In addition to being a feel-good food, dark chocolate may be life-saving. One study found that heart-attack survivors who ate chocolate just twice a week over a two-year period cut their risk of dying from heart disease threefold.
Another reported that when women ate dark chocolate daily for just seven days, their levels of “bad” cholesterol, LDL, dropped by six percent, and their levels of HDL, the “good” kind, rose by nine percent. Dark chocolate is also linked to a reduction in the risk of stroke, reduced inflammation and better blood pressure control. Indulge in a small amount each day, up to an ounce. Look for 70 percent dark or greater for the most antioxidants.