(Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
(The Washington Post) – Ahh, chocolate. There probably isn’t a more magical ingredient on earth than the sweet, dark brown flavoring used for more than 3,000 years. Today most chocolate is consumed in the form of candy — a development that has sparked heated debate among scientists about what that’s doing to our health.
Common sense tells us that too much of something so fatty and full of calories is a bad thing.
But a surprising number of studies have found that dark chocolate can reduce the risk of death from a heart attack, decrease blood pressure and help those with chronic fatigue syndrome. Consumers have been so eager to justify indulging in their chocolate cravings that earlier this year many were duped by a fake study that purported to show that chocolate helps in weight loss. (The study, which was not peer-reviewed, was an attempt by a science journalist, with a Ph.D. degree, to shame media outlets who he said have a history of misreporting or misinterpreting research.)
The question for many chocolate lovers has been at what point are you having too much of a good thing. That is, is there an optimal “dose” for chocolate eating?