What food evokes as much passion as chocolate? It's sweet and rich, it melts in your mouth, and it is the most craved of foods. It was even called the "food of the gods" in ancient times. For many, chocolate is the quintessential romantic gift -- presented as chocolate hearts, chocolate kisses, chocolate truffles and chocolate-covered strawberries.
The ancient Aztecs, who many sources credit with inventing chocolate, considered chocolate a royal aphrodisiac. Cocoa beans were used for gifts and mixed with water and maize to make a bitter drink. This liquid chocolate was thought to enhance libido, especially when mixed with pepper and cinnamon.
Our love affair with chocolate has remained strong. In fact, some people say they feel so intensely driven to eat chocolate that they swear they're addicted to it. And some experts believe that eating chocolate does indeed induce amorous feelings.
Even if chocolate doesn't spark feelings of romance, it might still be good for your heart. A 2006 study investigated 1,000 elderly Dutch male subjects and found the highest chocolate consumers had a 50 per cent decreased risk of dying from heart disease than those who ate less.
The first clues about chocolate's health benefits came from the Kuni Indians who live on an island off the coast of Panama. They drink three to four cups of cocoa beverage each day and rarely develop high blood pressure or heart disease. However, Kuni Indians living in mainland Panama who shifted away from their traditional diet, rich in cocoa beverages, have much higher rates of heart disease.
Since then, numerous studies have linked chocolate with health benefits including lower blood pressure and cholesterol, reduced blood-clot risk, improved blood-vessel function and enhanced use of insulin -- all of which are directly related to better heart health.
But not all types of chocolate are deemed heart healthy. You need to forgo the milk if you want to reap chocolate's benefits. The studies that link eating chocolate with improved vascular health gave volunteers dark chocolate, not milk chocolate or white chocolate.
Unlike white and milk chocolate, dark chocolate contains a significant amount of antioxidants called flavonoids, the same compounds found in red wine and tea. Flavonoids are responsible for dark chocolate's bitter taste and its health benefits.
Flavonoids have been shown to inhibit blood-clot formation, help blood vessels relax and prevent LDL (bad) cholesterol from causing plaque buildup in the arteries.
The more chocolate is processed and the less cocoa mass it contains, the fewer flavonoids are present. White chocolate doesn't contain any flavonoids and milk chocolate has very few.
That means you're better off reaching for chocolate kisses made from dark chocolate with at least 70 per cent cocoa solids (cocoa mass). Milk chocolate tends to have 30 to 40 per cent cocoa solids, but brands vary.
How much dark chocolate is good for your heart? Currently, there's no established serving size needed to reap chocolate's heart benefits. One study determined it took 100 grams a day to lower blood pressure and cholesterol readings -- a sizable serving that also delivers 30 grams of fat and 470 calories.
Eating too much of even the finest dark chocolate could lead to weight gain. You're better off to keep your portion size small and make room for other flavonoid-rich foods that come with fewer calories such as berries, red grapes, apples, onions, and green and black tea.
Keeping chocolate portions small may be a difficult task for so-called "chocoholics." According to a review of 67 studies that was published in 1999, as many as 40 per cent of females crave chocolate (compared with 15 per cent of males), and 75 per cent of them say that only chocolate can satisfy their appetite.
