Chocolate can be a health food

There are four ingredients in chocolate that allow it to boast a healty status: antioxidants, magnesium, phenylethylamine and anti-depressant.

Antioxidants - cocao beans are rich in antioxidant flavanols, unfortunately when the cocao is processed into chocolate it goes from being one of the richest source of flavanols to dramatically decreased levels. But you wouldn't want to eat raw cacao beans...

Magnesium - essential for a healthy heart as it increases the vigour of the heart muscle, decreases blood coagulation and thus lowers blood pressure. Cacao is a rich source of magnesium.

Phenylethylamine - a chemical in cacao that increases the activity of neurotransmitters in parts of the brain that control our attention span and ability to stay alert. Chocolate contains a rich source of phenylethylamine, which probably accounts for why people eating chocolate are usually intensely happy while chomping.

Anti-Depressants - cocao is a rich source of serotonin, dopamine, anandamide and B vitamins, these chemicals and vitamins help alleviate depression and promote feelings of wellbeing. And proves why when people are feeling depressed they often reach for a bar of chocolate instead of Prozac.

However, chocolate can also be addictive, so while there are proven healthy benefits to eating chocolate, there are also some less healthy issues to come from this, e.g. mood swings, withdrawal symptoms, weight gain. And not all chocolate is healthy, only the dark chocolate at least 70% cocoa solids counts. Those chocolate bars adulterated with milk and sugar don't fall into the same category as they are not considered healthy.

So as long as you can keep it a simple pleasure, and not an addiction, then good quality dark chocolate may do good things for your brain, possibly your heart, and certainly your mood.