The Hidden Health Food: Chocolate!

Robert Fulghum wrote a book called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. It's so well-known not necessarily for its content (most people have just heard the name and not actually read his poem or his book), but for the message that comes through its title. After all, he argues, we learn common sense, common decency, and common knowledge in kindergarten--but somehow, it seems, we tend to lose some of this wisdom. 
Here's a fact I learned in kindergarten, between the arts of beading necklaces and finger painting: I realized that I knew, deep in my heart, that chocolate was the best possible thing for me. EVER. 
Being completely honest, this realization first dawned early in my toddler years. For my first birthday, there is photographic evidence that when my parents finally gifted me with my first taste of chocolate--a CUPCAKE!!--my little baby self simply couldn't wait any longer and went after it, gleefully coming away with a chocolate-covered chin, cheeks, and little fingers. Well, it's safe to say that some things never change...


And they don't! Not only am I still a proud, avid chocolate lover, but the health food community has finally acknowledged the inherent benefits of chocolate that I just knew as a child. 
Chocolate (especially dark chocolate) is rich in flavonoids, which help protect our bodies in a way similar to the free radical protection given by antioxidants. Flavanols--the main type of flavonoids in dark chocolate--help cardiovascular health and can help prevent blood clots, ensure longevity, and lower blood pressure. 
(As it turns out, the saying my mother and I have developed--Stressed out? Have a piece of chocolate!--has some truth to it :)  )
Chocolate goes beyond protecting our hearts--it also can help improve a bad mood and protect and maintain our bodies from natural cellular oxidative reactions.
In comparative terms, chocolate has now been proven to contain the "good qualities" of some dark leafy vegetables and also of red wine, both categories being known to aid the body. Furthermore, according to Dr. Beatrice Golomb at UCSD, chocolate can also improve muscular performance, help consumers reduce their weight, and lower cholesterol. So please, why not eat chocolate??? 
Exactly. We SHOULD eat it (told you so...). However, take into consideration the fact that milk chocolate--chocolate mixed with large amounts of butter, cream, milk, and sugar--can often contradict these benefits because of the less healthy (okay, unhealthy) properties of high-sugar, high-fat foods. 
So, this means that a bar of dark chocolate, a piece of higher chocolate-content milk chocolate, and even less-sweetened hot cocoa can get your body many of the healthy things it needs to stay strong and wonderful!

Just think, this was the "hidden vitamin" all along...