Illustration by Denis Shifrin

How many of you have received the email about “the truth about chocolate”? It tries to prove to us that chocolate is a vegetable and therefore healthy and everything added to it makes it even healthier. In the last seven years I have seen many versions of this in many different languages.

They are trying to get us hooked on the notion that chocolate is good for you. Come on now, that mouthwatering delicious slab is healthy? Keep on dreaming, we say. How many times have we been told that instead of eating chocolate, we must eat an apple? Let’s face it, the idea that an apple is going to satisfy a chocolate craving is simply silly.

Is it true that chocolate is healthy, or is it a ploy by chocolatiers to lure us into buying chocolates? Maybe the notion that chocolates are unhealthy is a ploy by nutritionists to stop us from getting our just desserts.

Why do we crave chocolates so much? Others are more qualified to answer that question than I am, but it does contain caffeine in small doses which provides an energy boost. It also releases hormones that make us feel good. They are considered by many to be soul food, something to eat when you are depressed or stressed.

So how can chocolate be good for you? Well for starters it contains a rich amount of flavonoids, meaning that they have antioxidant qualities. Antioxidants have health promoting qualities that fight disease. Flavonoids are also found in tea and red wine. Dark chocolates are especially rich in flavonoids.

Chocolates have also been found to improve blood flow and lower the risk of heart disease. So chocolates are good for the heart.

So why do we think it is bad for us? Well my friend, it is all a question of quality and quantity. Studies have shown that a dark chocolate with 70% cocoa content has the healthy effects we need. Others with additives such as milk, sugar and fruit simply lower the healthy effects.

What about quantity? Here, there are various opinions and schools of thought. Some nutritionists say the limit is 10 grams per day, others say more. But the issue here is calories. Despite its healthy effects there are still calories as well as fat content. Apart from which, how can we be satisfied with 10 grams? That is barely a bite of chocolate.

So what should we do? Before we use this as legitimization to go out and eat chocolates, we should really listen to our nutritionists. But if you do wish to look into it, take the lower limits. Eat 10 grams of dark, bitter chocolate with a cocoa content of 70% and above and no additives.

While a little dark chocolate is good, a lot is not better. Chocolate is loaded with calories. If you're going to eat more chocolate, you'll have to cut back elsewhere. And remember that a balanced diet - and plenty of exercise - is still the key to heart health. Enjoy each bite, make it last!