Chocoholics may be on to something.  Researchers examined two groups of men, one made up of men who identified themselves as chocolate desiring and the other as chocolate indifferent.  They discovered that the chocoholics had a distinctive metabolic profile that was different from that of the other group.
Although researchers did not identify a chocolate gene they did find that all the chocolate lovers shared low levels of bad cholesterol and higher levels of albumin, a protein involved in tissue healing.  This profile was evident even when the men did not eat chocolate.
The results led researchers to believe that some people might be programmed genetically to love chocolate.  Although other studies have found links between types of nutrients and genes, this is the first time that a preference for a specific food has shown up on a lab test.  They think the same thing could be true of other food preferences, as well.