Is Chocolate A Health Food?

It's the news chocoholics everywhere have been waiting for - eating chocolate every day is good for you! Or is it? A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that eating a small amount of dark chocolate every day seems to lower blood pressure. So does that mean dark chocolate (which contains 60 to 70 % cocoa, the ingredient associated with the effect) is a healthy snack choice? That may be a bit of a stretch. Here's why: the study defines a "small amount" of dark chocolate as 30 calories worth - or about 6 dark chocolate baking chips. As long as you can eat just six, go ahead and indulge. Have them sprinkled on your cereal, or munch them with a glass of non-fat milk. But if 6 chocolate chips will turn into 60 - there are better ways to lower your blood pressure that don't include the fat and calories that dark chocolate does, like walking, eating more whole grains, cutting back on salt, and losing a few extra pounds. In short -- yes, chocolate can be a part of a healthy diet, in small amounts. But at 170 calories and 12 grams of fat per ounce it's definitely not a "health food." Sorry!