If you think your chocolate cravings are due to you suffering from prolonged stress, you need to work on the things that make you stressed such as your nutritional status, your exercise, and relaxation. There are different kinds of things to get stressed or worried about. There are the things that you can change, and there are ones you have to learn to live with.

Alcohol, tobacco and mood-altering drugs may offer a temporary relief from stress, but they do nothing to address the problems and they can harm your health. Any type of aerobic exercise raises your heart rate - walking, jogging, running - will keep stress under control, so long as it is regular.

Most people who are self confessed chocoholics struggle to keep their chocolate cravings under control when they are stressed out by work, life or bad hair days. Both women and men crave chocolate but sometimes hormones are said to affect the need to eat this lovely substance in huge amounts.

There have been several studies undertaken on the benefits of chocolate, one being that two spoonfuls of dark chocolate a day is good for your health, "Ahhah!" I hear you cry, "Some of us have known this all along!" Apparently chocolate can provide several health inducing benefits which can be positive to your biochemistry. They include what has been assessed as a reduction in the likelihood of blood clotting ability; a similar affect to aspirin and the lowering of blood pressure. However the common good advice is that eating a small amount of high cocoa content chocolate, or "dark chocolate" has a beneficial affect on blood flow, but binging indiscriminately does not.

Here are some tips to keep your chocolate cravings under control

1. Try to understand what is gong on for you: Do not deprive yourself of chocolate but consider why you must have it. Are you feeling down, craving, irritable or any other feeling you can name? You may need to keep a diary of when it is that these "craving" are intensive.

2. You should avoid stress creating foods such as processed foods, artificial sweeteners, junk food, carbonated drinks, fried foods, sugar, and white flour products.

3. Improve your nutritional status by eating a well-balanced diet.

4. Seek advice from a Naturopath who can make suggestions about diet and food craving advice or drug free medical treatment.

5. Substitute your fix with a drink made of cocoa instead. Cocoa is cocoa beans which have been ground into a powder; it is unsweetened and can be mixed with hot milk or water. You can get blocks of cocoa powder and grate it yourself. The soothing affects of milk may be beneficial to you but be wary of lactose if you are intolerant.

6. Buy chocolate which is high in cocoa content and low in sugar and milk; these are typically 70% in cocoa content and are said to have higher doses of antioxidants which have wellbeing effects and also less calories.

7. Chocolate is an ideal cooking ingredient and can be included into your favorite recipes, have a healthy snack of fruit dipped in 70% cocoa content, sugar free melted chocolate.

8. Chocolate is a good healer, have the best and not too much.

Gradle Gardner Martin is a Social Worker, Trainer and Author. Her new book "Inducing Wellbeing In The Work Place: A Workers Guide To Stress Management" available to buy from her website and at all book stores.