What Bungee Jumping and Chocolate have in common..


28 Oct 2016

Today is Friday.. yipee! But it is also 28/10/2016 which means its National Chocolate day!

So in honour of NCD.. here is what we discovered chocolate has in common with bungee jumping.

When you bungee jump, this creates the ‘edge effect’, which causes a ‘high’ feeling. This occurs from taking part in extreme sports such as bungee jumping- a feeling like no other. Bungee jumping should be against our natural instincts. It should stop us from throwing ourselves out of cages- to protect us from danger, in order to preserve our survival. Yet despite this, UK Bungee jumped 4900 people in 2011. This is because those participating in extreme sports have a lessened reaction to fear and are able to do things that go against their natural instincts because of it. This can generally be achieved through a repeated exposure to fear, which is thought to be what makes people want to stretch to the extremes of bungee jumping. Research shows that this is because they are searching for a ‘thrill’ on the ‘next level’. There is also research that states that those who participate in extreme sports feel positive towards the feeling of fear as opposed to people that do not- they perceive it as a negative feeling.

These extreme experiences cause the brain to release serotonin and dopamine. Serotonin is a chemical that enables us to maintain a ‘happy’ feeling and Dopamine makes people more enthusiastic e.g. excitable, talkative. But what does this have to do with chocolate?

Research shows that the reason us chocolate lovers keep reaching for this treat time and time again goes beyond its amazing taste. Chocolate possess’ the ability to affect us in far more complex ways, it, like bungee jumping increases the brains levels of serotonin and dopamine. So both bungee jumping and chocolate provide us with the ‘natural highs’ so many of us crave! 

 

Feed your adrenaline cravings! Book your jump here.