Re: More good news about chocolate - regular consumption decreases stress!

Hershey's is all over this, and now sells products in the Special Dark line that are exactly 38g (1.5 oz) servings. I read the original research published in AJCN here:

http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/88/1/58


Hershey's provided the chocolate for the study, but the study itself appears to be unbiased.

You're right, Tony, the sugar-free or low sugar products had better results. They contain aspartame, so, you know, weigh the benefits against the risks....

The full sugar products weigh in at 200+ calories per serving. If you are restricting your calories, you need to weigh the benefits of an ounce of chocolate against the time and effort it will take to burn those calories.

BTW, a serving of Special Dark Hershey's Kisses is 9 kisses, and has 180 calories. One Hershey's Kiss has 20 calories.

When my daughter-in-law first started her weight reduction program, she used an ounce of dark chocolate at night as her daily reward for "being good." Now she only eats it occasionally. She's lost 75 pounds so far, and is now 10-15 pounds within her goal weight.

If you want the benefit of chocolate without the bad stuff, consider raw cacao powder. I've started throwing a teaspoon into some of my post-workout smoothies. I don't have any recipes that taste like a chocolate milkshake, yet, but I bet somebody does. I get my cacao from Mountain Rose herbs, but there are many sources available online.

Merry Christmas!