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    Christmas chocolate 'maybe not so healthy'

    Posted on 24/12/2007

    Even dark chocolate may not be so good for you, according to an editorial in The Lancet medical journal.

    Although all chocolate is high in fats and sugar, research had previously showed that compounds in dark chocolate may be beneficial to health. Flavenols, which have a bitter taste, are thought to improve blood flow within the heart and to lower blood pressure.

    However, The Lancet says that many manufacturers remove flavenols to lower the bitterness of their dark chocolate, greatly reducing any potential health benefits.

    Even when a chocolate is high in flavenols, the journal cautions that the benefits may be outweighed by the health risks of other ingredients: 'The devil in the dark chocolate is the fat, sugar and calories it also contains.'

    'To gain any health benefit, those who eat a moderate amount of flavanol-rich dark chocolate will have to balance the calories by reducing their intake of other foods.'

    There is some reassurance on offer to those worried about over-doing it at Christmas, however. Although the article suggests that the ideal diet is low in sugar, salt and fat, and full of fresh fruit and vegetables, it concludes: 'Bah, humbug to that. Pass the chocolates.'



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