Today’s question: Why did I put “chocolate” on my Secret Santa Wish List? I have Hershey’s kisses to the left of my computer, a Cadbury Ornament Creme Egg on the right, and to inspire the blog, I am sipping on a cup of hot chocolate.

The chocolates surrounding me are milk chocolate and unfortunately don’t provide many health benefits other than benefiting my tastebuds, BUT…I am happy to tell you that certain types of chocolate can actually offer a multitude of benefits pertaining to disease prevention.  Just a small taste of these health benefits include:

Improved heart health (decreases the “little devils or LDL”),

Lowered risk for certain types of cancer,

Improved blood pressure, and

Increased alertness (1 oz contains ~18mg caffeine).

So, is my Cadbury Creme Egg as good as Hershey’s Dark Chocolate? Sorry delicious super sweet egg, but I can’t call you healthy.  

To achieve maximum health benefits, one needs to choose “bittersweet” or “semisweet” chocolate.  These chocolates contain ~70% cocoa solids and less sugar.  The darker the chocolate, typically, the higher amount of antioxidants.  The type of antioxidants in chocolate are similar to those found in other foods such as tea, red wine, or colorful fruits and vegetables like blueberries.

Now the real question…how much chocolate am I excused to eat a day? The current recommendation is 1 oz a day, but it can be everyday! One ounce contains 136 calories, 1.19 g protein, 8.5 g fat, 9 mg Calcium, 33 mg Magnesium, 103 mg Potassium. All necessary vitamins and minerals!

If you are thinking about giving this health food for the holidays…check out Bissinger’s Chocolates in the Central West End. They actually have a menu called “Spa Chocolates” which include tasty items like the Dark Chocolate Blueberry Bark, Green Tea Ganache Chocolates, and Dark Chocolate & Sunflower Crunch.

Just make sure that when you give your decadent and delicious gift, you tell that gift recipient to thank your dietitian!