The flavonoids in cocoa may thin your blood slightly and act as a mild anti-inflammatory. Chocolate's procyanidins have the ability to relax blood vessels, possibly decreasing internal arterial wall damage. And one average chocolate bar has the same level of antioxidant phenols found in a glass of red wine. Now that you're all ready to run out and stock up on chocolate bars, let me remind you of the downside. Chocolate can increase stomach acid reflux and irritable bowel symptoms and cause allergic reactions, skin outbreaks, weight gain, and dental cavities.
Some patients say that chocolate can trigger a migraine headache.
Though it does contain some tyramine, a common migraine trigger, a well-controlled study from the University of Pittsburgh in 1997 did not show chocolate to cause headaches. Chocolate clearly has many of the properties of an herbal medicine and an unusual food. It is not the great evil that many people thought, and may actually be better for us than we ever realized. Of course, exercise is still the best mood enhancer I know of, and your daily diet shouldn't treat chocolate as if it's one of the major food groups. But occasional to regular indulgence in moderate amounts is probably not a big deal.