National Chocolate Ice Cream Day 2021: Here's Why It's Addicting

Chocolate and ice cream are both already great as individual snacks, but combining the two gives you a frosty treat worthy of having its own special day.

National Chocolate Ice Cream Day, celebrated annually on June 7, honors the sweetened dessert that is chocolate ice cream, according to National Today. It is no secret that Americans are big fans of chocolate ice cream, but what is it about this dessert that makes it so addicting?

A study led by Dr. Kyle Burger found that overconsumption of ice cream operates the same way as an illegal drug such as cocaine -- triggering reactions in the brain similar to that of a person with drug addiction, as per Healthcare.

“Repeated, overconsumption of high-fat or high-sugar foods may alter how the brain responds to those foods in a way that perpetuates further intake," said Dr. Burger, associate orofessor of the Department of Nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health and lead author of the study.

Burger explained that the more people consume food that’s high in sugar and fat, the less pleasure they will get from them, thus signaling their brain to eat more to attain the same level of pleasure they had before. The study is published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

“Repeated, overconsumption of high-fat or high-sugar foods may alter how the brain responds to those foods in a way that perpetuates further intake," Burger said.

“This tolerance is thought to increase use, or eating because the individual trying to achieve the previous level of satisfaction."

The reduced level of satisfaction is caused by the brain's receptors becoming "blunted" due to lower levels of dopamine, as per The Daily Edge. This effect prompts people to eat bigger volumes of ice cream to reach that same level of pleasure.

Gail Civille, founder and president of Sensory Spectrum, explained that one factor that adds to ice cream's general likeability is its sweetness. When combined with just the right amount of fat, the ice cream's sweetness makes people crave it more, Civille told CNN Health.

The melted part of the ice cream is also believed to contribute to the dessert's appeal.

"The melting [of ice cream] gives an additional sensory experience unlike other types of foods because you don't get the same transformation [from other foods]," esplained Alina N. Stelick, a scientist who runs sensory tests on ice cream at Cornell University's Sensory Evaluation Center.

Whether it's the sweetness or the effects on people's brains that make ice cream so addicting, the dessert is sure to continue being an American favorite, and National Chocolate Ice Cream Day is here to stay.