What are the health benefits of chocolate?

At the center of chocolate's health benefits are flavonoids. These plant pigments are responsible for many of the health benefits of many fruits and medicinal plants, but chocolate may be a much more sensually pleasing vehicle. In addition, there is evidence that not only is chocolate rich in flavonoids, but those factors in chocolate somehow dramatically increase the absorption of these compounds. The key flavonoids are proanthocyanidins (also called procyanidins), similar to those found in grape seed extract, apples, berries, and pine bark extract. Chocolate is very well endowed with these compounds. In fact, procyanidins constitute from 12 percent to as much as 48 percent of the dry weight of the cocoa bean. Cocoa powder can contain as much as 10 percent flavonoids on a dry-weight basis.

Chocolate has all but been elevated to superfood status. And the benefits of chocolate keep rolling in.

So here are three reasons why you may not want to be too quick to break that chocolate habit. (As long as you're hitting the dark stuff.)

• Chocolate makes you smarter. Ample research suggests that the flavonols in dark chocolate increase cerebral blood flow, which in turn may trigger the creation of new blood vessels and brain cells. And a new study shows that older adults performed better on cognitive tests after eating small portions of the sweet stuff. Talk about some major benefits of chocolate (and a nourished noggin)!
• Chocolate improves heart health. Although more research is needed to confirm this one, a new study shows that regular chocolate eaters who had heart disease were less likely to die following a heart attack compared with the people who didn't treat themselves to the dark and dreamy stuff. (Here's more on heart-health benefits of chocolate.)
• Chocolate has a cavity-fighting compound. Okay, so you don't necessarily want to trade in your toothbrush for a chocolate bar. But some interesting new research shows a compound in chocolate -- theobromine -- may be just as good as fluoride at hardening tooth enamel. So the compound could find its way into toothpastes and mouthwashes one day. Until then, keep in mind that most commercially prepared chocolate has lots of sugar in it.

Despite the benefits of chocolate, you don't want to o.d. on it lest you do your waist and blood sugar more harm than good.

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We've been hearing positive comments about chocolate. Dark chocolate has been proven to prevent hardening of the arteries. It helps cells that line blood vessel walls by making them more flexible. It also releases serotonin, a brain chemical that moderates moods. But let's not get too excited. The extra calories from added sugar, fat and cholesterol that come with eating too much chocolate definitely outweigh the medical benefits!

The cacao “bean” is the seed of the cacao tree, a native of South America. The bean itself is bitter, but when processed as chocolate, the result is delicious.

Research has demonstrated that the antioxidants in cacao are exceptionally easily absorbed and ever so useful to our body. Cornell University food scientists found that cocoa powder has nearly twice the antioxidants of red wine and up to three times what is found in green tea. The findings were published in an article entitled “Cocoa Has More Phenolic Phytochemicals and a Higher Antioxidant Capacity than Teas and Red Wine” in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

The Cornell University researchers who authored the paper showed chocolate to have a high content of antioxidant compounds called phenolic phytochemicals, or flavonoids. They discovered huge amounts of antioxidants in a single serving of cocoa.

But don’t start including average milk chocolate in your diet. Chocolate manufacturers have worked for decades to remove the bitter antioxidants and create a candy taste by adding milk and cream for smoothness and a whack of sugar for sweetness. The result, I’m afraid, is a food item that causes heart disease and free radicals instead of protecting us from them.

My prescription is two small squares a day of a dark chocolate containing 70 per cent or more cacao. This kind of chocolate, like coffee, is deliciously bitter. For some people, the taste is acquired, but it’s worth acquiring for reasons of both health and pleasure.