Our love affair with chocolate has endured for millennia, since the ancient Mayans first domesticated the cocoa bean. And there’s a reason we package this food in heart-shaped boxes today.

In its purest, darkest form, chocolate contains hundreds of natural compounds that trigger mood-boosting endorphins and dopamine, plus anandamide, a “bliss chemical” in the brain. Of all the reputed natural aphrodisiacs, “chocolate alone actually promotes the brain chemistry of being in love,” says medicinal plant researcher Chris Kilham.

Health Food?
Chocolate lovers participating in one study about aspirin and heart disease were disqualified—it seems they could follow all of the study’s restrictions but the one on their favorite treat! Scientists at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine checked all their blood platelet samples anyway—with surprising results. The blood of the “chocolate offenders” was slower to clot than that of volunteers who resisted temptation. Harvard researchers conclude that antioxidant flavonoids in chocolate are “likely protective against coronary heart disease mortality.”

Protective substances in chocolate appear to block arterial damage from free radicals, inhibit platelet clumping that blocks blood vessels, and even prevent vessel wall inflammation. Italian research links dark chocolate with lower systolic blood pressure and C-reactive protein levels, as well as healthier dietary habits and lower body mass index. Another recent study finds that dark chocolate even improves cardiovascular health among heart transplant patients.
And that’s not all. Chocolate has almost as much protective resveratrol as grapes—with potential benefits for metabolic syndrome, energy use, and increased endurance.

Obviously, moderation remains important. Johns Hopkins’ Diane Becker, MPH, ScD, says that two tablespoons—or a few squares—of dark chocolate daily are enough for heart health.

The Best Chocolate
Organic chocolate is made from cacao beans, sugar, and other ingredients produced without the use of toxic, persistent pesticides or genetic modification. “The monoculture setup of conventional chocolate plantations encourages the spread of disease,” adds Jeff Cox, a former Organic Gardening editor. Clearing away large swaths of rainforest for conventional cocoa production kills off naturally occurring organisms that fight pests and diseases. This can cause devastating effects, as those that occurred in the 1990s when a virulent fungus wiped out entire plantations.

Grown in a diversified ecosystem less prone to pathogenic organisms, organic cacao farming produces more pods per tree with fewer trees and less environmental disruption. This leads to richer flavor expression in the resulting chocolate than is found in conventional cocoa production.

Since cacao beans grow best with a natural shade canopy, organic production also helps support the complex tropical ecosystem—especially important for migratory birds threatened by deforestation. And organic farming uses less fossil fuel than conventional methods, helping the planet as a whole.

The Fair Trade label guarantees that farmers are paid a fair price for their crop, improving families’ quality of life and the stability of the local economy. Though not every fairly traded product is organic, many support ecologically sustainable farming practices that protect the environment, the farming community, and consumers from dangerous chemicals.

Semisweet dark chocolate offers the highest cocoa solids with the lowest percentage of sugar and fat. For a strong, complex taste, look for products that contain 70 percent cocoa—half of a 3-ounce bar has approximately 30 grams of cocoa and 125 fat calories. The finest dark chocolates are so intensely flavorful that even a nibble can satisfy.