因此可以解釋爲什麼某些食物能夠讓人得到舒緩。

‘The large body of evidence that chemicals in chocolate, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, teas and certain foods could well be mood-enhancers encourages the search for other mood modulators in food,’ said Martinez-Mayorga.

馬丁內斯-馬約爾加博士說：“大量證據表明，在巧克力、藍莓、覆盆子、草莓、茶葉等食物中所含的某種化學物質可以用於緩解情緒，這一結論將大大激勵我們，繼續在食物中尋找其它具有類似功效的成分。”

Chocolate is often seen as a comfort food, and now scientists believe they are one step closed to understanding why it can make us feel happy

巧克力通常被認爲是種具有“安慰性”的食物，現在科學家們相信，他們即將揭示出其爲什麼能讓人感到快樂的原因了。