A recent US study found that people who eat a small amount of chocolate a few times a week tend to be slimmer than people who just eat it now and then. This doesn't actually mean that if you eat chocolate you automatically get thinner, though - wouldn't that be nice?

It's a very new study and they haven't yet concluded the likely reasons for these findings. A very probable answer is that if you eat a little chocolate a few times a week you are almost certainly a person of moderate and fairly healthy eating habits - that is, you dont gorge or binge on sweet foods, and on the other hand you don't deny yourself a small treat or keep going on diets (diets do very often end in breaking down and overindulging, sadly - regular, moderate food intake is much more effective.)

Whatever the reasons for these findings, it's not news that chocolate has health benefits. It can be helpful for blood pressure and cholesterol levels, especially dark chocolate.