What might these random topics have to do with each other? It’s been over a year since I’ve written some of the articles on this site, and since then, I’ve accumulated additional information that has inspired me to make extensive updates to several of them. Although sugar consumption, foot function, and the antinutrients commonly found in seemingly health foods such as nuts, seeds, and grains may not seem to have much in common, they’re all factors that effect many of us on a daily basis. Based on this, I think it will be worth while for you to take another look at the following updates.

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Traditionally, chocolate has been considered to be an unhealthy indulgence for a variety of reasons. However, research has also shown that chocolate can provide a number of important health benefits. The question that remains is if these benefits outweigh chocolate’s potential to have adverse effects.

The first article in this series discussed the impressive health benefits of chocolate including its high antioxidant capacity, its potential to reduce the risk of heart disease and certain cancers, and its ability to improve circulation and even skin health. The second article described the less desirable characteristics of chocolate such as its potential to impair digestion, alter mood, and be contaminated with potentially toxic heavy metals. The intent of this final article is to consider how chocolate can fit into a truly healthy diet and to identify the factors that can make it more of a health promoting food than an indulgence.

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Although chocolate has been shown to have a variety of impressive health benefits, there are a number of concerns to consider before consuming it specifically for this reason. Contrary to what you might think, the majority of these concerns aren’t related to the unhealthy characteristics of candy and other sweets that often lead people to classify chocolate as an indulgence food.

The previous article presented the many impressive health benefits of chocolate including a remarkably high antioxidant capacity, a reduced risk of heart disease and diabetes, a reduced growth rate of several cancers, and even improved skin health. However, since each of these benefits can be obtained in other ways, the remaining question that needs to be answered is if chocolate should be consumed specifically to promote good health despite having some potentially harmful characteristics. The following issues provide some of the insight needed to answer this question.

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