In one of the famous director Woody Allen's comedies, many years ago, his main character declared that some day they will find out that chocolate is healthy for you.
We in the audience laughed.
How funny to think that chocolate could actually be beneficial to our health.
It seemed ludicrous at the time.
This delicious sweet delicacy that many of us craved and indulged in too frequently, could not possibly be so tasty and also good for our health.
Well now it is decades later and scientists appear to be corroborating Woody Allen's humorous remark.
A recent 9 year research project, conducted by Harvard University School of Medicine and Sweden's Institute of Environmental Medicine, studied the eating habits of 32,000 Swedish women, ages 48-83.
The goal of the study was to determine the effect of food consumption on heart failure rates.
This interesting study was published online in March 2011 in the journal, Circulation: Heart Failure.
A major conclusion is that chocolate is good for the heart!But not just any chocolate and not just any amount of chocolate were correlated with good health.
It turns out that those women who ate a little bit of Swedish chocolate once or twice a week had actually 1/3 lower heart failure risk.
Those who ate Swedish chocolate once or twice a month had some benefit but not as high as the others.
However, those who ate this chocolate every day did not have any heart health benefit and actually may have gained excess weight which is not as healthy.
Is chocolate the new magic food?What are the health benefits?

1. Dilates blood vessels which lowers blood pressure
2. Inhibits clumping of blood platelets which reduces blood clots and strokes
3. Improves blood flow to the brain for improved brain function
4. Reduces blood sugar and insulin which lowers risk for diabetes
5. High in antioxidants known to eliminate or stave off cancer
6. Stabilizes and lowers cholesterol levels

Does this sound too good to be true?I believe it is.
Yes, in small amounts a few times a week, chocolate may actually be beneficial.
However, we need to focus on the entire diet, all the food that one is comsuming in a given day and all week long.
If the diet is high in processed foods, unhealthy oils, white processed flour, sugar, and chemically prepared foods, a few small pieces of the most healthy food on earth will not decrease the risk for any number of health problems.
What is the take away you can get from this research?First, you might decide to choose a piece of chocolate that is high in cocoa and lower in sugar as a snack or dessert instead of a heaping portion of cake or ice cream.
Second, you might search to find the highest quality chocolate and perferably dark.
And make sure to include a healthy amount of fiber, fruits and vegetables, water and healthy oils in your diet.
Then take out that small piece of chocolate and eat it with joy and pleasure and absolutely no guilt.