Three New Health Benefits of Eating Chocolate

Chocolate has all but been elevated to superfood status. And the benefits of chocolate keep rolling in. So here are three more reasons why you may not want to be too quick to break that chocolate habit. (As long as you're hitting the dark stuff.)

Chocolate makes you smarter

Ample research suggests that the flavonols in dark chocolate increase cerebral blood flow, which in turn may trigger the creation of new blood vessels and brain cells. And a new study shows that older adults performed better on cognitive tests after eating small portions of the sweet stuff. Talk about some major benefits of chocolate (and a nourished noggin)!

Chocolate improves heart health

Although more research is needed to confirm this one, a new study shows that regular chocolate eaters who had heart disease were less likely to die following a heart attack compared with the people who didn't treat themselves to the dark and dreamy stuff.

Chocolate has a cavity-fighting compound

Okay, so you don't necessarily want to trade in your toothbrush for a chocolate bar. But some interesting new research shows a compound in chocolate — theobromine — may be just as good as fluoride at hardening tooth enamel. So the compound could find its way into toothpastes and mouthwashes one day. Until then, keep in mind that most commercially prepared chocolate has lots of sugar in it.

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Don't go overboard

Despite the benefits of chocolate, you don't want to o.d. on it lest you do your waist and blood sugar more harm than good.