Don't worry -- eat chocolate!

Chocolate -- it’s amazing how such a soft word that gently rolls off the tongue when spoken can ignite some of the most decadent and intense thoughts. It is such a shame that for many, in a world of obesity and calorie counting, it has become a forbidden food. Women mostly are known for their love of this sweet treat and have reported uncontrollable cravings. Often they overindulge themselves and then suffer the wrath of great guilt afterwards with a pile of candy wrappers in the trash.

It is possibly an innate wisdom that sends women reaching for those decadent bon bons. Women are most likely craving chocolate during their menstrual cycles because of the drop in progesterone, which is mainly to blame for PMS mood swings. One of the highest natural sources of Magnesium is cacao. Boosting magnesium in one's diet is the best way to ease this drop in progesterone.

Chocolate was once prized and traded even as currency. Chocolate itself is not bad and certainly should not have that lingering guilt feeling attached to it. It is what has happened to chocolate over the years that is to blame; such as the over processing and the additives. There is an interesting history behind chocolate, one that is full of mystical and medicinal attributes. The earliest records link to the Mayans in 600 AD when they first discovered cocoa plantations in the Yucatan.

Before the 19th Century, some rather impressive discoveries had been made about this most interesting cacao pod and what to do with the beans encased in the white masking within. Mostly the beans were ground and chocolate was served entirely as a drink for the wealthy.

By the 1800’s CJ Van Houten, a Dutch chemist, actually squeezed out the cacao butter from the beans, making it a more soluble product. Then, Robert Lindt was the brains behind adding the butter back to the chocolate thus making it possible to set in bar form -- creating the velvety consistency that makes this chocolate goodness melt in your mouth. A product to be enjoyed in bliss not guilt!

Later came all the heating and rolling and refining. Then the dairy products, the artificial additives and refined sugar were added into the mix. This is where the guilt comes in… as with any pure and delicious food, the more the “factory” gets involved, the less of a food product it actually becomes.

If you choose dark chocolate and read labels carefully you need not harbor any guilt as long as you enjoy in moderation. In fact the chemical phenylethylamine (PEA) fond in chocolate is often referred to as the love molecule because of its mood enhancing effects. This is the joyful chemical our brain naturally produces in response to elevated emotions such as love and happiness.

History states that chocolate was one of the first cardiac medicines used. Today it is even said that moderate amounts of dark chocolate may reduce the risk of blood clots and platelet formation in the arteries that can lead to stroke -- similar to low-dose aspirin, according to a Mayo Clinic report.

“Dark chocolate, not milk or white, is high in antioxidants “flavanoids”. Consuming dark chocolate may reduce your blood pressure and may also lower your bad or “LDL” cholesterol,” says Steven Wolinsky, D.O., F.A.C.C. of Cardiology and Associates in Albany. “Dark chocolate has also been demonstrated in studies to show an improvement in vascular function which may translate into fewer heart attacks.”

The allure of chocolate is now firmly supported in health and happiness. Maybe this explains why chocoholics are some of the most pleasant people on the planet!