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Chocolate That Helps Your Heart 
Consider these two basic facts:
Now, if you were a major chocolate manufacturer like Mars, wouldn't it be your dream to discover that some forms of chocolate may actually help fight heart disease by maintaining healthy cholesterol levels and by promoting circulation and blood flow? Researchers are finding this actually to be the case. But wait, don't drive out and load up on chocolate just yet. Let me qualify the findings a bit and explain what type of chocolate you have to eat. Raw cocoa, from which chocolate is produced, contains helpful little plant compounds known as "flavanols," which have antioxidant properties connected to lowering death from heart disease. Mars says the cocoa plant also contains phytosterols, which have been shown to support healthy cholesterol levels. In its raw form, fresh cocoa beans contain high amounts of these flavanols, about 10,000 milligrams per gram of cocoa. These many flavanols seem to have a good effect on heart disease and cardiovascular health. The Kuna Indians of Panama, for example, eat locally grown cocoa at every meal, and they have regular blood pressure. Now here's the catch: when the Kuna Indians moved to the city and began eating commercially ground cocoa, their blood pressure rose. This is because chocolate you find in regular stores, from the big manufacturers and from your favorite confectionaries, doesn't contain nearly as many flavanols as is needed to maintain healthy blood pressure and flow. Most of the flavanols are lost in processing. In fact, the fat content of these manufactured chocolates outweighs the beneficial effects of the flavanols. That's why consuming large amounts of store-bought chocolate is not going to get you out of problems with your heart and blood flow. The large fat content, rather, will most likely worsen it. To solve this, Mars created "Cocoavia," a new chocolate with as many flavanols as they could pack in while still remaining remotely tasteworthy. I've not tried the Cocoavia bar yet - they're only available from their Internet site, www.cocoavia.com, but their web page lists many frequently asked questions and factual details about the research conducted. About $1.25 per bar, the chocolate is a dark chocolate with a texture similar to a rice crispy crunch, with various flavors, including cherry, almond, and blueberry. Though very cautious about making straightforward assertions that Cocoavia bars increase your heart's health, they rejoice in the findings that "flavanols in cocoa and certain chocolates may have a beneficial effect on health." They say you should eat two bars (80 calories a bar) a day to get th q beneficial effects of the flavanols. If you're a chocoholic, this may be an answer to your cravings.
"Beyond Delicious, Chocolate May Help Pump Up Your Heart" The New York Times
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