Chocolate for Health

Chocolate is good for you. Don't let anyone tell you different. Chocolate contains the same natural flavanol antioxidants found in green tea and red wine. Chocolate also contains magnesium, iron, calcium and potassium, and vitamins A. B1, C, D, and E. It can help improve cardiovascular health and hypertension. Chocolate can help fight off depression and offers a score of other benefits. In any case, it's chocolate - if I have to, I'll make up reasons to eat it!

Some things should never be skimped on and chocolate is one of them (it's for your health, after all!) These aren't average candy bars we're talking about; expect to spend at least a dollar on each bar, but one bar ought to last at least a week, even if you eat a little every day.

The best chocolate is the darkest, anything over 50% cacao content. It has the lowest amount of sugar, the most cocoa and a tiny square of the stuff is more satisfying than a truckload of the sugary milk chocolate stuff. Milk chocolate is wonderful stuff too, of course, but the dark stuff is pure heaven. Eating too much of an 88% cacao content chocolate bar feels faintly blasphemous.

In the pursuit of health and in the interest of education and healthy curiosity, I've sampled a nice selection of high quality chocolate bars in order to report back to you, gentle reader. It has been a trial, I assure you.

Dagoba Lavender: An extremely unique bar of chocolate with 59% cacao content, blueberries, and lavender. A slightly lower cacao content than I usually prefer, but the surprise of lavender makes up for that. When eaten, lavender is slightly spicy and just a little bit sweet. A relatively inexpensive bar at around $2.50 each.

Trader Joe's Slate of Bliss with Cacao Nibs and Dark Chocolate: The box says "uniquely calming" and they aren't kidding. A few nibbles of this makes me feel like I've eaten a bottle of Prozac. The bar is thin and has a pleasing crunch to it. The cacao is only 54% but it's not too sweet despite that. The roasted cacao nibs have a nice nutty taste. At $1.99 for a 100 gram bar, they weren't kidding about the Bliss part either.

Green and Black's 70% Dark: This award winning organic chocolate is so rich just a nibble will satisfy. One of the most intense bars out there and very reasonably priced at only $0.99 for 35 grams. A must-try for anyone that loves good chocolate!

Endangered Species Extreme Dark Chocolate: At 88% cacao content, this all natural, ethically-traded chocolate bar is the deepest, most intense chocolate I've had the opportunity to taste. A few bites results in something akin to ecstasy. Definitely worth the $1.99 each bar averages.

Hershey's Extra Dark with Cranberries, Blueberries, and Almonds: You weren't expecting to see anything so mundane as a Hershey chocolate bar make this list were you? But at 60% cacao content this bar is nothing like those big bars of milk chocolate you'd expect from Hershey. The sugar content is a little higher than I like, but the chocolate is very rich and with loads of fruit and nuts, this is a guilty pleasure bar for the most discerning chocolate lover. About $1.90 for 100 grams.

ChocoLove Extra Dark: In my opinion, this is one of the best ideas in history - bars of premium organic chocolate, each one wrapped in a different love poem (I got Rumi). The Extra Dark has a rich 77% cacao content with deep coffee notes but is still surprisingly creamy and indulgent. $1.99 a bar and well worth it!

Those are some of my personal favorites, but don't take my word for it. Try them for yourself, don't skimp, and remember it's for your health!