Can Chocolate Be Good For You?

If you’re a chocolate lover who is trying to lose weight and stay heart-healthy, you may not have to give up your vice, experts say. While most chocolate contains fat and sugar, which contributes to weight gain, thereby making you more susceptible to high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes, eating small amounts of chocolate may actually reduce other risk factors for heart disease.

Cocoa beans, the main ingredient of chocolate, contain flavanols that have antioxidant effects. Flavanols lower blood pressure, improve vascular function, and reduce the cell damage that can cause heart disease. Consuming some chocolate, especially dark chocolate, can release the flavanols that occur naturally in the cocoa.

Unfortunately, most studies that demonstrate the potential health benefits of consuming chocolate are short-term and uncontrolled studies. The long-term effects of cocoa’s flavanols on your body need to be studied before chocolate can be confirmed as a heart-healthy food choice.

If you’re going to keep chocolate in your diet, limit the quantity to no more than 3 ounces a day, and try to eat only dark chocolate with a cocoa content of at least 65%. Be aware that even this small amount can have a caloric content as high as 450 calories, so if you’re going to partake, increase your exercise regimen or reduce your portion size to compensate.