Researchers have shown that phenols seem to make a heart healthy, but the results don't prove that only phenols that fight heart disease. They found that although people in France typically eat foods that are higher in fat, calories, and cholesterol than Americans, their hearts are healthier and their cholesterol levels are lower. Authors of the study say it's copious amounts of red wine. The deep red color and strong, sometimes even bitter taste of red wine come from the phenols in grapes. This buildup is the most common cause of heart disease, and the French have been unwittingly protecting themselves by drinking red wine.
Chocolate contains the same phenols as red wine.
Phenols are simple molecules, made of a few oxygen and hydrogen atoms. They course through the body, neutralizing molecules called free radicals that skulk around the bloodstream. Free radicals are missing an essential ingredient, an electron, so they try to scavenge electrons from cells. This damages the cells. Antioxidants contribute an electron in defense.