"Hi. My Name Is Rebecca And I Am A Chocoholic."

There is a real possibility that I may actually be a chocoholic. I did, after all, have a chocolate wedding cake complete with chocolate icing...yummy. Fortunately for me (and Hershey's as I could probably single handedly keep them in business) I may be saving my own life with my daily indulgence.

The benefits of the flavanols in dark chocolate include:
- decreased blood pressure
- decreased cholesterol
- deceased inflammatory compounds in the body
- improved skin texture, thickness, hydration, and blood flow (read as increased beauty! Yes, you read it here- chocolate makes you beautiful! )
- 25% improved skin protection from the sun
- increased levels of good bacteria in the digestive system which slows the growth of disease causing bacteria and organisms and increases vitamin synthesis
- Furthermore, researchers found that women over the age of 70 who eat chocolate at least once a week cut their risk of being hospitalized or dying from heart failure by 60%!
- And a study just released last week concluded that those who regularly ate chocolate had a 37% decreased risk of cardiovascular disease and a 29% decreased risk of stroke!

The studies that I looked at were inconclusive on the link between chocolate and mood but the Lenten Rebecca who abstains from chocolate every year begs to differ! :)

Now for the fine print:
You should not eat chocolate with milk as it has been found to impair the body's ability to absorb all that life saving good stuff.
You should aim for dark chocolate that is 70% cocoa (or as close as you can get). This is basically the amount of pure cocoa in the chocolate with the remainder being sugar. Milk Chocolate has about 10% -30% cocoa. Hershey's milk chocolate has 11% cocoa and their Special Dark has 45% cocoa. They also happen to make a 60% cocoa bar which in my opinion is amazing but I am always on the look out for the higher % chocolates since more cocoa means more health benefit.
It is also important to limit your intake to 1 oz per day to avoid the negative effects of the sugar on your health (and your waistline). One oz of dark chocolate has about 151 calories.
For my fellow chocoholics out there who are devastated to learn that their beloved milk chocolate is not included in the "power food" label-no need to fret. I too swore that I could never love dark chocolate like I loved my precious milk chocolate but just as a mother is able to love her second born as she does her first, I too was able to love dark chocolate (this is also good news for my future children as I absolutely adore my son). As a matter of fact I might even love it more since I feel not even a twinge of guilt when I partake in the sweet goodness that keeps me sane and apparently saves my life. My advice to you, start at 45% cocoa and gradually move up as you acquire a taste (and appreciation) for the dark version of our best friend.

*All research for this post can be found on Medscape and Realage.com (the website run by Dr.Oz and Dr. Roizen). All opinions are mine :)