Moreover water blunts the pain with the added advantage of not contributing to the problem of obesity.
Both chocolate and water activate a part of the brain that makes it difficult to stop consuming them, according to the study led by University of Chicago neurology professor Peggy Mason and neurobiology research associate Hayley Foo.
The study is a pioneering work that exhibits that this potent painkilling effect occurs while the animals are ingesting food or liquid even in the dearth of appetite.
"It's a strong, strong effect, but it's not about hunger or appetite. If you have all this food in front of you that's easily available to reach out and get, you're not going to stop eating, for basically almost any reason," said Mason.
Only pleasurable food triggers pain relief
For the purpose of the study, the researchers lit a light bulb underneath the cages of the rats which provided a heat stimulus for them. Such a heat stimulus normally causes the animal to lift its paw off the floor.
The rats were then given either a chocolate chip to eat or had sugar water or regular water infused directly into their mouth.
The researchers found that that rats were comparatively slower to raise their paw while consuming the chocolate or water vis-à-vis when they were awake, but not eating.
Previous research had established that only sugary substances were shielding against pain. "This really shows it has nothing to do with calories," Mason said. "Water has no calories, saccharine has no sugar, but both have the same effect as a chocolate chip. It's really shocking."
The researchers then repeated the heat test and the rats were given quinine, a bitter drink.
The quinine administration caused the rats to gape. Moreover, the rats reacted to the heat as quickly as they did when they were not eating, suggesting that a non-pleasurable food or drink fails to prompt pain relief.
Relevance of context of ingestion
Chocolate and water did not demonstrate equal efficacy in reducing pain under different contexts or situations.
When the rats were intentionally made ill by a drug treatment and the entire experiment was repeated, eating chocolate did not delay the animal’s response to the heat stimulus.
Drinking water still caused a reduced pain response, demonstrating the efficacy of water even in adverse situations.
"Stop giving patients lollipops. Ingestion is a painkiller but we don't need the sugar. Water blunts pain, too," Mason said.
The findings of the study have been published Wednesday in the Journal of Neuroscience.
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