Limit Your Love Of Chocolate
By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It is Valentine's Day and I am about to talk about something that probably gets me more email than anything I ever share with you.
The email borders on hate mail. Yet, I am going to say it again because -- why not? It is fun to get everyone upset.
Here is the good news. We know that dark chocolate has been shown to help fight heart disease and it has numerous other advantages. This is the part that everyone loves. If I am a politician my approval rating is near 100%.
Okay, this is where I'd dive down into the twenty percent approval rating. Dark chocolate is as good as advertised but only if you consume the amount of dark chocolate in a Hershey's kiss -- a single Hershey kiss.
Approval rating in the gutter, I am not winning any primary with that comment. However, I am also a realist. I know that few people have the discipline to eat a morsel of chocolate and stop. So, if your Valentine gives you a box of chocolate, enjoy the present in moderation. You can eat it over time or share with friends or your valentine, who is hoping you offer to share.
Just remember that chocolate is much like wine. These studies that tout health benefits are based on -- you know the word – moderation.
