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Eating Disorders Program Coordinator

Here's a win-win situation: Eating unsweetened chocolate may help your heart.

Dark chocolate is rich in flavonoids, plant pigments which work as antioxidants when eaten. The study found that eating unsweetened chocolate increased artery elasticity, a measure of heart health, by 2.4 percent.

The improvement among those eating cocoa with sugar was only 1.5 percent, while those on a placebo had a 0.8 percent decrease in function.

Thirty-nine overweight and obese subjects were told to fast for eight to twelve hours, and then eat the cocoa first thing in the morning.

While the finding suggested a link with good heart health, the researchers said larger trials are needed before any clinical recommendations are made.

"This is a small sample, but it definitely looks promising," said lead researcher Valentine Njike, of the Yale Prevention Research Center. "To the best of my recollection no study has ever used sugar-free cocoa. We're the first."