Chocolate is a rich source of beneficial chemicals and "has a place in a healthy diet," two California health authorities have reported in the Los Angeles Times.
In their recent column Eating Smart, Dr Sheldon Margen and Dale A. Ogar said that while scientific research on the health effects of chocolate is relatively new, "preliminary results are encouraging."
At the University of California Davis, they reported, researchers have found that the antioxidants in cocoa produced "a positive effect on factors that would normally produce plaque build up in the arteries and thus increase the risk of coronary artery disease."
"These positive effects on the blood continued for six hours after eating the chocolate."
Margen is professor of public health at the University of California Berkeley, while Ogar is managing editor of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter.
In addition, a team of researchers at Pennsylvania State University has shown that test subjects who consumed small amounts of cocoa powder and dark chocolate increased their levels of HDL, or 'good', cholesterol. Higher HDL cholesterol levels are known to be protective against heart disease, the newspaper columnists said.
Chocolate also contains fatty acids that do not raise cholesterol levels as animal-based saturated fats tend to do, according to the health writers.
Margen and Ogar noted other "good news" about what chocolate does not do - it does not cause acne, it is not addictive, it does not cause tooth decay, does not interfere with calcium absorption, and when chocolate and sugar are consumed, they "do not promote hyperactivity in most children."
Most likely, the authors said, "it is some special event surrounding the eating of a lot of sugar and/or chocolate that gets children excited."