Fellow Chocaholics let the joy ooze....

Now this is grand news.......and to be honest I don't really care what its implications on the number of inches gained on my hips and bottom! (that's why exercise was created (",) )

Scientists in 2006 have confirmed that "Eating chocolate may halve risk of dying"
"Regular consumption of cocoa may halve risk of dying and lower blood pressure, suggests a Dutch study in elderly men. But it is not necessarily good news for chocoholics, experts caution."
"The men in the group that consumed the least cocoa were twice as likely to die from a heart attack than those in the group that consumed the most cocoa – at least 4g per day – and the risk remained lower even when other factors such as smoking, physical exercise and weight were taken into account,” says lead researcher Brian Buijsse, at the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment.
“And men in the study who consumed the most cocoa were less likely to die of any cause,” he adds. The high-cocoa men also had significantly lower blood pressure than the other groups –... he says that cocoa-containing antioxidants chemicals, called flavanols, may be the cause. "
this is pretty dramatic ... and hopefully stays true after other studies ...

Original source: Journal reference: Archives of Internal Medicine (vol 166, p 411)New Scientist source: http://www.newscientist.com/channel/health/dn8780.html