Classic Rant #223 (March 31, 2010): Chocolate Health Benefits Too Sweet To Believe

Well, once again, a new study shows that eating chocolate can actually be good for you.

German researchers found that eating just six grams of chocolate a day--and that is dark chocolate, not the more common milk chocolate--could prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Dark chocolate is rich in cocoa and potentially protective flavonols, and the ingestion of this type of chocolate seems to help a person's health.

Just what we needed--another study saying that chocolate is good for you!

I am sure that the candy industry is licking its chops once again over this one.

Remember, dark chocolate is much more expensive than milk chocolate, so now, it gives more reasons for these companies to churn out this stuff.

And, of course, people will buy it, thinking that dark chocolate, and dark chocolate alone, will cure their ills.

And they will eat it, whole bars and large amounts, even though the study says that just basically a smidgen a day could help you.

I am almost willing to believe that the chocolate companies will one day list their dark chocolate offerings as "Health Food," and proceed to have these items placed next to vitamins and those types of things.

Let's be sensible about this. Wine has also been listed as healthy when taken properly, but it doesn't mean that binging on wine is the way to good health.

A little bit of just about everything in moderation is OK for you, but you have to add in exercise, a better diet and lifestyle, and your genes into the picture.

These research studies simply give people another set of reasons to chomp down chocolate as if it were water, and it is simply not the way to do this.

Personally, I have never been much of a candy eater.

My scourge is cookies. I love cookies, and yes, some of them have chocolate in them.

But I am not going to try to reason with you that eating five chocolate cookies in one sitting is going to help my heart and general health.

But I am sure some people will reason with themselves that this is true.

What's next? Bubblegum is good for your teeth?