Science Confirms That Chocolate is Good For You

We already know that beer does a body good, but you can’t have alcohol without food, so ditch that late night pizza and indulge some late night chocolate instead.

By Jasmine R.

Here’s why:

Chocolate is good for your heart.

A bar of chocolate helps lower your blood pressure and cholesterol AND reduces your risk of heart disease. Start thinking about these things now, so in 40 years that’s at least two less pills you’ll have to be popping.

Chocolate stimulates endorphins and serotonin.

Endorphins are hormones that give us a sense of pleasure. They’re allegedly released when we exercise (I’m skeptical), and also when we have sex (this, I can believe). Eating chocolate also has the same effect. Serotonin is a natural antidepressant, which may help to explain why we ladies crave chocolate so much when we’re premenstrual.

Chocolate is rich in antioxidants.

Antioxidants are crucial for killing off free radicals that roam around your body trying to wreak havoc on your cells. Cacao, the base substance of chocolate, contains 8 times as many antioxidants as strawberries. (New diet plan: chocolate covered strawberries all the time. Hello, 100th birthday!)

There are, of course, caveats to healthy chocolate consumption. So before you go out and buy stock in Hershey’s, read a few of the rules:

1. Stick to dark chocolate instead of its milkier counterparts. Scientists believe that milk ends up blocking a lot of the good stuff in chocolate from being digested.

2. Do it in moderation. Chocolate is rich in sugar and fat, so it’s not a good idea to down 20 bars and day and justify it to everyone side-eyeing you by screaming “IT’S GOOD FOR ME!”

Nom nom nom. That’s me eating a moderately sized piece of chocolate and enjoying it even more than usual. Thank you, science, for justifying my chocoholic ways.