If you can't resist eating chocolate or giving it as a Valentine Day's gift, you should know that choosing the right type of chocolate can benefit your heart while other types are just fattening, says Lona Sandon, a registered dietician at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Pure chocolate, made from cocoa beans, is rich in flavanol, an antioxidant that may help protect arteries from damage, maintain healthy blood flow and fend off heart disease.
Dark chocolate and cocoa powder contains the highest levels of flavanol.
But these health benefits are reduced considerably when pure chocolate is processed and other ingredients - such as sugar, milk and butter - are added.
Candy bars and boxed chocolates may be tasty but their added fat and calories make them not-so-healthy treats, Ms. Sandon says.
So it's best to skip the chocolate candy and replace it with a cup hot cocoa.
"Research suggests that drinking a cup of dark hot chocolate can be equated with drinking a glass of wine in protecting the heart," says Ms. Sandon, who urged people to eat and drink in moderation. "Chocolate by itself may provide some health benefits. It's what's added to it that's not so good for us."
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