Chocolate and Your Health

More studies are confirming what many people already knew - that chocolate can be good for you! According to Food Ingredients First, researchers are finding that chocolate contains flavanoids, also found in red wine and green tea, that help improve blood circulation. Those same compounds may also help reduce blood pressure. Some flavanols are lost when the cocoa bean is processed, but Mars, Incorporated is working on a proprietary method that keeps more of those compounds in the processed cocoa powder.

Another study reported at Chocolate.org found that pregnant women who ate chocolate reported their babies smiled and laughed more often than those who did not consume chocolate. The babies born to chocolate-eating mothers also showed less fear in new situations than babies born to chocolate-abstaining women.

And chocolate can influence your mood. Scientists used to think that compounds in chocolate, in particular phenylethylamine, produced endorphins in the brain, elevating mood. But the amount of phenylethylamine in chocolate is so small it's probably not the cause of better feelings. Rather, the combination of sugar with fat can raise serotonin and endorphin levels in the brain. Just one ounce of chocolate does the trick.

Fiona Haynes, About.com's Low Fat Cooking Guide, has more information about chocolate in Chocolate's Dark Secret.

So don't feel guilty about having a piece of chocolate a day (that's a piece, so don't go wild!). And the darker the chocolate the better. It's possible to train your taste buds so you enjoy darker chocolate. Try it!