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Chocolate is good for you

At a British Association science festival last month, University of California-Davis researchers reported that chocolate consumption can help prevent blood clots. The research, which was funded by Mars, revealed that chocolate contains flavonoids which can help maintain a healthy heart and good circulation as well as reduce blood clotting, a source of heart attacks and strokes. A 50 gram bar of dark chocolate is said to contain the equivalent amount of flavonoids as six apples, two glasses of red wine, 4.5 cups of tea, 7.5 glasses of black currant juice, 15 glasses of orange juice or seven onions. Professor Carl Keen, a nutritionist at the University of California, explained that there was an increase in antioxidant capacity from subjects who ate a piece of chocolate as compared to those who ate a piece of bread.

Professor Keen also pointed out that eating chocolate may also help passengers who suffer from deep vein thrombosis (DVT) on long flights. People who suffer from DVT, sometimes known as "economy class syndrome", are often advised to take aspirin. Keen explained that eating chocolate had an "aspirin- like" effect on 25 volunteers who participated in the research. Excerpt from September 2001 Candy Industry

Source: Chocolate Manufacturers Association /National Confectioners Association