Chocolate is good for you

Many nutritionists including myself believe a small intake of chocolate is good for you, it's good for your heart and doesn't make you fat. In recent years research has proven that chocolate minimises the effect of 'bad' cholesterol and works like a mild dose aspirin. Active ingredients in chocolate include an antioxidant compound also found in tea and in red wine, which both have gained publicity about their active antioxidant ingredients and their reputation for fighting heart disease.

If you put the three together, pound for pound chocolate contains higher levels of these important antioxidant compounds, so therefore more potent.

Nutrition expert Dr Harold Schmitz from California University said research has shown that the fat in chocolate has a neutral effect on cholesterol levels and evidence has shown that chocolate could be more potent than green tea and red wine.

The ingredients in chocolate that has caused interest for it's antioxidant effects is procyanidins, which works in a similar way to the antioxidants in red wine and green tea.

This is good news for the British loving public!